What Took You So Long Foundation

We leave Bamako at 8:30am with assurances the bus, bush power on overdrive, would cover the 670km to Bobo Dioulasso in 5 hours. A little over 5 hours later, at 11:30pm, we cross the border into Burkina Faso and seven weary travellers are unloaded on a side street in the quietly charming city of Bobo. Our friends on the bus having given us a short introductory course in Islam and an invitation to pray with them, we awake the next morning to the calls of an Imam calling the faithful to prayer, and in the good hands of our host, Ibrahim.

Bobo is a delightful city. Smaller than Bamako, and much greener, with an alluringly laid back feel. The city seems a microcosm of Burkina Faso itself: a stable poorer relation to its more resource rich neighbours. On the streets we sample caterpillars, deep fried and eaten in a baguette with onions and a little palm oil. Caterpillars are in season.

Through Ibrahim we were told about Fischer Barnabe, a French Rastafarian living in Bobo who has for many years run a home for abandoned children. We visit his compound and are promptly invited to stay. We accept his offer and soon settle in to a guest house and two tents. We share the compound with 9 children (8 children were recently reunited with their families), two volunteers and Mr Barnabe and his family. Everyone seemed happily: the children smiled and played freely in the yard, whilst the volunteers and helpers prepared traditional home cooked food. The children called Mr Barnabe “Uncle”, and it didn’t feel contrived or in any way unhealthy. In his own quiet and unassuming way Mr Barnabe impressed us on a personal level. With the support of the local community and the dedication of a small number of committed donors in France he has created a refuge for children in need, providing these children a safe and healthy place to live and grow whilst efforts are made to reintegrate them into their own families and communities.