Instead of focusing on the joys of welcoming her first baby into the world, any anticipation Traore Jeneba might feel is ripped by the memories of machine gun staccato and the apparent murder of her father in law.
Jeneba and her husband live in Africa's Sahel region, one of the most dangerous places on planet Earth. A changing climate, political instability and increased militarism have forced thousands to flee their homes. Their family is but one of legions in Burkina Faso who have been forced to seek refuge in communities that might protect them.
Newborn, and not home
Where Jeneba and her family were once stable farmers, living off the land, today they pay rent for the dirt space where a tent is now home. While her husband tries to start farming again as a squatter on nearby vacant land, Jeneba tends to the family's daily meal – rations of grain and oil.
Rations that support her and her growing baby.
Rations that tie the family over, until the promise of peace and new food can take root.
Rations that keep families fed, safe and nourish expecting mothers.
Your love stands in the breach
Your love reaches past the pain, past the violence, past the heavy unknown of the future to deliver emergency food and other staples Jeneba's family will need to survive.
Your love stands in between the threat of the machine gun’s barrel and safety and security of a home where Jeneba's baby might be born.
Your love reaches into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises to stand for human dignity and the worth of all individuals.
Your love provides masks, hygiene supplies and information so that Jeneba's young family can survive COVID-19 and prevent its spread in their community, even when they lack the security of a permanent home.
Your gift will ensure that although mothers like Jeneba, in the Sahel and around the world, may give birth in a tent, love's permanence will take shape in a newborn's life. Please give generously, and thank you.
