Burkina Faso is a very poor country.  Landlocked and with few natural resources, Burkina Faso makes most of its money exporting cotton.  95 percent of the population survives as subsistence farmers.   Many people do not have access to basic health care, and the growing number of people with AIDS has the potential to cripple the workforce, overwhelm an already limited health care infrastructure and devastate the economy.

World Relief has come alongside the local church, partnering with them to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and education messages.

“I was convicted of encouraging the discrimination and the condemnation of the people living with AIDS, condemning their conduct and refusing to eat with them,” said Rabi Fulgence, “Since the World Relief consciousness-raising training, I teach others to act in solidarity with and offer compassion to the infected and affected people.”

Working primarily through a cadre of women volunteers, World Relief’s Mobilizing Youth for Life program encourages youth to practice abstinence before marriage and fidelity in marriage.  Classes promote voluntary testing and reduce the stigma surrounding the disease in the community.

Orphans and vulnerable children are embraced by members of the church, who offer emotional and physical support.  Through a variety of creative methods, these children receive the nutritious food and financial assistance they need to afford school fees and supplies.

Diapandia Thiombiano, 14-years-old, dropped out of school to herd sheep and still couldn’t support his family.  Volunteers from the local church help fill the gap in their needs.  “The volunteer visits regularly go right to our hearts.  They are a real testimony of love…and they sustain us.” 

Hundreds of volunteers visit thousands of families affected by AIDS, providing basic care, medicines, friendship and moral support.  As the church embraces people living with AIDS and their families, entire communities look to a brighter future.