Courage, Support and Perseverance
My name is Banyoua and I am a participant with Showing Everyone Love. It has now been three years since I was forced to leave my village because of insecurity.
Before that, my life was peaceful. I cultivated my fields, raised a few animals, and did a little trading — buying and selling to provide for my family. We were not rich, but we lacked nothing. I loved my fields, my animals, and the simple life we lived.
Then one day, everything changed. The terrorists came to our village. They took all our livestock and looted everything. When they were done, they forced us to leave. We fled with nothing, leaving behind our homes, our fields, and a lifetime of work.
When I arrived in town with my family, we had nothing — no house, no field, no money. We built a small straw hut to have some shelter. The first days were terrible. Seeing my children sleeping on the ground and not knowing how we would survive broke my heart.
But I refused to give up. I started looking for any kind of work. I eventually found a job helping masons, earning 2,500 CFA francs ($4.44) a day. It wasn’t easy, but it was a start. Thanks to that, I could provide a little for my family. Later, I joined a savings group with other displaced people in our neighborhood. Even with the little I earned; I began saving bit by bit. Over time, I was able to get a loan of 25,000 francs (about $44.40). I bought a sheep for 20,000 francs and used the rest to buy feed. I repaid the loan from my daily work within three months.
At the end of our six-month savings cycle, we divided out the savings. That day, I received 87,000 francs. When I held that money in my hands, I had tears in my eyes. It was the first time in a long while that I felt hope come alive again. I bought another sheep and a goat, and since the rainy season was approaching, I also rented a house for my family. It’s not big, but it’s a real roof, solid, where my children can sleep without fear of the rain.
Before being displaced, I had already had the chance to attend training sessions on new agricultural methods. Those trainings helped me a lot. Here in town, I managed to recover a small rocky and infertile plot of land. Many thought nothing could grow there, but I applied the zai and composting techniques I had learned, and today, that field gives me good harvests, as you can see behind me in this photo.
Today, my life has changed. I can now pay for my children’s schooling, pay my rent without difficulty, and feed my family properly. I often think back to all that we’ve been through. It wasn’t easy, but I’ve learned one thing: even after losing everything, it’s possible to rebuild. All it takes is courage, support, and perseverance. Today, I stand tall, proud of how far I’ve come. Where there was no hope, I planted patience. And now, both in my heart and in my field, life has begun to grow again. I am deeply grateful to SEL for their wonderful support.
West Africa
Led by World Renew and local partner Showing Everyone Love (SEL)