Tamoussa

When appropriate facilities and services are put in place to receive and care for children who have experienced traumatic events in humanitarian crisis contexts, this enables them to recover their mental equilibrium, regain self-confidence and take an active part in the life of their community.

In his life story, Tamoussa, a child from the Bonda IDP site in Kongoussi describes how the activities of the JF-CPiE project have contributed to his psychosocial well-being. This is the life story of an internally displaced boy.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you were doing before taking part in the project?

My name is Tamoussa R., I’m 13 years old and I live with my family in a site for internally displaced people in Kongoussi. We came from Djibo, a province 90 km from Kongoussi.

At the end of 2021, because of the deteriorating security situation in the town, my whole family fled and settled in Bourzanga, hoping to be able to return as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the security situation also deteriorated in Bourzanga during 2022, to such an extent that we couldn’t stay there. So we had to continue here in Kongoussi. When we arrived, my family had a lot of trouble integrating here, especially at the IDP site. We had to sleep at the foot of buildings under the stars for several days before we found a place to stay. As far as I’m concerned, integration was even more difficult because I was more out of place. Before, I used to go to school and I had lots of friends there with whom we had a lot of fun and we spent a lot of happy, carefree times together. Unfortunately, my world was turned upside down and turned into a nightmare the day armed men entered our town, causing enormous damage and causing the inhabitants to flee. I found it hard to accept that our family could be in this situation. My days became very long because I wasn’t near my friends and it was difficult for me to get used to the other children, so I stayed indoors all the time.

What positive changes have you seen in your life since the JF-CPiE project has been active in your community?

When we joined the IDP reception site towards the end of 2022, the project leaders (JF-CPiE) often came to chat with a group of children and parents. I wasn’t interested in these activities at first. It was when the child-friendly space (espace ami des enfants – EAE) was set up that I was attracted by the group of children playing football there. When I started going to the CFS, I began to feel better and better because I had a setting where I could have fun with other children through board games, football, activities with the community facilitators, talks and other fun activities. It’s a setting that suits me so well that I’ve rarely been away since the space became operational. I’ve practically forgotten all the bad memories I had when we were forced to move from Djibo and Bourzanga. Going to the EAE was one of the things that encouraged me to go back to school, because all my new friends here are pupils.

Do you have any suggestions for the project?

I would like to thank those involved (ADC/PDE and the NGO Terre des Hommes Suisse) for initiating protective actions on our behalf. I would like to see these actions strengthened and extended to other sites, because it does us good to take part in psychosocial activities.