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In Africa, One Family's Struggle With the Global Food Crisis
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As darkness fell over the still-hot fields, Jacob managed to get himself covered with ashes and dirt. So Bamogo filled a basin with warm water and gave him a bath.
Sibra watched from a distance.
Later, Bamogo prepared a few bites of cornmeal for her family. Her brother had given the family a sack of it. There was just enough left for one more meal, and Bamogo decided to go to bed hungry, and cook it in the morning to give her strength for the fields.
The family turned in.
At 5:30 a.m. Sibra started the new day by banging on an old metal tire rim hanging from a tree. He was calling the neighborhood to morning prayers at the small Assembly of God evangelical church across from his house.
All of his children have middle names in the local language that reflect their Christian faith: "Will of God," "Praise God," "Strength of God," "Thanks be to God."
In the soft pre-dawn light, Bamogo walked into the darkened church and knelt. She said she comes here each day to pray for her children's future.
"What gives me courage is that I think one day all this suffering will be over," she said. "That helps me keep fighting. I know one day my kids will grow up and help feed our family."
Their oldest child, a 20-year-old daughter, is in school in Kaya, a large town nearby. The younger boys are still in school, too. But the parents pulled Amelie, their 17-year-old daughter, out of school to help her mother around the home.
"I believe is it just as important for girls to go to school," Bamogo said. "The problem is we don't have the means."
Bamogo watched Amelie, sitting in the dirt in jeans, listening to the radio, looking like a typical teenager dreaming of being somewhere else.
"If she get a husband who has more means, a job, she will have a better life," Bamogo said. "I hope she is lucky and life is easier for her."
