“Voices from the field”: the story of an encounter

There are defining moments and inspiring encounters that we make along the way. These include the interactions we had as part of the “Voices from the Field” visual project.

The aim of this project is to present the voices of the stakeholders with whom we have been working with for years, to find out their experience with malaria, and what they think about malaria research and the genetic tools developed by Target Malaria. The interviews conducted with Target Malaria Burkina Faso stakeholders as part of “Voices from the field” are called “Voices from Burkina Faso” on our Youtube channel.

For this new series of videos, we went out to meet men and women working in their villages in the fight against malaria. These were fragments of life, moving moments of exchange. They were also their own moments in which they shared their feelings and their history with malaria.

When Diam PROD and I started making the videos, we didn’t realise that we ourselves would be so emotionally affected. They told us about the suffering, the deaths, the lives turned upside down and the return, season after season, of this disease that kills children and pregnant women in particular. Every Burkinabe family, every Burkinabe citizen is affected.

Barro Lassina, an artist and musician living in Bobo-Dioulasso, talks about the ups and downs of his son’s illness. You can read the pain he had to face in his eyes, the uncertainties, and all this just before his child’s examination.

Séraphine Koné, a retired nurse, has devoted a good part of her life to caring for the sick. She knows exactly what she’s talking about when it comes to urgent action to save lives from malaria. For her, research must continue if the disease is to be eradicated in Africa.

Marceline Soalla-Tou, head of an association and a leader committed to the ongoing quest for community well-being, intends to continue the dialogue, learn more about research and have a positive impact on her fellow citizens.

Mariam Paré has been following the project for years. Close to the insectarium, she attends meetings and in turn interacts with members of the community on the project.

Orokia Traoré is a resident of Souroukoudinguan. She knows all the symptoms and the different treatment routes. You can feel the determination of a mother who wants to protect her children at all costs.

Stakeholder voices are a way of paying tribute to all those involved in the fight against malaria who want to express themselves, give their opinions and let the community know that their voices count. This is in line with the co-development approach advocated by the project, which puts forward the opinions, recommendations and observations of stakeholders.

The videos, “Voices from the field“, deserve to be heard and seen. The videos tell stories: the stories of women and men involved in humanity’s fight against malaria. I hope you will share this moment of history and emotion with us.