Alizeta’s Story: “My mother is very poor because of the drought.”

AAlizeta’s Story: “My mother is very poor because of the drought.” Alizeta Ouedraogo is a 16-year-old girl from Burkina Faso selected to be a delegate to the BioVision Children’s Forum, part of the BioVision 2007 World Life Sciences Forum in Lyon, France, March 2007. The Children’s Forum tackled the issues of water, agriculture, environment and energy, providing a platform for young voices to be heard by leaders in science and industry. Alizeta’s story, below, illustrates the harrowing effects of climate change on human security and development. “Burkina Faso is a country of the Sahel, and 90 per cent of its inhabitants are farmers. Ranching and agriculture are the main sources of family income. In times of drought, or if the crops are not good, animals do not have anything to eat. “As far as my own family is concerned, the crops are always bad, and we don’t have enough food. There isn’t enough money to buy school supplies for me and my brother, or medicine when we are sick. My mother is very poor because of the drought. “For the community, it is even more serious since everything is bought with money from agricultural products. When the crops are bad, there is no money to spend. Every year, there is a food shortage. Children quit school because they cannot afford supplies and school fees, or because they have nothing to eat during the school day. Some of these children beg or steal; old people beg, too. “Girls sometimes prostitute themselves with shopkeepers and may end up with an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. “People do not go to health centres, and some contract diseases caused by a lack of hygiene.”