Ouagadougou, March 3 (AFP/APP): A line of cars and motorcycles cuts across the arid West African landscape, kicking up clouds of dust on the unpaved road.
Their destination: Toeghin Peulh, a village 30 kilometres (18 miles) south of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou that has become a magnet for the sick and the desperate.
Thousands of people have come to seek help, either for themselves or for a loved-one, from a 20-year-old woman named Adja whose reputation for healing powers has spread across the country.
At the end of track is a sea of parked motorbikes, tents and pilgrims, many dressed in white.
Among the rivers of humanity are men whose feet have been chained, people who have been crippled, others who are said to be possessed, cursed by bad luck or haunted by spirits.
They are the desperate of a nation buffeted by poverty and ravaged by a bloody militant insurgency, with only the thinnest social safety net.
“We tried every kind of treatment, but none of them worked,” said Awa Tiendrebeogo, a relative of a man suffering from chronic dizziness.
“Then someone we know told us of Adja, and we came here.”
Adja is the nickname for Amsetou Nikiema, a young woman who says that she was haunted by visions during her childhood in rural Burkina — and suffered cruelly at the hands of her family as a result.
Three years ago, word spread that she had carried out a miraculous healing. From there, her reputation snowballed.
Today, drawing on traditional medicine and what she says is a spiritual guide, she practices in an open compound built in the bush with the help of wealthy donors — she does not charge, but donations and other offerings are discreetly encouraged.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
