A meeting with Maggy
Barankitse
Maggy Barankitse
was 37 when the civil war broke out in
One shouldn’t think of this house as having four walls
and a roof. For 17 years, “Mama Maggy” used different
places that were lent or given to her to house the war orphans, before creating
three large centres. “But I realized,” she admits, “that children who grow up
in orphanages lose their sense of responsibility. So I closed down the
orphanages and opened a series of outreach centres for the association. I built
3000 little houses across the country where siblings could live together! I
also placed children in families.
Over the years she built the children a centre for
vocational training – teaching plumbing, carpentry, agriculture and
dressmaking. But her greatest pride and joy is the hospital she founded in Ruyigi, with a mother and baby unit. “I
opened a large hospital because, that way, I will no longer have to repair all
the damage. I had enough of receiving children who had lost their mothers while
they were still in nappies. No-one in the world can replace the tenderness of a
mother. No institution, no centre can stand in for a mother. I built a
beautiful maternity centre and started a nursing school. I knocked on every
door to get hold of an ambulance. And then I went to see mothers in the
villages to tell them they could call us if ever a mother was in need.”
For those who are HIV positive or are suffering from
AIDS, Maggy Barankitse
opened a special centre where they can not only be fed, cared for and
treated with antivirals, but also get advice. “They
learn how to organize themselves through associations and set up little
cooperatives.
“As we work
across the entire country, I cannot tell you how many people we have supported.
The schools are for all the children living in the communities where we built
them. The libraries and cinemas we set up are open to everyone.”
Today, the association employs 220
people, without counting the volunteers, and receives support from over 40
charities, institutions and governments.
Adapted from: JASMINA
ŠOPOVA. ‘Mama Maggy and her 20 000 children: A
meeting with Maggy Barankitse’.
THE UNESCO
COURIER .
COMPREHENSION
1. According to the text, Maggy
Barankitse is from
a)
b)
c) Brundi q
d)
e) Cameron q
2. Decide if these statements are true or
false, then, justify your answer.
a. Maggy Barankitse made
discrimination between the children of victims and the children of criminals.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
b. All Maggy Barankitse’s
colleagues grew up in the Maison Shalom.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
c.
Maggy Barankitse built 300
little houses across the country.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
d.
According to Maggy Barankitse,
institutions and centres can replace the tenderness of the mother.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
e.
According to Maggy Barankitse,
institutions and centres can replace the tenderness of the mother.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
f.
Maggy Barankitse’s
association employs 220 people including volunteers.
Truer Falser
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Answer the following questions in your own
words as far as possible.
a. How many children does Maggy Barankitse
have?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b. Why did Maggy Barankitse
close down the orphanages?
…………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………
c. What is Maggy Barankitse’s
greatest pride and joy?
…………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………
d. What did Maggy Barankitse
do for HIV positive and people suffering
from AIDS?
…………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………
e. What are the other achivements
of Maggy Barankitse?
…………………………………………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………...……………………………
4. One of the statements below did not appear in the
text. Read the statements carefully and cross out (x) the idea not mentioned.
r Maggy Barankitse
saved thousands of children in her home region of Ruyigi.
r Maggy Barankitse placed children in families.
r Maggy Barankitse
built a beautiful maternity centre and started a nursing school.
r Maggy Barankitse was given the noble peace prize.
r Maggy Barankitse built the children a centre for vocational
training.
r Maggy Barankitse
opened a series of outreach centres for the association.
r Three quarters of Maggy Barankitse’s colleagues
today – doctors, psychologists, economists, nurses, teachers – were Tutsi and
Hutu children who grew up in the Maison Shalom
r Maggy Barankitse
was 37 when the civil war broke out in Burundi Jane Addam
wrote many books on prostitution, women's rights, juvenile delinquency, and
militarism.
5. Tick the appropriate meaning of the words in bold.
a) she says,
with a radiant smile (Paragraph 1, Line 10)
q describes
someone's face or skin if it has less colour than usual, for example when they
are ill or frightened, or if it has less colour than people generally have
q obviously
very happy, or very beautiful.
q producing
or describing a quick strong pain that makes you feel like you have been cut
b) We have raised the children of a
generation of fratricide (Paragraph
1, Line 10)
q a
person who kills a king, or the act of killing a king.
q a
crime in which a person kills their mother.
q the
crime of murdering or killing members of your own group or country.
c) We made no
distinction between the children of victims and the children of
criminals... (Paragraph 1, Line 11)
q
when something is not correct.
q to
make things or people equal.
q a difference between
two similar things.
d) “Mama Maggy” used different places that were lent or given to her
to house the war orphans... (Paragraph 2, Line 2)
q
a poor person who lives by asking others for
money or food.
q a
person who is poor and does not have a home or job; a tramp.
q a child whose
parents are dead.
e) I built
3000 little houses across the country where siblings could live
together!... (Paragraph 2, Line 5)
q people who do not
have good living conditions, a good standard of education, etc., considered as
a group.
q brothers
or sisters.
q people who are poor
and badly educated.
f) “Mama Maggy” used different places that were lent or given to her
to house the war orphans... (Paragraph 2, Line 2)
q a poor person
who lives by asking others for money or food.
q a
person who is poor and does not have a home or job; a tramp.
q