Maggy Barankitse lost her father at the age of six, and grew up in one of the poorest region in Burundi but today she has inspired over 20,000 children who ordinary would not understand the true meaning of family, to witnessed love, care and most importantly to have access to quality education.
“I have also learned that the word impossible is a lie. Nothing is impossible if you are driven by love and invest yourself fully. Hate will never have the last word. Not as long as we practice love
Born in 1957, Maggy Barankitse won the inaugural Laureate of the $1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity and she is the founder of Maison Shalom. A foundation which was established in 1993 to carter for orphans of war, HIV/AIDS orphans, street children, children in prison, and children in various other forms of difficulty.
“Our values are human values. When you have compassion, dignity and love then nothing can scare you, nothing can stop you – no one can stop love. Not armies, not hate, not persecution, not famine, nothing”
She started her foundation at the middle of civil war with absolutely nothing, According to her, she managed to rescue some children from the war front by hiding them in a school closer to her home. As the war progresses more children troupe in to find food and shelter in the school, she had to reached out for help, and help came when the Church gave her a land.
Instead of doing the normal orphanage, She created a family structure where children were paired with Volunteers Parents. These method encouraged peace, promoted love and gave the children a chance at reconciliation
Our goal was always to feed the heart, and prove that one can create life from the ashes of war.
She used the land given by the church to build some houses for shelter and a school to teach the children and also started a farm to help supply food to the children.
Maggy Barankitse is our hero for this week, she has served thousands of lives and she is a great reminder that One person can make a difference in our World.