Members of a local non-profit organization say they fled a burning building to avoid death following a recent terrorist attack in Burkina Faso, Africa.
For Burkina is a Springfield-based non-profit that is working to build a school in the African nation. On Jan. 15, terrorists attacked the Splendid Hotel and adjoining Cappuccino Café in Ouagadougou, where four group members had gathered.
Will Stone says that most people were confused when the first shots rang out around 7 p.m. local time.
“Then we heard the second shot. And we all hit the ground. From there, we crawled to the bathroom,” Stone said.
Hiding in the restroom stall and uncertain of his fate, Stone said, “Honestly, I told myself I was already dead. It made it a lot easier. From there, I was able to think more rationally.”
Terrorists returned to the café multiple times to make sure no one survived, before they lit the building on fire. Fortunately, they never looked in the restroom where the team was hiding.
“The shooters reentered a few times, I don’t remember the exact number,” Stone recalled. “We can hear them conversing amongst themselves, kind of giggling.”
Eventually, it was difficult to breathe in the restroom as it filled with heavy smoke from the fire. Some feared to leave. From that point on, people chose their own survival path. Stone decided to run for it.
He encountered a French couple and they escaped to a rooftop in an abandoned building near the café. Stone then called the U.S. Embassy. The van that picked him up was also transporting Benjamin Hall, another For Burkina member. The two had both hidden in the café’s restroom prior to their separate escapes.
Stone and Hall, both graduates of Drury University, shared their experience during a press conference Friday in Springfield.
For Burkina has teamed up with an international non-profit organization, buildOn, to design, fund, and build a school in the village of Mourpougo in Burkina Faso.
“The village of Mourpougo generously opened their hearts and homes throughout the duration of our stay,” Hall told reporters. “Mourpougo is majority Muslim village about an hour west of Ouagadougou. They are agriculture based. Before our school, there was only one small school in their community which was grades one to three.”
The attack in Ouagadougou was claimed by Al-Qaeda, a predominately Muslim organization. However, through the experience with the Mourpougo villagers, Stone and Hall said this is not the way we should perceive the Muslim population.
“It’s easier to pinpoint these tags on Muslim population,” Hall said. “This attack does not represent the religion by any means.”
Stone and Hall were both amazed by their gratitude.
“Their children were starving, yet they were still offering us their food,” Hall said. “They were on their hands and knees thanking us so much for our contribution to their village.”
It is the people in Burkina Faso that inspire the team. When asked if they would go back following the tragedy, Stone told reporters that all the group members unanimously decided to continue the work they started.
“I’m definitely eager to see the finished school, to meet with the villagers again, to see how it’s changing their life, to see the smiles of the kids, to hear the laughter again,” Hall said, smiling as he recalled the kids’ laughter.