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Central African Republic: Awa reunited with her family thanks to a mobile phone

24-02-2012 Photo gallery

Awa is nine months old. Just a few weeks ago, she was living quietly with her family in a small village in the Central African Republic. On 26 January, heavy fighting broke out between government armed forces and an armed group. The village was attacked and the houses were looted and set on fire. Awa's family fled into the bush, abandoning their crops and all their belongings. In the panic, the child was lost. Like thousands of other children caught up in armed conflict, Awa was alone in the African bush.

  • Farazala, Central African Republic. Portrait of Awa taken with a mobile phone
    • Farazala, Central African Republic. Portrait of Awa, taken with a mobile phone
      © ICRC

    Without information on who the girl's family was or where they lived, it was extremely difficult to look for members of her dispersed family. The security situation also prevented the ICRC from returning regularly to the area to obtain more information on the girl, her parents or the circumstances in which they fled. What could be done?

    Victor, an ICRC driver, pulled out his mobile phone to snap a picture of the little girl. The host family agreed to contact the ICRC if they obtained information on Awa's family. The ICRC staff left Farazala for Kaga Bandoro with the picture of Awa recorded on the mobile phone.

  • Central African Republic. ICRC field officer holding Awa in front of an off-road vehicle.
    • Central African Republic. ICRC field officer holding Awa in front of an off-road vehicle.
      © ICRC

    Three days later, a member of the Muslim community of Kaga Bandoro went to the ICRC office. An elderly Fulani woman, who had recently left the bush after having taken refuge there, was spending her days crying over the loss of her nine-month-old granddaughter, Awa! The grandmother went to the ICRC office straight away and recognized her granddaughter on the mobile phone of Victor, the ICRC driver.

    The ICRC contacted Awa's host family, but the roads from Kaga Bandoro to Farazala were not safe, and international humanitarian organizations no longer had access to them. On 14 February, at the end of the day, the president of the local branch of the Central African Red Cross in Ouandago, half way between Farazala and Kaga Bandoro, went himself by motorcycle to Farazala to fetch Awa. The next day, he placed Awa in the care of ICRC staff who were in Ouandago to register displaced people and repair boreholes.

  • Central African Republic. Hassan Awa – the grandmother – happily reunited with her granddaughter believed to be lost. A representative of the Muslim community and all the ICRC employees share in the family's joy.
    • Central African Republic. Hassan Awa – the grandmother – happily reunited with her granddaughter believed to be lost. A representative of the Muslim community and all the ICRC employees share in the family's joy.
      © ICRC
  • Central African Republic. Awa with her grandmother
    • Central African Republic. Awa with her grandmother
      © ICRC

    Thanks to a mobile phone, Awa was reunited with her family, who should never have suffered the effects of violence and from whom she should never have been separated.


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