Courage, Humanity, and the Call of a New Life - told by the woman who became "Mama Tenga".
After a life-changing trip to West Africa, Katrin Rohde makes a radical decision: she sells all her possessions in Germany and emigrates to Burkina Faso. In the capital, Ouagadougou, she begins working with street children-boys fighting to survive amid poverty, drugs, and violence. What begins as a single act of compassion becomes a lifelong mission.
With courage, discipline, humor, and a deep belief in the power of education and community, Katrin Rohde builds a network of support over the years: orphanages, women's shelters, workshops, schools, counseling centers, and training programs-all rooted in the principle of helping people to help themselves. Her initiatives represent real empowerment, social justice, and hope for change.
Today, she is known across Burkina Faso as "Mama Tenga - Mother Fatherland." In this deeply personal and compelling memoir, Katrin Rohde tells her true story-an inspiring journey of female leadership, cross-cultural connection, and human resilience, rich with African wisdom and the courage to make a difference.
Autorentext
Katrin Rohde, born in 1948 in Hamburg, completed her secondary education in England and opened her first bookstore at the age of just twenty-four. She successfully ran two bookshops in Germany and training a total of twenty apprentices before radically changing her life and relocating permanently to Burkina Faso.
There, she founded AMPO International e.V., a nonprofit organization that has achieved great success in supporting street children, orphans, girls, and women. For over 30 years, her name has stood for courage, social justice, and intercultural commitment. In Burkina Faso, she is widely known as "Mama Tenga" - Mother Fatherland. Her work has earned her multiple awards, including the Federal Cross of Merit, First and Second Class, as well as national honors in Burkina Faso.
To mark the 30th anniversary of her organization, her autobiography is now being released with a new foreword.