I’m sure you all noticed what was happening in Burkina Faso these last few weeks! The media did a great job informing the world! Burkina Faso went through some significant “disturbances”. Everything is back to normal now and there were, indeed, some positive things that came out of all of this!
Fortunately we were still able to make several visits to Bouassa, making sure to respect the government ordered curfews and avoiding the sensitive areas… Our regret was that we were not able to organize the official inauguration as we planned. We had invited the village elders, children, families and different associations to a bountiful meal of rice and lamb. We are hoping to do that during the next trip!
The coming weeks will be devoted to getting several grant applications ready and submitted to a few foundations in order to start work on Phase II of the development of “our” village.
As a reminder, this Phase involves:
- Developing a vegetable garden (some mango trees have already been planted)
- Organizing two training courses
– Basic Hygiene, access to water
– Sanitation
These training sessions will be for the “Association of Water Users” that has been set up in recent months.
Following the training period and as a result of this training:
- The construction of latrines.
The question that remains, which we mentioned in our last communication, is regarding the water tower. In fact, this aspect will depend on the funds that we will be able to raise during for this phase. Especially, since there is a high possibility that there will be a third phase to this project! Indeed, the chief of the village that we met a few times, asked us to solve a major problem the village has. There is a dam in the area of Bouassa that we had visited during a trip last January. This dam is very old and is not efficient enough to capture all the water during the rainy season and allow enough water retention to last the entire dry season. Reclaimed water is used primarily for agricultural activities in Bouassa and many jobs require lots of water (making clay bricks for example). We have not formally committed to this undertaking, but nevertheless we have started to conduct a field study to clarify the extent of work to be done as well as evaluate the costs … Imagine the social and economic impact that this could have if we could find the funds and increase the dam’s storage capacity in order for the region’s vegetable gardens to continue to produce during the dry season! Many families would be able to keep their income throughout the year.
The dam in January (dry season had not yet started …)
The dam these last days during the rainy season!
We still believe…
THE SOLUTION: ONE WELL PER VILLAGE
We believe people, not water, can change everything! When you sponsor Well Drilling Project in Burkina Faso, Africa you’ll unlock the potential of an entire community! #Burkina