[:nl]Eugénie has gone back in The Netherlands early in the week. Claire has also gone home yesterday. Erik is the only one I can bother from now on.

Some excellent news for the village of Bona

blog 2014-03-23 1We had applied for funding at the Japanese Embassy in Burkina for a rural medical center for the village of Bona. We had also applied for funding for a water well for this medical facility at the “Nederland Albert Schweitzer Fonds (NASF)”.
About 10 days ago we heard the good news that the Japanese Embassy would grant ASAP 76.000 euro for the realization of the medical center. On Tuesday we had to be at the Japanese Embassy in Ouagadougou for the signature of the protocol.

 

blog 2014-03-23 2

From left to right: The Japanese Embassy Advisor, Odile, Moussa (Bona), Emmanuel, the Japanese conseiller, Ali (mayor of Lena), Awa (Bona), Hervé and Tontama (Bona)

Last Tuesday we also got other good news about the positive answer from NASF to our application for the water well.
We went on Thursday to Bona to have the agreement signed by the women association for the water well.

blog 2014-03-23 3 blog 2014-03-23 4

Signature on the document and the group of very happy women.
The medical center will be a big relieve mainly for the women. Now they have to go to a medical center 12km away!!!!
If everything goes as planned, the infrastructure will be ready by the end of August 2014 and then we will have to hope that the ministry of health send the needed personnel as soon as possible.

Analysis of a village going away from development

We came to the village of Sissa in 2001. Two years ago we stopped our collaboration. The main reason was a lack of trust with their leaders. Before we stop with a village, there are many warnings and we keep trying to get them back on the “development train”. It did not work, so we stopped doing projects in the village. Looking at statistics of the various schools we had built we were shocked to see the data from Sissa in the graph below.
blog 2014-03-23 5
Not really an uptrend!!!!!
We thought it would be good to visit Sissa and try to understand better what was happening.
blog 2014-03-23 6
It is actually a combination of various factors:
Fathers do not give anything to the young adults for the work they do in the fields (he will buy a new motorbike for himself or get a new wife instead). Young adults are then looking for alternative and now it is the gold panning at the mines. Young adults are not any more in the village to help their father in the fields. The father then will not send his younger kids to school since he is using them in the fields.
To make sure that there is enough work force in the future, the fathers have more kids. In addition the secondary schools where children are going are very bad, students come back to the village without any new skills and the fathers are tired to invest in their kids without any return.
It is really a vicious circle and until the fathers have not made a drastic mind change about what the kids are for, it will be difficult to help them.

blog 2014-03-23 7 blog 2014-03-23 8

blog 2014-03-23 9
We have asked them to make an action plan on what needs to be done to reverse the trend and who is responsible for the actions. We will see if they think about it after our visit……

Question of the week?

Why is the trunk of this papaya tree pierced with a piece of metal?

blog 2014-03-23 10 blog 2014-03-23 12

blog 2014-03-23 15
Answer to last week question?
It was the bark of the karité tree (Shea tree).
Right are some of those trees.
blog 2014-03-23 13
 

blog 2014-03-23 16

Calao bird

Proverbs of the week

Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival, not beauty.
Même les couleurs d’un caméléon sont pour la survie, non pour la beauté.
There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns.
Il y a beaucoup de fleurs colorées sur le chemin de la vie, mais les plus belles ont les épines les plus fortes.
Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
Les plumes de la queue du coq: jolies, mais toujours derrière. ~ Proverbe malgache
Hope you are doing well. Take care. Each day is a new life.
Hervé[:en]

Eugénie has gone back in The Netherlands early in the week. Claire has also gone home yesterday. Erik is the only one I can bother from now on.

Some excellent news for the village of Bona

blog 2014-03-23 1We had applied for funding at the Japanese Embassy in Burkina for a rural medical center for the village of Bona. We had also applied for funding for a water well for this medical facility at the “Nederland Albert Schweitzer Fonds (NASF)”.

About 10 days ago we heard the good news that the Japanese Embassy would grant ASAP 76.000 euro for the realization of the medical center. On Tuesday we had to be at the Japanese Embassy in Ouagadougou for the signature of the protocol.

 

blog 2014-03-23 2

From left to right: The Japanese Embassy Advisor, Odile, Moussa (Bona), Emmanuel, the Japanese conseiller, Ali (mayor of Lena), Awa (Bona), Hervé and Tontama (Bona)

Last Tuesday we also got other good news about the positive answer from NASF to our application for the water well.

We went on Thursday to Bona to have the agreement signed by the women association for the water well.

blog 2014-03-23 3 blog 2014-03-23 4

Signature on the document and the group of very happy women.

The medical center will be a big relieve mainly for the women. Now they have to go to a medical center 12km away!!!!

If everything goes as planned, the infrastructure will be ready by the end of August 2014 and then we will have to hope that the ministry of health send the needed personnel as soon as possible.

Analysis of a village going away from development

We came to the village of Sissa in 2001. Two years ago we stopped our collaboration. The main reason was a lack of trust with their leaders. Before we stop with a village, there are many warnings and we keep trying to get them back on the “development train”. It did not work, so we stopped doing projects in the village. Looking at statistics of the various schools we had built we were shocked to see the data from Sissa in the graph below.

blog 2014-03-23 5

Not really an uptrend!!!!!

We thought it would be good to visit Sissa and try to understand better what was happening.

blog 2014-03-23 6

It is actually a combination of various factors:

Fathers do not give anything to the young adults for the work they do in the fields (he will buy a new motorbike for himself or get a new wife instead). Young adults are then looking for alternative and now it is the gold panning at the mines. Young adults are not any more in the village to help their father in the fields. The father then will not send his younger kids to school since he is using them in the fields.

To make sure that there is enough work force in the future, the fathers have more kids. In addition the secondary schools where children are going are very bad, students come back to the village without any new skills and the fathers are tired to invest in their kids without any return.

It is really a vicious circle and until the fathers have not made a drastic mind change about what the kids are for, it will be difficult to help them.

blog 2014-03-23 7 blog 2014-03-23 8

blog 2014-03-23 9

We have asked them to make an action plan on what needs to be done to reverse the trend and who is responsible for the actions. We will see if they think about it after our visit……

Question of the week?

Why is the trunk of this papaya tree pierced with a piece of metal?

blog 2014-03-23 10 blog 2014-03-23 12

blog 2014-03-23 15

Answer to last week question?

It was the bark of the karité tree (Shea tree).

Right are some of those trees.

blog 2014-03-23 13

 

blog 2014-03-23 16

Calao bird

Proverbs of the week

Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival, not beauty.
Même les couleurs d’un caméléon sont pour la survie, non pour la beauté.

There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns.
Il y a beaucoup de fleurs colorées sur le chemin de la vie, mais les plus belles ont les épines les plus fortes.

Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
Les plumes de la queue du coq: jolies, mais toujours derrière. ~ Proverbe malgache

Hope you are doing well. Take care. Each day is a new life.

Hervé

[:fr]

Eugénie has gone back in The Netherlands early in the week. Claire has also gone home yesterday. Erik is the only one I can bother from now on.

Some excellent news for the village of Bona

blog 2014-03-23 1We had applied for funding at the Japanese Embassy in Burkina for a rural medical center for the village of Bona. We had also applied for funding for a water well for this medical facility at the “Nederland Albert Schweitzer Fonds (NASF)”.

About 10 days ago we heard the good news that the Japanese Embassy would grant ASAP 76.000 eu
ro for the realization of the medical center. On Tuesday we had to be at the Japanese Embassy in Ouagadougou for the signature of the protocol.

 

blog 2014-03-23 2

From left to right: The Japanese Embassy Advisor, Odile, Moussa (Bona), Emmanuel, the Japanese conseiller, Ali (mayor of Lena), Awa (Bona), Hervé and Tontama (Bona)

Last Tuesday we also got other good news about the positive answer from NASF to our application for the water well.

We went on Thursday to Bona to have the agreement signed by the women association for the water well.

blog 2014-03-23 3 blog 2014-03-23 4

Signature on the document and the group of very happy women.

The medical center will be a big relieve mainly for the women. Now they have to go to a medical center 12km away!!!!

If everything goes as planned, the infrastructure will be ready by the end of August 2014 and then we will have to hope that the ministry of health send the needed personnel as soon as possible.

Analysis of a village going away from development

We came to the village of Sissa in 2001. Two years ago we stopped our collaboration. The main reason was a lack of trust with their leaders. Before we stop with a village, there are many warnings and we keep trying to get them back on the “development train”. It did not work, so we stopped doing projects in the village. Looking at statistics of the various schools we had built we were shocked to see the data from Sissa in the graph below.

blog 2014-03-23 5

Not really an uptrend!!!!!

We thought it would be good to visit Sissa and try to understand better what was happening.

blog 2014-03-23 6

It is actually a combination of various factors:

Fathers do not give anything to the young adults for the work they do in the fields (he will buy a new motorbike for himself or get a new wife instead). Young adults are then looking for alternative and now it is the gold panning at the mines. Young adults are not any more in the village to help their father in the fields. The father then will not send his younger kids to school since he is using them in the fields.

To make sure that there is enough work force in the future, the fathers have more kids. In addition the secondary schools where children are going are very bad, students come back to the village without any new skills and the fathers are tired to invest in their kids without any return.

It is really a vicious circle and until the fathers have not made a drastic mind change about what the kids are for, it will be difficult to help them.

blog 2014-03-23 7 blog 2014-03-23 8

blog 2014-03-23 9

We have asked them to make an action plan on what needs to be done to reverse the trend and who is responsible for the actions. We will see if they think about it after our visit……

Question of the week?

Why is the trunk of this papaya tree pierced with a piece of metal?

blog 2014-03-23 10 blog 2014-03-23 12

blog 2014-03-23 15

Answer to last week question?

It was the bark of the karité tree (Shea tree).

Right are some of those trees.

blog 2014-03-23 13

 

blog 2014-03-23 16

Calao bird

Proverbs of the week

Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival, not beauty.
Même les couleurs d’un caméléon sont pour la survie, non pour la beauté.

There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns.
Il y a beaucoup de fleurs colorées sur le chemin de la vie, mais les plus belles ont les épines les plus fortes.

Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
Les plumes de la queue du coq: jolies, mais toujours derrière. ~ Proverbe malgache

Hope you are doing well. Take care. Each day is a new life.

Hervé

[:de]

Eugénie has gone back in The Netherlands early in the week. Claire has also gone home yesterday. Erik is the only one I can bother from now on.

Some excellent news for the village of Bona

blog 2014-03-23 1We had applied for funding at the Japanese Embassy in Burkina for a rural medical center for the village of Bona. We had also applied for funding for a water well for this medical facility at the “Nederland Albert Schweitzer Fonds (NASF)”.

About 10 days ago we heard the good news that the Japanese Embassy would grant ASAP 76.000 euro for the realization of the medical center. On Tuesday we had to be at the Japanese Embassy in Ouagadougou for the signature of the protocol.

 

blog 2014-03-23 2

From left to right: The Japanese Embassy Advisor, Odile, Moussa (Bona), Emmanuel, the Japanese conseiller, Ali (mayor of Lena), Awa (Bona), Hervé and Tontama (Bona)

Last Tuesday we also got other good news about the positive answer from NASF to our application for the water well.

We went on Thursday to Bona to have the agreement signed by th
e women association for the water well.

blog 2014-03-23 3 blog 2014-03-23 4

Signature on the document and the group of very happy women.

The medical center will be a big relieve mainly for the women. Now they have to go to a medical center 12km away!!!!

If everything goes as planned, the infrastructure will be ready by the end of August 2014 and then we will have to hope that the ministry of health send the needed personnel as soon as possible.

Analysis of a village going away from development

We came to the village of Sissa in 2001. Two years ago we stopped our collaboration. The main reason was a lack of trust with their leaders. Before we stop with a village, there are many warnings and we keep trying to get them back on the “development train”. It did not work, so we stopped doing projects in the village. Looking at statistics of the various schools we had built we were shocked to see the data from Sissa in the graph below.

blog 2014-03-23 5

Not really an uptrend!!!!!

We thought it would be good to visit Sissa and try to understand better what was happening.

blog 2014-03-23 6

It is actually a combination of various factors:

Fathers do not give anything to the young adults for the work they do in the fields (he will buy a new motorbike for himself or get a new wife instead). Young adults are then looking for alternative and now it is the gold panning at the mines. Young adults are not any more in the village to help their father in the fields. The father then will not send his younger kids to school since he is using them in the fields.

To make sure that there is enough work force in the future, the fathers have more kids. In addition the secondary schools where children are going are very bad, students come back to the village without any new skills and the fathers are tired to invest in their kids without any return.

It is really a vicious circle and until the fathers have not made a drastic mind change about what the kids are for, it will be difficult to help them.

blog 2014-03-23 7 blog 2014-03-23 8

blog 2014-03-23 9

We have asked them to make an action plan on what needs to be done to reverse the trend and who is responsible for the actions. We will see if they think about it after our visit……

Question of the week?

Why is the trunk of this papaya tree pierced with a piece of metal?

blog 2014-03-23 10 blog 2014-03-23 12

blog 2014-03-23 15

Answer to last week question?

It was the bark of the karité tree (Shea tree).

Right are some of those trees.

blog 2014-03-23 13

 

blog 2014-03-23 16

Calao bird

Proverbs of the week

Even the colors of a chameleon are for survival, not beauty.
Même les couleurs d’un caméléon sont pour la survie, non pour la beauté.

There are many colorful flowers on the path of life, but the prettiest have the sharpest thorns.
Il y a beaucoup de fleurs colorées sur le chemin de la vie, mais les plus belles ont les épines les plus fortes.

Roosters’ tail feathers: pretty but always behind. ~Malagasy Proverb
Les plumes de la queue du coq: jolies, mais toujours derrière. ~ Proverbe malgache

Hope you are doing well. Take care. Each day is a new life.

Hervé

[:]

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