As part of the implementation of the project "Support to internally displaced students" initiated by the Association Développement Sans Frontières (DSF), students from about twenty schools relocated to Ouagigouya, capital of the North region, benefited from food and material support on Monday 24 April 2023. With funding from MRC - Holland and technical support from the WOL Foundation of the Netherlands, a donation of approximately 65 million CFA has launched phase 2 of the project of this organisation active in education based in the northern region.
For more than 25 years, the Dutch WOL Foundation has been a committed partner with DSF in promoting accessible quality education for all children, according to the coordinator of the education NGO.
The coordinator of the DSF Association, Salifou SODRE, launched phase 2 of his support programme for internally displaced pupils at his Zoodo educational complex. On 24 April, several pupils from Yatenga and Loroum province found a response to food stress as part of the educational continuity outside their localities. Forced by insecurity, these primary, post-primary and secondary school students were obliged to move to the town of Ouahigouya to continue their lessons.
Direct and indirect beneficiaries were more than relieved.
900 bags of rice, 100 bags of beans, 500 5-litre cans of cooking oil, kitchen utensils, 200 tables and benches, a series of capacity-building and awareness-raising activities, and radio broadcasts are the main activities planned in phase 2 of this DSF support initiative. A beneficiary of this phase, the Association of Schoolchildren and Students of Loroum/Titao (ASELT) also received a donation from this initiative.
, EDI of the final year class from the Loroum province.
According to Belem Awa, a displaced student and spokesperson for the students, the donation will help these brothers and sisters who want to continue their studies but sometimes face difficulties such as minimal food needs. "We approached the coordinator, Salifou SODRE, in order to benefit from the help of his organisation so that our brothers and sisters could finish the school year in style. Today, it is a reality because we have benefited from rice, beans and oil, a gesture that comes at the right time because these are the final evaluation and examination periods. This will allow us to better concentrate on our studies. she says.
, Testimony of DSF's actions in education by this education inspector, Adama OUEDRAOGO
As for Adama OUEDRAOGO, inspector of primary education in the commune of Barga, the support of DSF to their district since 2020 is invaluable, hence his words of gratitude. "With the crisis and the relocation of several of our schools, urgent measures were needed. And I must admit that thanks to this NGO, which is doing immense work in education, we have benefited from all kinds of support. In October our schools received the same kind of support. And just before the exams, our pupils were given food to help them cope with the food problem," said the inspector.
An organisation committed to quality education for all
"This donation of food, school furniture and kitchen equipment to 20 schools in the northern region of Ouahigouya was made possible with funding from the MRC Foundation in the Netherlands and technical support from the WOL Foundation in the Netherlands. We are in phase 2 of the project for the support of EDI and delocalised schools, which is worth 65 million CFA francs.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are nearly 6,000 pupils, 65 primary and post-primary teachers, sixty cooks and indirectly more than 2,500 parents of pupils," said the DSF coordinator at the handover ceremony.
And to salute the commitment of the actors of education in this difficult situation whose various and multiple sacrifices have allowed to ensure the continuity of the school in spite of this crisis that the country is experiencing. Mr. SODRE concluded by saying that education is and will remain the priority of his organisation to build resilience and envisage sustainable development in Burkina Faso, especially with the WOL Foundation and MRC Holland.
Drissa Wendbark / EDUMEDIA
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