Child sponsor letter from Ouagadougou
10/12/2007
SOS Children’s Village of Ouagadougou June 2007
In spite of the efforts of our political authorities based on the increase of the schooling rate and that of sanitary coverage mainly in urban areas, the economic situation of Burkina Faso has not changed a lot. As last year, the country is still among the last 5 countries according to the Human Development Indicator Scale built by PNUD. This classification is an indicator of the economic and social difficulties which Burkina Faso is facing. The children and women’s groups are more vulnerable. The HIV/AIDS rate has decreased. But endemic diseases such as meningitis persist. Hundreds of people died from meningitis all over the country. The SOS Children’s Village of Ouagadougou was able to face the disease because we vaccinated all the children in advance. In addition to that, no case was declared in the neighboring village thanks to the SOS Children’s Village dispensary.
Last February, our Village was pleased to receive the visit of special guests who came to Burkina for the official dedication of Dafra Village in Bobo-Dioulasso. The children felt so happy that they organised a cultural performance (traditional dance, traditional music, sketches and theatre) for their guests.
In September 2006, there were 117 children in the Village. At the end of that month, the Admission Comity of the Village proposed 9 adolescents to join the Youth Unit. Although they no longer live in the Village but in the Youth Unit instead, they are still in touch with the Village, especially with their SOS mothers.
Now there are 112 children in the Village (55 boys and 57 girls). Five (5) of the 112 children attend the SOS nursery school, 35 of them attend the primary school, 59 of them go to secondary school and 6 are training in professional training centers. As you can see, 7 of the total number of children stay at home because they don’t have the required age to go to school.
In addition to their school activities which take about 70% on their time, the SOS children are engaged in socio-educative and cultural activities including dyed dresses, pots, fruits and vegetables, jewels and necklaces, etc.
The SOS children are very much gifted as far as culture is concerned. Some of them are attending dance courses which are organized by the Center of Choreographic Development of Ouagadougou. The end of year celebrations and visits of VIP are opportunities when they perform in tradition music, dance, ballets, sketches, plays, etc.
As far as sports activities are concerned, the children go to the sport grounds with a lot of motivation and dynamism. They practice football, volley-ball, basket ball and jogging. They are using the materials (tee-shirts, shorts, balls, shoes) which were offered to them by FIFA international instructors on 10 November during a referee training course in the country. This gift is a strong contribution to the efforts of the Village and an additional motivation for the children.
Sponsor's letter from Dafra
SOS Children’s Village of Dafra June 2007
From 13 September to 09 October, the village received eleven (11) “new” children. That increased the total number of children to105 and the number of children per family to 09 in most of the 12 SOS families. Fifty four (54) children go to SOS Primary School and forty-four (44) younger children attend the SOS Nursery School. The schooling rate of the Children’s Village is 93.33%. As you can notice, 06.66% of the children don’t go to school because there are too young. Thirty-four children (34) out of the fifty-four (54) registered at the SOS Primary School were congratulated on their work because they are among the best pupils of their classes. The rate of success of the SOS children who attend the SOS Primary School is 88.88%.
The Village lived a certain number of events.
An example of event is the Tabaski feast which is also known as the “sheep” feast. This is a Moslem celebration which commemorates the sacrifice of Abraham. We killed six (06) sheep for the Village 12 family houses. Before the immolation of the sheep, the Moslem children went to the collective prayer. The Village was particularly animated until sunset. All the children, Moslems and none-Moslems, celebrated and rejoiced.
The SOS Children’s Village of Dafra was officially dedicated on 17 February 2007. The ceremony was presided over by the Minister of secondary and high school educations and scientific research, and enhanced by important national political and social personalities. Guests were honored with artistic and musical presentations performed by the children’s traditional music and Dance Company. Everybody was impressed to see how the very young children could play xylophones, tom-toms, castanets, all that seasoned with traditional dance. The guests were also impressed by the children’s achievements in painting, drawings and sewing.
On Sunday, 8 April 2007, the Village celebrated Easter as a meditation day and as a feast. The Christian children went to the mass of the day that differed from ordinary masses because of the important number of people. The feast continued after the religious celebration and no distinction could be made between Christians and none-Christians.
This year the city of Bobo-Dioulasso organized a fair called International Fair of Bobo-Dioulasso. It gathered thousands of people. The Village children went to visit the exposition and to discover the importance of a fair in the development of the country.
In May 2007, all Bobo-Dioulasso secondary schools organized a cultural competition which was named Festival of secondary schools arts show. The Village children took part in the prize winners’ night and appreciated the different actors’ skills.
In sport activities, the village and the SOS Primary School children formed a football team and played a match against the French School André Malraux of Bobo-Dioulasso. The SOS Village and the SOS Primary School won by one goal to nil. The most important thing was not the score but the comradeship which was created through the match.
Before the end of 2007, the village will receive 15 “new” children to reach its full capacity of 120.
The school summer holidays, which will begin on 15 July, will be the opportunity for the educational team of the Village to initiate the children into other socio-educative activities (traditional hair dressing, gardening, excursions, cooking...).
The reopening of the SOS Nursery School took place on 09 October 2006. The total number of children is 188 (99 boys and 89 girls). 44 of these 188 children are SOS children and the other 144 are deprived children of the neighborhood. Thirteen (13) of the 44 Village children will attend SOS Primary School next school year. The nursery school children took part in educative activities out of class: the higher section for example, visited the music museum. That contributed to increase their linguistic skills. It was also the opportunity for them to have a good time together out of school
Relevant Countries: Burkina Faso.