Child sponsorship update from Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso from Winter 2007.

The end of the year is the opportunity for us to thank you for the support that you have given to the SOS Children's Village of Ouagadougou. This support has enabled the Village to be able to continue in his mission of child care in serenity.

At SOS Children's Village of Ouagadougou everyone is doing well. The country has not been affected by any epidemic such as cholera, despite the abundance of rain this year. Last September, six teenagers were found to be mature and left the Village to join the Youth Unit, reducing the number of children in the Village to 106. The Youth Facility is a transition to a complete independence. It receives young children of the Village who have a certain degree of maturity and who need to complete their school and human educations. This is a way to help them become autonomous, responsible and integrated adults.

The departure for the Youth Unit was preceded by a week of impregnation, from 24 to 30 September during which training modules were delivered to the six teenagers. The modules dealt with their empowerment, how to manage their studies, their privacies and their budget, etc. The week ended with a cultural night which was punctuated by recreational games, drama, ballets and songs, all of them performed by the children of the Village.

The admission committee has proposed 12 small orphans children, aged between 3 and 7 years old. With their imminent arrival, the number of the Village children will be 118.

Children's education in Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso

The children’s school performance is good on the whole. 79.19% of SOS Children attending primary school managed to go up to the next class for the year 2005-2006. For the year 2006-2007, 27 SOS children out of the 30 went up to a higher grade (90%). In terms of exams marking the end of the primary cycle, all the 5 children who were candidates managed to pass. The SOS Children enrolled in secondary school during the school year 2006-2007 were 56; among them, 32 went up to the higher grade (57.14%). For the school year 2005-2006, only 18 out of the 46 SOS children, managed to go up to the next class (39.13%). In terms of exams marking the end of the first cycle of secondary school, and for the school year 2006-2007, five SOS children out of the 6 managed to pass their exam, thereby making a percentage of 83.33% (the percentage was 62.50% in 2005-2006).

As you can see, the children have made progress. The teaching staff is redoubling its effort to get even better results.

To reward the best students (those who passed their end of cycle exams and those who got very good marks), we organized a holiday camp for them from 17 to 22 August at Pô (border town with Ghana) with an incursion into Ghanaian territory. The youngest of the other children made an trip to Faso Parc (natural reserve located in the city of Ouagadougou) and to the hydraulic dam of Loumbila about twenty kilometers from Ouagadougou (one of the dams that supply the city of Ouagadougou in drinking water).

Working in partnership

In order to help the Village workers better take care of the children, we hold trainings for them. The on-going training focuses on the manual of SOS Children.

The Village has received a donation of computers from a group of young people who have the desire to popularize computers in schools. This enabled us to initiate the children to the use of computers.

The Village is in partnership with the Center of Choreographic Development of Ouagadougou. It is a center of traditional and modern dance. For now, about forty of our children are initiated into dance. In addition to that, the Village is invited by the center whenever they give a performance.

We are in the preparations for the Christmas trees. As usual, we will organize one for the disadvantaged children of the environment. This is a unique opportunity for them to receive Christmas gifts. The SOS children will also have their Christmas tree.

With renewed thanks.

Best wishes for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
May the New Year bring you much Health and Happiness.

Merry Christmas
A Happy New Year 2008

Yours sincerely,

Narcisse Dabiré