Africa 2006

Before I left on this trip I made plans to visit two organizations I had been put in touch with through contacts. One of these is the Ecole Christ Roi, a private (and non religious, despite its name) primary school in Ouagadougou (pronounced WAGAdougou), Burkina Faso’s beautifully named capital city.
The school was founded by Patrick Nitiema, a local teacher. It expanded after the involvement of a group from the Netherlands who have established a charity to support the school. The low sandy coloured brick building in one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods now has six classrooms which accommodate over 200 students in Grades 1 to 6.
Patrick, a soft-spoken and earnest man of 38, took me took the school last week to meet the students and the teachers and the visit has been one of the highlights of my trip.
The students of Ecole Christ Roi may just be the politest I have encountered. Each time I entered one of the classrooms they all stood to attention and recited “Bonjour, Madame” in perfect unison. With each presentation of a little gift, they would even bow or curtsy a little and say merci.
The oldest class has six pupils and I asked each what they wanted to be when they grew up. Their answers were varied – doctor, businessperson, priest, police officer, journalist (this by the lone female student) – and with the same childhood aspirations that everyone has at this age. I hope they all have the opportunity to realize those dreams, but I don’t know how realistic that is.
I will only do this once more on this blog, which is just little travel ditties rather than social commentary, but for this entry I would like to point out a few things: as a privately funded institution, the students of Ecole Christ Roi are expected to pay some tuition, which covers the running of the school, including the teachers’ salaries. Normally, this is equivalent to 91 Euros per month, but at the moment the school is only able to pay them half of this. There are only two toilets (holes in the ground) for the over 200 students, and they hope to construct a set of latrines as well as expand the building. Like the rest of the neighbourhood, there is no plumbing or electricity.

The foundation which has been established in the Netherlands has set up a program of sponsoring a child at the school. A donation of 100 Euros will cover the costs of the child’s tuition and books, as well as make a contribution to the teachers’ salaries. The child will write letters a few times a year to go over his or her progress.
If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child at this school (note to the Icelanders: this is about the cost of one hair cut with highlights), please contact Mieke Rietveld at g-m(dot)rietveld(at)planet(dot)nl. It would help a lot.