Burkina Revives! (Special Post by JCVD)

After two years of real uneasiness, on the trip between December 5 and 11, it seemed to me Burkina Faso was as full of uncertainties as ever, yet more peaceful, joyful and vibrant. Mercè, Eva, Koke and I left on the 5th for an intense week of incessant work.  The...
Taking the Law into One’s Own Hands

Taking the Law into One’s Own Hands

Last week I found myself caught up in the capture of a thief who had snatched a purse from a girl on a motorbike.  I was in my car, only a few meters from the girl’s bike.  Days later, thinking it over, I’m still surprised at the scene that developed around the...

From a Thorny Path to a Rocky one

If I close my eyes I can see their faces perfectly – with expressions both defiant and skittish – They are the boys from the first group of the education and reintegration project for street kids, who have gone on to become apprentices in vocational workshops: Salfo,...
A Second Chance for Inoussa

A Second Chance for Inoussa

Inoussa is 10 years old and will stay back this year in CE2 (4th grade of primary school in the Spanish system). Of the almost 500 children in the School Scholarship Program, he is the only one who was left back to whom we will give a second chance this year. His case...
Corporal Punishment to Educate

Corporal Punishment to Educate

I’m back in Rimkieta after a few weeks in Barcelona. I’ve come back refreshed, and full of energy. And I’m convinced that after what this country has suffered over the past two years (the threat of Ebola, a popular uprising and the president stepping down, a year of...
After the Coup d’État, Life Goes on in Rimkieta!

After the Coup d’État, Life Goes on in Rimkieta!

The three weeks of standstill the coup d’etat provoked have not kept the 2015-2016 academic year and our projects in Rimkieta from getting off to a good start! This year, in addition to the Maternelle, the literacy program for mothers, the scholarships, the...