Blackboard of the day of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the FAR, the farewell for the retirement of our beloved Drissa Sawadogo and the celebration of the 15th anniversary of Bassila, Aicha, Odile and Jacqueline.

As we close out 2024, we mark an incredible milestone: 20 years of dedicated service in Rimkieta. While it’s tempting to attribute our journey to chance luck,  tells me otherwise. The continued existence and growth of FAR over two decades—directly benefiting more than 2,000 women and children daily—is no accident. the result of unwavering effort, divine guidance, and the collective commitment of countless individuals. FAR has become a cornerstone in the development of Rimkieta, for which we are profoundly grateful.

To honor this decisive moment, I’d like to share a prayer of thanksgiving written and delivered by Rihanata Bambara – director of the maternelle – during our 2024 Christmas celebration. Rihanata’s heartfelt words acknowledge the divine author of what can only be described as both a “delusion” and a miracle—a force  has  possible all that we’ve achieved and continue to achieve for so many.

Laus Deo!

 A Prayer of Thanksgiving for 20 Years in Rimkieta

Lord, today we come before you with hearts full of gratitude for the calling with which you have honored our lives—a call that has shaped our personal stories and the story of Rimkieta.

Your ways are beyond our understanding, yet you guide us to the work you’ve prepared for us, when and how you have deemed best. You go before us in every mission, and today, we thank you for entrusting us with this work over these last two decades.

You’ve walked beside us, placing families, brothers, and sisters in our path—people willing to listen, share, and labor alongside us to relieve and heal human needs. While there have been moments of struggle, they have been far outweighed by others of light and hope. Our memories take us back to those first steps, when your call led us to Rimkieta – a community in need – where the first priority was the establishment of a nursery school.

You brought us the Ouedraogo family—Paul and Léonie—who generously offered space in their courtyard to build a classroom for 40 four-year-old children. From there, you stirred the hearts of generous souls in Spain, who provided the means to cover school expenses for each child, ensuring that they could all pursue their education as far as their determination would take them.

Rihanata Bambara, director of the maternelle since 2004

Your providence continued to astonish us in 2008, when you made it possible to acquire 2,000 square meters of land in Rimkieta. Three classrooms were built, serving 80 children. Today, that number has grown to 450 students across nine classrooms, divided into three sections (small, medium, and large). What began with two employees—one educator and one cook—in 2004 has blossomed into a team of 49 dedicated individuals.

Each year, your blessings enable more than 40 children to receive scholarships to continue their schooling at higher levels. And beyond the classroom, your hand has guided the expansion of our work: microcredit programs for women, literacy initiatives, sports training, girls’ education, and efforts to prevent children from ending up on the streets.

Through vocational workshops in sewing, carpentry, and welding, scholarships for university students, wells providing clean water in Zongo, community gardens, a mill project, a subsidized cereal bank, a chapel, and a medical center, you’ve shown us the boundless possibilities of your love.

For all these works, we praise you, Lord. We exalt your name and give you glory. We are grateful for the donors and patrons—those generous souls whose hearts you’ve led to help their neighbors, much like the Good Samaritan who could not pass by the wounded without offering aid.

We thank you for every life transformed, every smile on a child’s face, and every voice raised in joy. These are the expressions of our thanksgiving today.

Infinite thanks to the thrice holy Lord! Thanks also to all the donors, patrons, and supporters—near and far—who have contributed to this work. Thanks be to God, and to everyone he has brought to the aid of Rimkieta!

Amina.