Clean Water for Rural Villagers in Burkina Faso

Dear BARKA Supporters,

Today is #GivingTuesday, a GlobalGiving movement fueled by social media and generosity. Over 2.5 million gifts will be made, raising 300 million dollars online in over 150 countries.

Thanks to GlobalGiving’s $150,000 in matching incentive funds, a gift today to this project has an extra-big impact through its potential to be matched.

Plus, BARKA Foundation’s Board of Directors is providing an additional $2000 in matching funds, so we are setting a goal of raising $2000 today.

GlobalGiving’s Recurring Donor Campaign:

One last thing to consider: starting today GlobalGiving is launching a matching campaign especially for RECURRING DONORS! Any recurring donation up to $200 will get an additional 100% match on the initial donation (as long as it remains active for four consecutive payments).

BARKA is very focused right now on increasing the number of recurring, or as we like to call them, SUSTAINING DONORS, so this GlobalGiving campaign is perfectly timed.

Please consider supporting clean water, improved sanitation, and hygiene education for people who need it most in Burkina Faso this Giving Tuesday.

‘Barka’ is an African word of gratitude, blessing & reciprocity. On behalf of the BARKA team and all the beneficiaries in rural villages your gift will directly support, we say barka to you!

Dear Friend of BARKA,

It is with a heavy heart that we report that the security situation in Burkina Faso has deteriorated over the past several months. There have been several incidents of shootings, kidnappings of foreign nationals, and increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the roads- at least one on a road we've traveled.  It is also most unfortunate that since February of this year, a new battlefront has emerged in the Eastern Region, not far from BARKA Foundation's base of operations in Fada N'Gourma.

For this reason, we have decided to postpone our return to Burkina which was scheduled for September 30, until the situation improves and is taken back under control.  That said, BARKA's team on the ground will advance new in-country projects and continue to monitor and evaluate the projects we've already completed. We will supervise and guide the actions on the ground from the US while we shift our focus to what we can do from here, particularly website development, social media, video editing and fundraising.  Just last week BARKA submitted a major grant to support almost 15,000 girls and women through menstrual hygiene management, the result of 2 months of hard work and collaboration with advisors, partners and Board members.

At this time, we ask for your prayers for Burkina Faso to secure its nation once more, and for your continued financial support for BARKA Foundation to continue its work which is needed now more than ever. 

Barka!

Dear BARKA Supporter,

We have just completed an 8-month activity plan in Burkina Faso. During that time, the BARKA team reinforced the capacity of the water committee in Lampiadi, facilitated community gardens in 3 villages where BARKA had drilled wells, advanced our menstrual hygiene management program to support and empower girls by adding a 7th school, and organized a national 5-day event in conjunction with World Water Day that significantly added to the water sector's ability to work together and share information about best practices in Burkina Faso.

The last thing we did before leaving Burkina was to work with our local partner org, Initiative : Eau to test the water quality of every BARKA well. This is important because over time, wells and even underground water sources can become contaminated. Thanks to USAID's West African WASH program, BARKA trained each water committee how to "shock" their well with a micro-dose of chlorine every 6 months.

The good news- each water committee has been doing the maintenance treatment on schedule and without any prompting from us!  The results proved it- no contamination in any of the wells which have been shocking their wells.

What's next for BARKA Foundation? This summer, a delegation of 4 key BARKA staffers will be visiting the US for the first time ever. After flying into NYC, they'll visit partner communities of Marblehead and Swampscott, MA, then visit Great Barrington, the sister city to Fada N'Gourma. We'll spend some time at BARKA HQ in Maine, and then attend a Native American ceremony to share some indigenous spiritual wisdom between Ma Afrika and Turtle Island. Let us know if you'll be in the area- we'd love to see you and introduce you to some of the people who make BARKA's work on the ground something worthy of your support!

Thank you for being with us on this incredible journey. Stay in touch.

Greetings from Burkina Faso BARKA Friends,

You may have heard about the recent terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou. Although we were only 1km away from it and even heard the explosion, all BARKA staff are well and now safe in Fada, out of harm's way.

We've been working non-stop for the past 4 months to increase the efficiency between NGOs working in the water sector. BARKA Foundation is working with the Ministry of Water, the largest water NGOs in the country, and the US Embassy to address Burkina Faso's water crisis.
As a close advisor once said to us, there are many water-related NGOs doing good work here in Burkina, but no one knows what the others are doing-- imagine what we could accomplish if we worked together. This basic idea of facilitating greater cooperation to achieve a more sustainable collective impact is the theme and point of inspiration for this event.

BARKA has assembled a Dream Team of partners to help implement this Herculean task:
The Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Initative:Eau, Eau Vive, Wateraid, Global Water Partnership, Regional Chamber of Agriculture, Agence de l'Eau, the Water Museum, the Governor of Fada, the Mayor of Fada, and IRC WASH.

There are also a host of Dignitaries involved:
The Minister of Water, Niouga Ambroise Ouédraogo, is the High Patron of the Event
The Minister of Mines, Omarou Idani, is the Co-Patron
The US Ambassador, Andrew Young is the "Godfather" of the Event
Minister of Culture, Abdoul Karim Sango is a Special Guest
And UNICEF is our Major Sponsor.

The event website is now live. Check it out!

WHAT IS THE WATER FAIR?

1. We start things off on the eve of World Water Day with a Walk for Water to engage the youth and the population of Fada N'Gourma
2. On March 22nd, World Water Day, the Dignitaries will speak at an Opening Ceremony, followed by a walking tour of the murals on the walls of the Royal Palace and an audience with His Majesty King of Gourma
3. From March 22-25 is a huge open-air Exhibition where NGOs and Businesses working in the water sector will have booths to promote their work
4. From March 22-24 there will be a conference for NGOs to roll up their sleeves and figure out how to work together more effectively, share best practices (and failures), and to contemplate this year's World Water Day theme: The Answer is in Nature.
5. Each night of the Fair there will be cultural events including a live concert by Sana Bob, one of Burkina's brightest stars, plus the local traditional artists for which the Eastern region is known
6. On the last night of the Fair, we will host a Gala Dinner to launch the International Water Fund... this will finance 4 incredible projects: drilling 5 wells in 5 villages, supporting 10,000 girls and women through Menstrual Hygiene Management, ensuring clean water and sanitation in all of Fada's 161 schools, and the Water Fair itself.

BE WITH US BY HAVING YOUR NAME READ ALOUD AT THE GALA!
Even though it's not possible to transport all of BARKA's supporters to Fada N'Gourma to enjoy this event with us in person, we will read aloud the names of ALL DONORS who make an inaugural donation to help launch the International Water Fund at the Gala Dinner event.

Click here to make a donation to the International Water Fund, and let us share your generous support with all of Burkina! Barka!!!

Dear Friend of BARKA,

The rains have ended here in Burkina, and this year produced a harvest of mixed results. Sesame, black eyed peas, millet and sorghum were OK, but the corn crop failed due to rains coming too late and too infrequently. We are not yet sure how severely this will impact the eastern region.

It's now getting very dry and dusty, however at least the temperatures are a bit cooler as Burkina Faso enters the Haramattan, when winds blow from the Sahara and at night it gets down to 60°F (brrrrrrr :-) It's all relative, temps during the day still soar well above 100°F!

At BARKA Foundation, we are monitoring our most recent work, particularly through water quality testing.

1. We are testing the water quality at Lampiadi's new well, and helping them to establish an irrigated garden next to the well.
2. Next week we will visit the homes of villagers who purchased filters 6 months ago to get their feedback of the filter, observe how they're using (and cleaning) them and test the quality of the filtered water. Our animator will then give a refresher course to all filter owners on proper use and maintenance.

BARKA is also developing a new project: we are partnering with the Ministry of Water and Sanitation to produce a "Water Fair", a 5-day event in Fada N'Gourma in conjunction with World Water Day (March 22nd). Its objective is to bring together all the actors in the water domain (NGOs, government ministries, enterprises, water users) in order to facilitate greater cooperation and awareness of each other's work, in short to maximize our collective efforts. At the Fair we will also launch "The Water Fund", a mechanism to raise funds for BARKA's future water projects in the eastern region.

Be the first to make an inaugural gift to The Water Fund right here through GlobalGiving! We will keep you up to date on this event's progress.

Thank you for your support. We couldn't do what we do here with the people of Burkina without you!

Barka!!