Empower Women and Girls through Menstrual Health

Today is Giving Tuesday, and we'd like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you for your support of BARKA's work in Burkina Faso.

We are so grateful for all the support for our 2024 projects and programs which benefitted thousands of high school girls and internally displaced villagers in the eastern region of Burkina Faso.

In fact, through BARKA's Menstrual Health program for girls in schools, we sensitized 2000 beneficiaries, and for the first time ever distributed reusable sanitary pads that were locally made by a women's association in Fada! Many other schools are expecting BARKA's actions in 2025 to support more girls in need of information and resources to successfully manage their menstruation while in school. With your help we can reach more students and expand this program.

Water has always been the most crucial issue faced by the people of Burkina Faso and of course is BARKA's primary focus. In 2024 we achieved much in this area. BARKA has two water projects going on in different stages:

• The Fada Water Project is in full swing. 2024 saw the purchasing of a plot of land for BARKA, the drilling of a positive well on that land, the formation of a group of female gardeners, and the harvest of our first crops this Fall which fed hundreds of people. The well is also providing clean drinking water to the local population which consists largely of internally displaced people (IDPs), as the security crisis of Burkina continues.
• An even larger project to provide clean drinking water to 20,000 people in 3 eastern region cities (Fada N'Gourma, Tibga, and Binadeni) is advancing through the lengthy approval process of The Rotary Foundation. We are hopeful to submit the final grant and receive funding in 2025! Partners include the Marblehead Rotary Club (MA), Sedro-Wooley Rotary Club (WA), and the Crystal Club of Ouagadougou.

As grateful and excited as we are for all that we've achieved and all that is to come, we know we can't do it without you. Since BARKA's inception in 2005 we have always wanted to say that 100% of your donation will go to programs on the ground in Burkina Faso. Now we can! Through BARKA Foundation's 501c3 status, your donation is fully tax deductible.

Please consider as generous a donation as you can at this time to help BARKA achieve its ambitious mandate for the coming year and continue to serve the population of Burkina Faso. Barka!

Gaoussou "Peace" SARAMBE,

Executive Director, Fondation BARKA

Links:

• Your donation today will be matched on Global GIVING

Throughout the year 2024 BARKA Foundation Project leaders achieved a robust campaign of sensitization in five high schools in the city of FADA N’Gourma.

In fact, from school to school the project leaders first raised awareness on different issues about Menstrual Health. After each session of sensitization, they distributed locally made reusable pads to the girls to help them manage their periods properly.

On the International Women’s Day, BARKA Foundation sponsored a soccer tournament for girls in one High school, ''Lycee Communal de Fada''. This allows those girls to benefit from sanitary pads and knowledge about the menstrual hygiene management. It also ensured them to understand they can do any activity without any threat when they have their period and put an end to missed classes.

In terms of collaboration with local partners,  BARKA Foundation partnered with CRA to gather women and girls on May 28^th, the International Menstrual Health Day, to sensitize and distribute sanitary pads to 300 women. Most of them were Internally Displaced People caused by the ongoing terrorism activities in the country.
In addition to BARKA's own MH programming, we also continued our work with Burkina's Menstrual Hygiene NGO Coalition (of which BARKA is a founding member) to organize the national celebration for MH Day in Ziniaré on May 28 which was a great success.

 BARKA is planning its next MH program to sensitize even more girls in the 2024-25 school year and we can't do all this without your continued support. Thank you for helping this to be a reality. Your support can change a girl's life.

Links:

• Please support our next year program for thousands of girls.