Free school fees for displaced children in Burkina

Bissiguin is a small village located north of the city of Ouahigouya. In this village lived Safia, a fourteen-year-old girl with a shy gaze but full of dreams. Every morning, before sunrise, she helped his mother draw water and prepare the family's meal. Afterward, she would walk to the high school, not to go to class, but to sit under the large mango tree, just behind the classrooms. Safia loved listening to the teacher's voice carried on the wind. She would repeat the words in a low voice, tracing imaginary letters in the sand. Since her father's death, her mother, displaced after attacks on their village of origin, struggled to feed her children. The school fees were too high.

One morning, the school principal gathered the parents and children. He announced that Global NEEED Burkina and its partners had launched a project to make school tuition free. That day, Salia entered a classroom for the first time. She hadn't been able to do so for the two years they had been living in Ouahigouya. She received a bag, notebooks, a book, and pens. She clutched them tightly like a treasure.

The beginnings were difficult. Safia didn't find his way around easily, but she never gave up. In the evenings, by the light of a solar lamp, she recited her lessons to his mother. She listened in silence, her heart filled with emotion, convinced that school was now their only wealth.

The seasons passed, bringing rain, harvests, and exams. Salia became one of the best students in his school. Today, she dreams of becoming a teacher, to teach children in forgotten and abandoned villages, so that never again will a child be left under the mango tree while others study in the classroom.

For Safia, free schooling has not only opened the doors of education, it has given meaning back to her future.

My name is ONGOIBA Samayatou

I'm 15 years old and I'm a 8th-grade student at the Lycée Wendlamita in Ouahigouya. I come from the village of Kaïn, near the Malian border. My family and I fled the insecurity to seek refuge in Ouahigouya. Knowing no one upon our arrival and being internally displaced, everything was new to me and my family, who left all our belongings in the village.

It was the free education program implemented by Global NEEED Burkina that greatly helped me get back to school.

At the time, in my village, you had to pay registration fees and school supplies. Thanks to this support, my father didn't have to pay a single franc for my high school education. I received a school uniform and a school kit consisting of a bag, notebooks, pens, and a pencil case, and this gave me renewed hope to continue my studies.

Every morning, I head to school with my fellow students with immense joy. I've even forgotten the few troubles our family has experienced and achieved a passing grade average. Free tuition has allowed me to train, work hard, and hope for a better future.

For me, education is the only way out of poverty and one day help my family and other children in vulnerable situations.

My family expresses its gratitude to Global NEEED Burkina and its generous partners who are sparing no effort to help internally displaced students in the commune of Ouahigouya.