Four more weeks to go for this trip. Emmanuel (our local director) has just returned from his vacation.
We still have some rains which is rather late for the season. Farmers who do not have a covered place to store their crops and will lose some of it.
Sunrise at the LAP
Political situation in Burkina
Unfortunately, the president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compoaré, has decided that he wants to stay in office. He has been in charge for the last 27 years. He wants to ask via a referendum a change in the constitution allowing him to be a candidate in the 2015 elections for president.
A large majority of the population has been getting wiser in the past years thanks to the possibility of communication offered by mobile phone and internet. They have realized how much money is taken away from the country via corruption.
This decision of holding a referendum is not good news. Coming Tuesday, the opposition has called for civil disobedience. Let’s hope that this goes peacefully.
More about education in Burkina
Last Friday the teachers in the Bobo area were on strike against the reform that the government is trying to implement in Burkina.
To satisfy the donors (IMF, World Bank), the government is trying to put in place a reform of the education. Before preschools depended of the ministry of social affairs, primary schools from their own ministry, secondary schools (4 years- and 7 years cycle) also from their own ministry. The reform calls for a regrouping of the preschools, primary schools and first cycle of secondary school (4 years) under one ministry and the second cycle of secondary school under the ministry covering the university.
Nothing wrong with reform if the purpose in improving the education of the kids. Unfortunately it is only about money. In order to get funds from the donors, they have to increase the number of children entering secondary schools. This reform should have been put in place already 2 years ago. The funds already received allocated to this reform have been depleted without much of it going to the creation of schools. . They have to show some results in order to get new allocations. It is now a run to create new schools without buildings, without teachers. A big mess.
Sometime I think that people responsible for such acts should be judged has criminals. Responsibility are for both the donors and for the local government.
On top of itall, the program of studies chosen is still the program of general studies. This means that successful children will want to go to university. The university is saturated. Lectures are held in front of over 1.500 students in one room. The students who want to have a proper space have to be at 3 in the morning at their auditorium.
May be they should look what is happening in the world and start to think “virtual”. Investing in good and affordable internet communication seems to be the best way to go looking at the number of students and the bottle neck at the university.
More about the LAP
Each week I am spending 2 days at the LAP. It gives a better idea of what is going on there.
If we get the financing for the infrastructure, we will open the last 3 years of secondary school at the LAP. It is a technical school and we will teach agro business in those 3 years.
For students “agro business” doesn’t mean much to them. This trip, I spent some time with the 3rd and 4th year to explain to them ‘agro business”. Before that I asked them what they want to do later.
About 80% of the 3rd year wants to become teachers (mainly husbandry and agronomy) for the 4th year they want to become engineer in husbandry and agronomy. A small difference. We had 3 students who want to be ministers, 2 judges, 4 journalists, one parliamentary, only 4 students who want to start their own business.
To give them a better idea of what is agro business, we will plan a school trip to visit production and transformation business in and around Bobo Dioulasso: cow stables, large chicken production, beer factory…
Passing by the nursery school of Kouekouesso
Going to the LAP, I stopped at the nursery school of Kouekouesso.
It was measuring and weighing time. Children were very scared of the measuring device and of the weighing scale.
How do you circumvent trademarks?
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Birds
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Evil eye bird (merle bleu a longue queue) |
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Calao in his strange way of flying
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Proverb of the we
ek
«Le fleuve fait des détours parce que personne ne lui montre le chemin.» Gabon
“The river makes detours because nobody shows it the way.” Gabon
«Bouche de miel, cœur de fiel.» —Touareg
“Mouth of honey, heart of gall.” –Touareg
Have a nice week.
Hervé