BNP Paribas Foundation in the framework of its “Helping Hand“ initiative supports the association “Avenir par l’École” [A Future through School] . Daniel Richard, its founder and president, also an employee of BNP Paribas Switzerland, tells us about it.

Could you describe your project to us?

The association was created in order to offer children in Burkina Faso who do not attend school the opportunity of acquiring a basic education, particularly in remote parts of the country where we take on the task of educating both girls and boys. We guarantee the financing of the project from the moment we take a child under our wing until he or she reaches BEPC level (we don’t send a child to school until the money has been blocked on our account).
This year, we’ve sent about 100 children to school. We’re happy to report that among our former students there is a doctor, a male nurse with the National Police Force, two female nurses and one qualified mechanic.

Since 2007, we have been offering children from Sector 23 in Tonghin Ouagadougou the opportunity of attending our ‘toy library’ under the supervision of a school mistress who holds a state teaching diploma from Burkina Faso. More than 60 children have registered to use the centre.

What was your personal motivation for taking part in the project? What inspired you?

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After more than 40 years of travelling in Africa, I felt I had to move on to something beyond just my own personal gratification in making discoveries and taking photographs. In 1996, I went to live for a while with a Burkina Faso family I’d been in touch with for several years. Although they were very poor, the family took children under their wing and helped them with their schooling. Having seen the living conditions of the people of one of the world’s poorest countries and having twice experienced a country at war (Angola in 1984 and again in 1987), I no longer felt content with simply contributing funds to associations in Switzerland. I wanted to do more and invest my time and energy in a more hands-on project.

Here you would probably ask why did I chose finance education and not, say, health or food?

There are many associations operating in Burkina Faso. I didn’t want to duplicate their work and I wanted to be sure that each franc I collected would be fully used to finance our initiative.
Lastly, the chance to apply the old saying “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him to fish and he’ll eat with his family for a lifetime” is what motivated me in particular. What was the point in having a comfortable setup in Switzerland without sharing my relative good fortune (to the modest extent that I could) with the most disadvantaged of people?

How was the project implemented?

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I very soon decided to finance the education of a child, and discussed the matter with my friends in Ouagadougou. They took the idea and expanded on it, suggesting that I set up an association that would fund the education of not one, but many children. On my return to Switzerland, with the help of a very old friend, I managed to “play the stock market” a bit and thus scrape together enough funds to finance ten years’ basic education for five children. At the same time, I received the documentation on creating the official “NGO” documents for the Government of Burkina Faso. So, our adventure began in 1997 and continues to this day, with an Executive Committee of eight members, all of them dedicated and highly effective volunteers.
The children are selected in collaboration with the village schoolmaster, the traditional tribal chief, the parents and a member of the local committee. Problems are thus managed “African style” and not through outside intervention.

What part do local people play in your project? And what role is played by the artist Zougrana who you refer to on your website?

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Of the eight members of our Executive Committee, five are from Burkina Faso. They are the local driving force behind our activities, managing the recruitment of all the children participating in the scheme, and monitoring and reporting on their progress, as well as seeing to the promotion of the toy library and its maintenance – all completely for free of charge. The association has no running expenses and pays no salaries. The members of the Committee see to the administrative costs.

The artist E. Zougrana is a member of the Executive Committee. He supplies us with Batik-style artworks and we sell them in Switzerland to collect funds for the association.

How do you see your project developing in the future?

We have several projects in the pipeline:
a. Creating a traditional kitchen along the same lines as the toy library,
b. Replacing our vehicle (for transporting the Committee and the children),
c. “Financing” a container (from Geneva to Ouagadougou) for sending the materials that have already been received and are waiting to be shipped,
d. Offering accommodation here for volunteers who will promote our toy library.

Do you think the project can be sustained?

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The project has been running for 12 years now.
I’ve personally taken the following measures to ensure that it lasts:
 The funds for financing a child’s education must be paid into the account before that child is taken on (guaranteeing that the financing can continue until BEPC level),
 If the Chairman is incapacitated, or if he resigns, the Treasurer is committed to continue with the initiatives already undertaken, and to pay the necessary funds each year (and so the initiatives in progress will last for at least 10 years),
 The operation of the toy library (maintenance costs) is assured for 2009, and a long-term solution is being finalised (weekly rent for a nursery school for the poor children of the district).

Where does this project fit in terms of overall sustainable-development objectives?

Acquiring a complete basic education is the first step towards ensuring the development of the country (80% of the population has been to school, but 85% of these did not attend school for more than a few years) and enabling a local skills base to emerge.