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June 23, 2008

Design talk in Berlin

I went with Richard and Pete from my church on a flying visit to Germany last week to meet up with Francis Kere and the guys at his architectural practice.

Francis is the Burkinabe architect who designed the school at Gando (right), in the south of Burkina Faso, and we are talking with him about possibilities for the school at Gorom-Gorom.

It was a great time, and a privilege to meet with Francis and his team. I think there was a real meeting of minds, and I hope good things will come out of it. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to build the best school possible for the children of Gorom-Gorom.

If you haven't yet done so, would you think about supporting this vision by donating online through my Justgiving page ?

Thank you.

I am not a Doughnut
After we finished our meeting with Francis, we had a bit of time to walk around to look at Berlin.

What a fascinating place! It has so much history, of course, and it was quite sobering to be there and read of the massive events that have taken place there. It seemed to make British history somewhat parochial, since so many world-shaping nations and events seemed to cross paths in Berlin. Including of course Napoleon and the history of the Brandenberg Gate, the rise of Nazi Germany and the persecution of the Jews (well represented at the Holocaust Memorial), and the rise and fall of Communism epitomised by the Berlin Wall.

Not forgetting of course, Kennedy's great speech in support of freedom and the West Berliners, finishing with his declaration: "Ich bin ein Berliner"!. Although in the English-speaking world, great amusement has been had at the possibility that he was actually saying "I am a doughnut", it seems that in Germany his meaning was clearly understood and gramatically correct.

Here are Richard and I next to a bit of the Berlin Wall.

Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom school building children education berlin

Posted by Keith at June 23, 2008 08:17 AM