December 01, 2009
Gorom-Gorom School: Second Class Sponsored!
We are very happy to announce that the second intake for the Gorom-Gorom school is now fully sponsored!
Two families - one in the US and one in the UK are sponsoring the class between them.
There are 35 children in this second intake. The sponsorship will ensure not only the teacher's salary and the running costs for the class, but also a meal a day for each child.
Thank God with us for this provision for the children, and please pray for them and their teacher, Mr Bamogho, that they might know God's blessing throughout their time at school together.
Please click on the image above if you want to know more about the Gorom-Gorom school. There you can find out more about the vision for the school and the construction plans, as well as the class sponsorship scheme. Or click below to donate online towards the building of the school. Thank you.
October 26, 2009
Gorom-Gorom School: The Second Year Starts
35 new students have been registered for the second intake for the Gorom-Gorom school, as it starts its second year. It is encouraging to see that the good report on the school's first year has encouraged a higher intake for this second year.
New Class Starts
I spoke to the headmaster, Nicodeme, by phone this week, and he says that the new teacher has arrived, and they have built another temporary classroom next to the first one, and they are starting classes.
We had hoped to have started building the school proper by now, but unfortunately, the start has been unavoidably delayed. This has been frustrating, but it is encouraging to see Nicodeme, Pastor Daniel, and the church in Gorom-Gorom pushing on so enthusiastically regardless. The essential thing is that the children, who never before had the possibility of going to school, are now getting access to a quality education in a loving Christian environment. Please pray for the teachers and children, that they may know God's blessing this year.
Building Project
The reasons for the delay in the construction project have been various, and partly a result of trying to do everything as well as possible, and of keeping the church in Burkina and partners in Europe walking together in the way forward. Our desire has been to offer an approach to the school construction which is innovative, but without imposing western ideas. Some of the ideas that we have been suggesting have been very new for Burkina, and it may be that some are not appropriate. We hope though that the end result will be not only a quality school, but one that reflects the heart of God's love for the marginalised and dispossesed. Please pray that we may together make swift progress now on the construction project.
Class Sponsorship
We have been hoping to find sponsorship for this second intake, and it looks like we may have found it. Please pray that this will work out - we know it is difficult for people to make such commitments at this time of worldwide financial difficulties.
To find out more about the school sponsorship project and the construction project, please go to the Gorom-Gorom School page.
June 15, 2009
Gorom-Gorom School: Sponsor A Class
€190 per month per class, or under €5 per child per month to sponsor the Christian school in Gorom-Gorom...
Building the school is in some ways the easy bit. Because we are aiming to help the poorest of the poor, the parents of the children at Wakkil Alla primary school will not be able to make enough of a contribution to cover the salaries of the teachers and the running costs of the school. This is the challenge to make the school viable.
Sponsor a Class
For the first few years, we would like to find some support for the school, until it can get established. Rather than child sponsorship, we are looking at class sponsorship. We would like to find 6 churches who would each be willing to sponsor a class of children through its 6 years of school. This would give the school time to get established and potentially develop other means of support.
We plan to take in one class of up to 40 children each year for the first 6 years, until we have a full school of 6 classes with up to 240 children. The first class is already being sponsored by Glenwood Church in Cardiff, and so we need 5 more churches over the next 5 years - starting this October (2009).
| Class | Years | Sponsored? |
| Class 1 | 2008-2014 | Yes |
| Class 2 | 2009-2015 | ? |
| Class 3 | 2010-2016 | ? |
| Class 4 | 2011-2017 | ? |
| Class 5 | 2012-2018 | ? |
| Class 6 | 2013-2019 | ? |
Cost
We are looking for a contribution of €2,300 (currently $3,200 or £2,000) per year towards the cost of supporting a class of 40 children (teacher salary, food, administration). That works out at €190 per month per class, or under €5 per child per month.
Do you think your church or group could commit to €190 per month for 6 years to help put a class of 40 children through a Christian elementary school? Maybe you and eighteen friends could each afford €10/month?
Could you help?
We need support for the second class by this October, and then support for each of the next four classes to start on each of the following four years. If you think you or your church or group could help us, do please get in touch with us at admin@acaciapartnershiptrust.org.uk.
Read more about the school at: www.undertheacacias-school.org.uk
June 06, 2009
A Kitchen for the Gorom-Gorom School
Rev Paul Bedford of Wellingborough URC presented me with a cheque of £5,000 a couple of weeks back, to go towards building a kitchen for the Gorom-Gorom school.
The church have raising funds over the last year, with a variety of events. In the photo are a few members of the church's mission committee, including my mum, next to Paul. And you may also spot my lovely fiancee, Lynne, by my side, where she belongs. Two weeks today...
March 17, 2009
Gorom-Gorom School Update
This is an artist's impression of what the school in Gorom-Gorom could look like when finished.
The design has still to be finalised, but the idea is that, instead of the standard cement brick and tin roof, we would design something that would give the best to the least, providing a school building that would be:
- Academically stimulating - encouraging student engagement
- Physically comfortable - reducing climatic impact
- Socially empowering - creating community-building space
- Aesthetically pleasing- displaying beauty
- Environmentally friendly - made with appropriate materials
The basic design is that of 6 classrooms around a central courtyard, with "break-out spaces" between the classes as an alternative learning space, and a sheltered outside place where the whole school could gather. The roof would be vaulted, made of brick, and use would be made of local building materials and natural ventilation to keep the classes cooler. Because we failed to find water on the school site, we are looking at rainwater harvesting, to collect rain in large underground tanks, pumped up to a small water tower, as a means of providing water for drinking and cooking.
All this is the work of Richard Woods and team from Captita - a bunch of architects who in their spare time are helping us design the school.
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Richard came out recently, to see the school as it is running in a rented house, and he presented us with some of the team's great ideas for the school building. Other aspects of the design would include the raising of the school on a plinth to protect against flooding, the possible use of solar power, composting latrines, teachers' housing, and gardening, and sports areas within the school grounds.
We hope to start building later this year. Please pray for Richard and team and for us as we continue to finalise details and raise funds. If you want to support the school or find out more, follow this link to the Gorom-Gorom School Page.
March 03, 2009
Love Burkina
My home church, Glenwood Church, recently held an "auction of promises" - an event called "Love Burkina", (for Valentines Day) to help raise money for the Gorom-Gorom School.
I don't have many details, but apparently they raised about £2,000 for the school! Thanks guys!
January 30, 2009
Gorom-Gorom School Update
We had a great visit recently from Richard, Thereze, and Lynne, who came to look at how to support progress in the Gorom-Gorom primary school.
Richard, together with a team of colleagues from Capita, the architects firm for which he works, are looking at how to help us design the best model of school. They are coming up with some exciting designs, and I will write more on that soon. Thereze and Lynne did craft work with the kids, and have been involved in mobilising people to pray, provide school lunches, and sponsor this first class.
Here are Richard and Lynne in class:
And here, Chantale is showing Thereze what is being cooked for lunch:
More soon...
January 17, 2009
Asking for the Road.
Update: Thanks for your prayers. We got to Gorom-Gorom, thanks to the kindness of a friend who lent us his vehicle. Things are going really well so far. More soon...
In Burkina Faso, when you have been visiting and want to leave, you have to "ask for the road" - ask for permission to move on.
Richard, Thereze, and Lynne are here in Burkina Faso for a few days, looking at plans for the design, building, and running of the Gorom-Gorom Christian School, which we have started. So far, we have had an excellent meeting with the national church leadership, and an excellent visit to Gando to see the prize-winning school there.
However, it has not been smooth sailing. Their arrival was delayed for 24 hours due to fog in London. We had a run-in with a policeman who had been drinking and was looking for a bribe. And then my truck, which I had just received back after 5 days in the garage, broke down again last night, when we were hoping to leave for Gorom-Gorom early this morning.
In spite of all this, we are encouraged, and believe the time is very important.
Will you please now join us in "asking for the road"? Please pray for the rest of this short trip, that we can get to Gorom-Gorom quickly, that God continues to protect and guide, and that he will help us to accomplish all he intends for this trip.
Many thanks
December 06, 2008
Thanks for your prayers
Thanks for your prayers for the well-drilling on the ground of the school we will be building this year.
Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find any water on the school ground, which has been a huge disappointment. Water will be essential not only for the children to drink and for cooking meals, but also for actually building the school.
However, we have found a temporary and partial solution. A nearby secondary school, which has a good water supply, had an extra pump that was broken down. The school agreed that if we repaired it, we would be able to use the water for our school until a longer-term solution is found.
So, on the last day, the team worked until after dark, watched by crowds of school children, to take apart the old pump, and put a new pump on. What a relief it was when it was finished, and water flowed! Thank God with us for this.
Hopefully this will provide enough water for cooking and drinking, but we may need to truck in water for building. And we will need to look for other possibilities to get a water supply on the school ground itself.
Please come back for more photos of the well-drilling, and to keep up with news of progress on the school.
December 03, 2008
Well-drilling Latest
Thank you for your prayers for the well-drilling at the grounds of our new school. Unfortunately our second drill on the school ground also turned up dry, producing plenty of dust, but no water.
As you can imagine, this has been a great disappointment. We are looking at alternative temporary solutions to provide water for the school. Tomorrow we will look at a nearby pump that is broken down. We hope we may be able to repair it and use that for a year or two, while we look into longer-term solutions. Please keep praying. Thank you.
I hope to write more, and post photos when I am next down in Ouaga.
December 02, 2008
Please pray for water
This afternoon, I was sitting under an acacia tree, with my laptop on battery power, watching the well-drillers here on the school ground.
The first hole has been completely dry, and we have just started what will be our last try at the other end of the school land.
It would be really hard to build the school without a water supply. And of course it would be really hard to have a school of several hundred children without water for them to drink during the heat of the day.
We really need to find water tomorrow.
Please keep praying.
Thank you.
November 28, 2008
Gorom-Gorom School
Here are some of the children in the first class of the Gorom-Gorom school - a photo I took about an hour ago.
I am just on my way back to Cekol Koba to carry on with the well-drilling. More soon...
October 13, 2008
Gorom-Gorom School Begins Today!
Update 16 Oct: We now have 37 children enrolled for the school!
Yes, the first classes of the Christian Primary School for Gorom-Gorom begin today.
We don't yet have the school building, and are holding the school in a rented house for this first year. We have just recruited children for year 1, and will be taking in another class each year. In this way we will have a full school in six years.
The head teacher is called Nicodeme, and when I spoke to him a few days ago, he said that we have 24 children enrolled for the class so far. Two of those children will be Halima and Yusufi (right)
Please pray for Yusufi and Halima and the other children, and for Nicodeme as the school gets under way.
Thank you.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina mission gorom-gorom sahel charity school
October 07, 2008
Thank you
Just a quick thank you to those of you who have been raising funds for the Gorom-Gorom School.
I know some of you have given anonymously and generously through your churches or via my Justgiving site. In Glenwood church, Helen has been working tirelessly to organise events to mobilise people to raise funds, including a Barn Dance, a Car Boot Sale, Bag packing... etc. Here are some photos of other activities:
Paul and team from Glenwood did the Welsh 3 Peaks challenge:
The Glenwood Church Craft Group have been making and selling bags:
Steve ran the London marathon. In spite of injuring himself on the way round, he completed the race - even if slower than he would normally have done it...
Wellingborough URC held an "Auction of Promises":
And Judy, whose husband Al died last year, has asked that some of the money from his estate should help drill the well at the Gorom-Gorom school.
Al & Judy worked with us in Burkina Faso for several years, investing their lives in the kingdom of God there. Judy felt Al would have also wanted some of his money to be invested in Burkina for the same purpose.
Al was rarely far from his trucks and a mug of coffee, but was dedicated to seeing young Burkinabe released into ministry.. His investment into the lives of young Burkinabe men has brought much fruit, with many of those men going on to become pastors and missionaries.
And you...?
If you are doing something, or are planning to organise something to raise money for the school, please let me know.
You can also start your own page with JustGiving for your event.
Thank you.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina mission sponsorship gorom-gorom sahel charity fundraising school
September 24, 2008
Latest news on the school
I spoke to Pastor Daniel today on the phone, and he says so far we have about 15 children signed up for the first class of the new Primary School in Gorom-Gorom. The head teacher has also arrived - his name is Nicodeme.
Please pray for Nicodeme and for the new pupils. Thank you.
September 20, 2008
Wellingborough
Tomorrow I will be speaking in my mum's church in Wellingborough.
The church, Wellingborough URC, is helping raise money towards the school for Gorom-Gorom.
Click on the picture to see an article in the local post about what they are doing.
September 07, 2008
School lunch
Pastor Jean-Baptiste tells this story of when he was a teacher in a Christian school:
"There were two Muslim girls in my class. They were intelligent girls, but they would fall asleep in class. I called them to come and chat.
'Monsieur', they said, 'it is because we are hungry.'
I checked out and found there were 20 people in their families with hardly any food. I was given some money and bought their families five sacks of millet. I told them to use the millet for the whole family, but that there was one sack for each girl.
The father of one of the girls thought I wanted to marry her, and that was why I had given the food! I told him that it wasn't that, but that they were intelligent girls and I wanted them to come to school with a full stomach so they could study.
That girl became a Christian. Today she is the minister for Human Rights in the Burkina government. And she loves Jesus."
Our school is targetting the neediest children. We are already getting interest from local families - including two Christian Fulani families - who want to send their children to the school we are starting. For another glimpse of the importance of school meals, see Steve's story from 2004 of a Fulani boy at school.
Please pray as we try and find the funding and the best way to provide school meals for our new school pupils. Thank you.
August 27, 2008
Gorom-Gorom School Update
We are planning to open a Christian primary school in Gorom-Gorom this year. The school is aimed at providing quality education in a healthy social and spiritual environment for the poorest in Gorom-Gorom.
School to Open in Rented Accommodation Oct 2008!
We plan to build the school over the coming year. In the meantime, we plan to open the school this October in rented accommodation. We will take in year 1 this year, and add a class each year until we have a full school.
• The Official Stuff. The school dossier is about ready for submission to the government. Pastor Daniel has officially informed the local authorities of the school opening, and begun informing parents of the school starting this Oct.
• Teachers. The national church is looking at sending a teacher from a nearby Christian school to come as the head teacher for the Gorom-Gorom school. If this happens it would be good, as it is a similar area with similar issues, so he would be aware of the context. Please pray for the right person.
• Temporary School Room. For the first year, we are renting a nearby house. The house itself will also serve as a home for the head teacher, and the class will be in a shelter outside. Before October, we need to repair the house, improve the toilets, and (if possible) to put a water supply in.
• School Design. We are still working on possible designs for the final school building. We want to build something that will have a positive impact academically, socially, aesthetically, and environmentally. Please pray for the right design.
• Finances:
- We have already received quite a good sum towards building the school. Although the final cost of the school building can’t be calculated until we have the final design, we estimate that we still need quite a bit more. When I have more details, I will post them here.
- Because we are aiming at helping the poorest children, we know that parental contributions will not cover the costs of salaries and of running the school. We are looking at how to help cover the costs. Please pray for wisdom and for God’s supply.
- We are getting started on making the furniture for this class - ie up to 20 children's desks, which can each seat 2 children, a desk and chair for the teacher, and a cupboard. My estimate is that this may come to a total of about £1000.
- School meals: we also want to supply a midday meal for all the children, and are looking at the most efficient, cost-effective, and beneficial way to do this.
More soon...
Information and Donating
* For more information about the vision for the school, go HERE.
* If you would like to help in any way with the school, you can give online HERE, or see HERE for how to send money by post.
Thank you.
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 .jpg)
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
May 21, 2008
GIVE ONLINE to the Gorom-Gorom School !
You can now GIVE ONLINE to the Gorom-Gorom school!
Just go to http://www.justgiving.com/glenwoodgorom-gorom
Apparently, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
I'm not sure if people outside the UK can use this for giving - please let me know. Update: Apparently people outside the UK can indeed use the site, but their gifts are not available for Gift Aid. (Thanks Scott)
Thank you.
May 06, 2008
Banquet for Africa
I arrived in the USA yesterday, where I will be for the next month or so, speaking at different churches - see my itinerary here.
This Thursday (8th), I will be speaking at a Banquet for Africa, here in Richmond, VA, organised by World Horizons.
I will be sharing about the ministry in Burkina Faso, and particularly for the vision for the school we will be building in Gorom-Gorom. We also hope to raise funds on the evening for the school. Please pray for this event.
Thank you.
April 30, 2008
Gorom-Gorom School Video
Here is a short (4 min) video about the school we are building in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso.
Read more about the school HERE, and donate to help us build it HERE.
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom schools building video
April 21, 2008
Building a Primary School for Gorom-Gorom
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In partnership with the Burkinabe church, we are working to build and resource a primary school in Gorom-Gorom in Burkina Faso.
I have now uploaded pages about the school HERE, and you can DONATE to it HERE.
THE VISION
Pastor Daniel Kabore of the Gorom-Gorom church has a vision for a Christian primary school in the town - a school open to all, regardless of religion, race, or sex, and particularly aimed at helping provide quality education for the poorest and most vulnerable sector of society.Glenwood Church in Cardiff is committed to support the church in Burkina Faso in building this school, and is looking for partners and donors in this project.
EDUCATION NEEDS IN BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso has one of the lowest literacy and school-enrolment ratios of any country, and the existing schools in Gorom-Gorom are not meeting the current need. Education is a key factor for Burkina Faso's development, and is central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.BUILDING THE SCHOOL
The school will be built in two phases. We aim to build Phase 1 by October 2009 with 3 classrooms, a head teacher's house, a well, kitchen, and toilets. The estimated cost of Phase 1 is £40,000 ($80,000).Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom schools building construction
January 09, 2008
Gando school
One of my projects for the coming year is - with the help of my home church in Cardiff - to help fulfil the vision of Pastor Daniel, of the church in Gorom-Gorom, to build a Christian primary school in the town.
We have been looking at alternative designs for building a school that would be more student-friendly, aesthetic, and environmentally positive than the cement-brick “ovens” in which classes are often 
held. So, on Saturday, I took Pastor Daniel down to Gando, a village near Tenkodogo, to look at the Gando school. The school, designed and built by Francis Kéré (right), won the 2004 Aga Khan prize for architecture. We wanted to see if we could rifle any good ideas.
It was about 200km each way, so we left at 6am to give us time to have a good look, and get back before sunset. It turned out that Kéré, born in Gando, but now living in Germany, had come back to the village for the holidays, and had not yet returned. He kindly offered to give us the guided tour. Kéré is very modest about his achievements, emphasising that the whole exercise has been an experiment, and that by building in phases, he is trying different approaches and learning as he goes. He has been very helpful as we think about how we might proceed in Gorom-Gorom.
Phase 1 (2001)
This is the prize-winning building, seen above. Almost all materials and work is local - mostly earth and rock, both in ready supply. The walls are made from pressed mud bricks, with a measure of cement mixed in, using the brick press. The bricks are resistant, but need to be protected from the rain - in this case by the suspended tin roof.
Two adjoining classrooms had different floors – one cement, one dammed earth. The dammed earth seemed visibly to be resisting better. The ceiling of the classrooms was made by lying bricks on top of rows of metal bars, providing insulation and allowing air flow. The tin sheet roof is suspended over the brick ceiling by a metal frame, protecting the building from rain, and allowing air flow. Kéré says that they have not had any problems with the wind, even during very high winds that knocked down trees.
There are inter-class spaces, themselves classroom-sized, and could be eventually bricked in if necessary to form extra classes. However, they are freely used by children for their own study, and offer a place of shelter outside. Kéré has been experimenting with window designs that cut down on dust, and that can be opened fully (as shutters) to allow more air flow at other times.
