Since 30 November 2001
From a donkey and a cart to an entire region
Twenty-five years of history began with one simple gift. Here is how an isolated gesture, in 1986, became an association recognized as being of public benefit.
A correspondence that lasts sixteen years
In 1986, we decide to give a donkey and a cart to a family in Burkina Faso, through a sponsorship scheme run by the association "La Goutte d'Eau". A few weeks later, a letter arrives from Alain, a young man in the family who can write. He thanks us for the donkey and the cart, very useful for everyday transport, and asks for news of us.
A correspondence begins between Alain and Nicole, one that will last sixteen years. Through the letters, we learn that Alain studied in Niger, that he got married, and that a little girl, Grâce, was born from that union.
The 2001 journey
In 2001, we decide to go and meet Alain and his family, who live in Fada N'Gourma. Three weeks immersed in the country, in his company, to discover it, and at the same time let him discover it too. We visit the west, as far as Bobo-Dioulasso, then Orodara, where a friend from Geneva lives, before heading back up to Ouagadougou, then Kaya, and finally arriving in Fada N'Gourma.
Invited one evening to eat at Alain's, we discover a home reduced to the strict minimum, and tô, their staple food, which we find very hard to swallow. Alain then offers to take us to Mahadaga, at the far east of the country, on the border with Niger: his family's home region. There we find the cart from the 1986 sponsorship again. The donkey, though, had passed away some time before.
Back in Fada, we head south towards Kompienga province, in the south-east, not far from the Togolese border. There, Alain has a piece of land he would like to farm with his cousin.
The first step
We talk it over with Alain and his cousin. They ask whether it would be possible to help them get hold of some tools, two oxen and a ploughshare to work the field. When we agree to this first request, we don't yet know where it will lead us.
Back in Switzerland, we decide to found our association. We call it "La Boule de Neige" ("The Snowball"), because after this first step, it is meant to grow and help other people, thanks to us, but also thanks to the help of our friends, our municipalities and various foundations. This is how we have managed to carry out all these actions for our friends in Burkina Faso.
Since that first step, the association has contributed to the growth of an entire region: providing heavy farm equipment, building a secondary school for young people aged 12 to 15, a primary school with a kindergarten, and many other projects carried out with our local partners.
Today
Four areas of action
We work in Burkina Faso in the fields of agriculture, water, education, rural development and humanitarian aid during famines, always in close collaboration with local partners who share our values.
Water
Drilling boreholes: access to drinking water and irrigation for market-garden crops.
Education and schooling
Support for schooling in Mahadaga and the east of the country, construction of a secondary school in Kompienga and a primary school in an outlying district of Ouagadougou, vocational training in sewing and tailoring in Fada.
Rural development
Support for agriculture, market gardening, tree planting and poultry farming.
Humanitarian aid
Emergency response and food distribution for displaced and vulnerable people.
How we work
A human-scale association
Our aim is to guide the people we support towards long-term independence, walking alongside them on their path rather than deciding for them. We favour the involvement of local human resources in carrying out projects, and we seek to strengthen the technical skills and leadership of our partners on the ground.
We meet our partners every year in autumn, in Burkina Faso. Our operating costs are kept to a strict minimum, and travel expenses on our trips are entirely covered by us personally: not a single franc of donations goes towards financing our travel.
The association is recognized as being of public benefit, and your donations are tax-deductible.
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