Association recognized as being of public benefit
A small gesture can snowball
La Boule de Neige supports education and rural development projects in Burkina Faso
: schools, children's education, water wells, small loans to start an activity. We work with local partners we know, often for years, so that every donation meets a real need rather than fitting a standard programme.
here once received from the client
Our mission
Acting where needs are real
La Boule de Neige is an association under Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code. Each year, its board members spend several weeks in Burkina Faso meeting the partners they support in person and discussing their real needs together. The rest of the year, exchanges continue by e-mail or WhatsApp.
This closeness changes the way we work. Rather than funding standardised programmes, the association responds to specific requests: financing a well for a piece of farmland, or lending interest-free to a small business just starting out. In 2025, operating costs (bank, postal fees) represented 0.36% of expenses: almost every donation goes directly to the field.
Our work is organised around four areas: water, education and schooling, rural development, and humanitarian aid during famines.
Our history
Key milestones
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1986
A donkey and a cart are given to a family in Burkina Faso through a sponsorship scheme. The start of a correspondence between Alain and Nicole that would last sixteen years.
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2001
The association is founded on 30 November, upon returning from a first trip to Burkina Faso.
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2002
Donation of 2 oxen, a plough, tools to work the land, and seeds.
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2003
The first three children are sent to school thanks to the association's support, one of its very first concrete actions on the ground.
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2004
Purchase of a tractor and a plough.
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2006
Purchase of a trailer.
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2007
Construction of a recording studio.
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2008
Construction of a mill and purchase of a rice huller.
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2009
Partial construction and opening of 4 classrooms at Collège Gédéon in Kompienga.
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2010
In August, our partner and friend Alain visits Switzerland for a month. School books are bought by Frères de nos Frères for the school's 175 pupils across all four grade levels.
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2011
85 children in the eastern region are enrolled in school, to be supported all the way through to their BEPC diploma.
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2012
Collège Gédéon is connected to the electricity grid.
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2015
A container filled with 50 computers, library furniture and 2,500 books is sent to Collège Gédéon.
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2016
Construction of a first building and a borehole in its courtyard, for a kindergarten on the outskirts of Ouagadougou.
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2017
Acquisition of weaving looms and all related materials (thread, dye, wool, etc.) in Niendouga.
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2018
Continued construction of classrooms for the Ouagadougou primary school (one per year since 2016).
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2019
Construction of a honey house in Niendouga.
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2021
Construction begins on a rice storage building next to the milling facility.
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2022
Food distribution following a request made because of insecurity: farmers can no longer keep working their fields.
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2023
Parents can no longer afford school fees for their children. The association decides to cover the salaries of the headmaster and the three teachers at Collège Gédéon, which stays open thanks to their courage, despite the insecurity in Kompienga.
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2024
Famine in the eastern region. Food is bought for the children attending school.
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2025
A women's market-gardening association is founded near Koupela. Support for training at a sewing and tailoring school in Fada N'Gourma.
This timeline is only a summary, you can read much more in our annual reports. For the full story of our beginnings, read the complete history of the association →
A few moments from this journey, in pictures
On the ground
Concrete actions
A growing school
The primary school on the outskirts of Ouagadougou had a single classroom when it opened in 2015. It now has nine, for 236 pupils, about thirty more than the previous year. The school canteen, completed in 2025, now lets children have a meal at midday.
Schooling continues despite insecurity
At the secondary and vocational school in Kompienga, in the east of the country, the situation remains precarious in 2026. Teachers could only return to the school partway through the year, escorted by a military convoy, and classes continued through the summer to make up for lost time. Despite these conditions, more than 70% of pupils passed their exam in 2025. To keep teachers paid, the association exceptionally covered their salaries for eight months, with support from the municipality of Thônex.
Interest-free loans rather than one-off donations
In Burkina Faso, a bank loan costs between 7 and 10% interest, a rate that's hard to absorb for a small project. The association instead offers interest-free loans, repaid on a schedule adapted to each situation: buying a freezer for a fish stall, building a chicken coop, fitting out a weaving workshop.