Catherine looks at the sewing machine as if she has been given the keys to an expensive car. This is the reward for 3 years of difficult cutting and sewing lessons, ending with an exam. She passed and will therefore take up an apprenticeship at a tailor’s atelier any day now, and then she can start her own business.

Work is everything in Burkina Faso. In a country where only about 45% of people over the age of 15 can read, having a trade allows one to support themselves and their family. It allows you to live in a city that offers education, health care and security.

In a moment, she will dress up in the dress she sewed during the exam to celebrate with Fatimata and Florence, and although she poses shyly in front of the camera, we know that inside her heart is dancing with joy. She has earned it.

What kind of life would await her if it were not for the education you have funded? 80% of the workforce in Burkina Faso is made up of farmers who are forced to move constantly by terrorists. She might have to walk tens of kilometres every day in search of clean water. Perhaps she would be part of the huge percentage of unemployed people who occasionally pick up various odd jobs in an attempt to survive.

You do not agree to this, which is why you open one door after another for these young women, even though the burden of the journey is theirs. Celebrate with our female students today, it is also your success!