Operation Blessing - Microenterprise/Life Skills

In January, Operation Blessing completed a major humanitarian project in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Life is a short, hard struggle for most of the 12 million inhabitants living in this dry and dusty West African nation. Burkina Faso is faced with a severe lack of clean and fresh water supplies. Only a few houses have running water and most people must trek miles to fetch as much water as they can carry on their backs. And even then, the water may be polluted, dirty and potentially hazardous.

First Priority: Clean Water
We at Operation Blessing combined our Hope Works and Living Waters programs for this project. First, the well would not only be a lifeline of fresh water for the local people, but serve the area's many single mothers. Either widowed or divorced, they have been left on their own in a society where men provide for the family. They are often forced to beg for food or resort to prostitution. For example, Rosalie lost her husband a year ago and was rejected by her in-laws because she had converted from Islam to Christianity. She was left with no inheritance and three small boys to care for!

The second phase of the project aimed at making sure women like Rosalie became self-sufficient. Our team designed a garden project that would use the water from the well and also provide jobs and food. The village needed two wells to serve the area; one hand pump and a water storage tower powered by a motor which would be used to water the plants in the garden. In November 2003, a drilling crew arrived and began to make the wells. The wells were dug inside the walls of a church compound for security. The church is also in a central location. It is estimated the wells will serve 1,700 people who used to have to endure a two-mile walk to a deteriorating hand pump.

Planting Begins
Forty of the most needy women were chosen to work in the garden. Each was given her own plot of land. The first task was to break up the hard rocky soil so it would be fit for planting. This took days of hard work under the hot African sun. When the soil was ready, they were given seeds including tomato, carrot, onion, lettuce, peppers and eggplant. An agricultural expert was asked to come and give the new farmers lessons on how to cultivate and care for their crops. They planted their seeds and then watered the soil.

After planting, the women still had to be at the garden all day every day, continually watering their plots. Soon, their efforts would be rewarded as new sprouts began to appear through the soil. They were fueled by fertilizer and fresh water provided by Operation Blessing partners. The once barren dusty land had been transformed into a luscious haven; the largest of its kind in Ouagadougou.

Now the Harvest
The same women who were recently desperate for food were now working for themselves. They were growing vegetables that they could both sell in the market place and use to feed their families. This project is self-sustaining. Participants will deduct a small percentage of their earnings for maintenance costs. The presence of the wells and the water tower means the garden will be able to produce crops all year round! This community and the lives in it have literally been transformed!

Make a Big Difference
This is just one of the many Hope Works micro-enterprise projects in action around the world. Your gift $50 can give a South American family enough livestock to be able to begin a profitable farm. $100 can train and equip a woman in Africa or Asia to be seamstress. And just $150 can help an unemployed father or mother in the USA begin the move from welfare to the workforce through our 12-week Life Skills Empowerment program.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This microenterprise venture is one of many Operation Blessing projects touching lives around the world. You can be a part of improving the quality of life for impoverished communities by supporting these and other life-changing programs.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 1997- 2010 by Operation Blessing International of this page and all contents. No part of this site may be used without prior written consent from OBI. All Rights Reserved. Questions or comments? Email us at operation.blessing@ob.org.