Our project to support women in need, particularly mothers of disabled children, or women who are, themselves, disabled, is going very well.  We are currently supporting twelve women and eight children.  These women are now receiving help in a variety of ways, such as giving them the materials necessary to make bottles of washing liquid soap for clothes, an easy-to-make product which they can make in their own home, and which should bring them a good profit.  For those women who are not able to do this because of their disabilities, financial and/or material help is being given to them.  None of this would be possible without the dedicated help and support of Pélagie Kabré, who has direct experience of caring for a disabled son, unsupported by her husband; Marthe Zongo, a lady who has not only banking experience but also experience in the running and administration of a similar fund, and the Franciscan Friars in Ouagadougou who not only know these women who are in great need, but also have the experience to look at how such women could be encouraged, with the help of the fund, to look at ways of developing their own means of supporting themselves, including the soap-making scheme or any other scheme of which they are capable and from which they could make a living.  

In the Catholic Diocese of Koupéla, a drive of about an hour and a half east of Ouagadougou, our project to fund children through school is now well under way.  These are children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to go to school.  All their expenses will be covered, including school fees and the necessary materials.  Included in this project is a facility which the diocese is building in one of the local villages to train girls who have fallen out of the education system.  They will be given skills to, hopefully, be able to provide for themselves financially in the future.  At the moment we are funding twenty children through primary school and a further ten through secondary school.