Toubab Dialaw, Senegal — 7:18 AM: It’s definitely much colder than I expected. About 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

The place? Toubab Dialaw, 55 kilometers from Dakar, Senegal’s capital.

Voices from Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and several other West African countries added vibrancy to the still brisk air that enveloped the breakfast room. I noticed that our grantee partners had formed groups and were engaged in animated dialogue. Indeed, the networking was already beginning. After months of planning, anticipation, and excellent logistical support from grantee partner Synapse Center, GFC’s first Knowledge Exchange workshop in West Africa was coming to life.

7:56 AM: I’ve forgotten about the cold by now. Read more

Seno, Burkina Faso - The Saturday hustle and bustle of Ouagadougou’s market slowly faded as we made our way to the main road, exiting the city and heading toward Burkina Faso’s more secluded northern provinces to meet with our grantee partner Action pour la Promotion des Droits de l’Enfant au Burkina Faso (Action for the Promotion of the Rights of the Burkinabe Child, or APRODEB). Its malnutrition prevention and rehabilitation program operates in remote and rural areas in northern Burkina Faso, one of the poorest and most underserved regions of the country and an area where child labor in gold mines is prevalent. Established in 2000, the organization also targets school-going children through its child-to-child program promoting school enrollment and awareness of issues affecting children and child laborers. Read more

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso — Half of a yellow sun rising toward an onlooking girl. That is the visual representation of the founding principle of Association d’Appui et d’Eveil Pugsada (Association for Supporting and Awakening Pugsada), or ADEP, appropriately displayed on the entrance gate to the group’s head office.

Dressed in a vibrant blue and yellow pagne, Hortense Lougue, ADEP’s head coordinator, was the first to greet us. Solome Lemma (GFC’s program officer for Africa) and I then met with the rest of ADEP’s dynamic team, whose enthusiasm and passion over the next three hours could not be confined to their office walls as they talked about their recent projects and vision for the future. Read more