Kristin on Burkina Faso

In September 2018, illuminAid traveled to Burkina Faso to implement a workshop with UNICEF partners. Matt and I were on the ground in the capital city, Ouagadougou (pronounced Wagoo) to facilitate the workshop. Burkina Faso is an entirely French speaking country, but luckily our Local Video Trainers were fluent in both French and English.

The workshop took place Monday, Sept 24 through to Thursday and included 19 participants. Fourteen participants were from various local charities and organizations partnered with UNICEF. The remaining  five participants were staff of UNICEF. From the first day of the workshop, it was clear that the attendees were very eager to create video. Typically illuminAid works with staff from one organization and it was an interesting experience working with individuals from 19 different organizations. We were unsure of how the workshop would unfold. Fortunately, the attendees quickly developed a bond and were encouraging each other throughout the process. Though the four day training was conducted in French, the attendees’ level of concentration and engagement was palpable and included spontaneous burst of laughter and lightheartedness.

Despite the success of the workshop, we did encounter some trouble in delivering the equipment. illuminAid brought 15 camera kits, 32 projector kits and 33 recharge kits in our suitcases. Typically we never have difficulty with moving the equipment through customs, but that was not the case with this workshop. Unfortunately, the equipment was held in customs for the duration of the workshop. Luckily, Matt and our lead Local Video Trainer, Dimanche, had enough spare illuminAid camera kits on hand to enable to workshop to continue.

Although illuminAid has over 25 workshops in 20 countries, there are always unexpected challenges with every new workshop. Fortunately illuminAid has developed a keen sense of creativity and flexibility to overcome these minor setbacks and deliver quality training and equipment to the most remote and rural locations.

Kristin Henderson, illuminAid Program Coordinator