Richard Akresh, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, led a group of 14 University of Illinois students on a winter break study abroad trip to Burkina Faso. He sent us back some feedback: "As part of the course, the group spent 2 days in Bereba living with host families, sharing meals together, and learning about life in rural Burkina Faso. The group was also treated to a guided tour of the village, which included seeing a dry season garden, a soil erosion project, a weighing station for cotton, a traditional compound, and the FAVL library. The group met with FAVL leaders and local students and discussed the importance of reading and having a village library and also how FAVL provided resources for students to do their homework and research projects. The University of Illinois students had an amazing experience in Burkina Faso and one of the highlights was their time in Bereba. They gained an immense amount of knowledge from seeing different development program sites and I don't think they will ever forget their trip to Burkina or the incredibly friendly people they met during their stay. A big thanks to FAVL for all their help in arranging our visit."

Where will we be in Ouagadougou?

For the next six months FAVL President (me) and VP (Leslie Gray) will be based in Ouagadougou. Leslie has a Fulbright grant to continue her research on cotton cultivation. I will be writing more research results from my surveys with Alain Sissao on reading habits and libraries, and in general building up management structures for our local counterparts in Burkina and Ghana. Above is the house we will be renting... jolie, n'est-ce pas?

Winter fundraising going well

So far we have received more than $26,000 in donations this past month, in response to our annual fundraising campaign. Thanks to everyone! More postings will come from Burkina Faso starting January 16 once we get settled.