When Her Star Scholars first opened its doors, the Philippines seemed the perfect location for starting a starting a school sponsorship. Three of the Board Members had spent a number of years living in the Philippines and had excellent contacts with professionals who were in a position to oversee the pilot program. From the start we had hoped we would be able to expand to South America and Africa, but we anticipated it would take a number of years before that was possible. Then a mere six-months after our start-up, one of Her Star's supporters introduced us to a woman named Biba Foadey who lived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in Western Africa.
Biba had volunteered as the local organizer of a school sponsorship program for a non-profit from the USA until that program was forced to close its doors when its founder had to devote more time to her own child's special needs. Because she had only been able to finish school through the 5th grade due to poverty, Biba was determined to keep as many of the sponsored children in school as she possibly could. She wrote many hundreds of letters and emails to programs and individuals around the world asking for help. One of those letters reached Lee, a generous and compassionate woman, who had been a sponsor to a good many of the children in Burkina Faso. Lee then introduced Her Star Scholars to Biba. 
Her Star conducted a needs assessment and developed a small pilot program by building on to the framework built by our predecessors. Lee had offered to sponsor the first group of children in our pilot program in Burkina Faso and it is with great joy that we kicked off the program this past Sunday.
A total of seven children between the ages of 8 and 17 will now be attending school. There are two girls in high school and 5 in elementary school. All of the children live in Burkina Faso's capital city, Ouagadougou. (I have been told that in Burkina Faso the city is called by a nickname which is pronounced as Wah-gah) A bike is being purchased for each of the children so that they can travel safely to school and each family will be given a large bag of beans to feed them for at least one month.
Biba is a remarkable woman and deeply devoted to the education of these children. Though she only went to school through the fifth grade, she was able to teach herself English and business skills. She opened successful company where she produces lovely hand-crafted fabrics. She is also a youth advisor and active volunteer in her local church. We are so excited to have her volunteering with us in this program!
