Pastor Daniel Kabore of the "Assemblee de Dieu" church in Gorom-Gorom has a vision for a Christian primary school in the town - a school open to all regardless of religion, race, or sex, and particularly aimed at helping provide quality education for the poorest and most vulnerable sector of society:

• Empowering the poorest

• Academic excellence

• Socially and spiritually dynamic

• Building impact

• Economic sustainability

Empowering the Poorest

We want to create a school that will provide education to those who cannot normally afford to send their children to school, and also to improve access for girls, who are often left behind in education in Burkina Faso.

In this way we want to reflect Christ's heart for the marginalised, and to empower them to take hold more of their own development.

Academic Excellence

We want to create a school that will provide quality teaching, through academic diligence and motivated staff.

The AD schools in Burkina Faso recruit and train their own teachers, who are motivated by Christian values of service, compassion, and integrity. They have a reputation for getting good academic results. The nearest AD primary school to Gorom-Gorom - the school in Dori - had the best results for their region in 2007-8.

Socially and Spiritually Dynamic

We want to create a school where children can grow up within a secure and wholesome environment, with strong ethical and moral values, and with access to the spiritual dynamic that comes from the Christian gospel.

AD schools encourage respect for others and responsible behaviour. They seek to enable students' growth in character, and help them learn to make good moral choices. Christian teachers motivated by values of service and compassion help create an environment of security, love, encouragement, and repect. A weekly service and daily prayer times are held, with access to the message and power of Christ for students who are interested.

Building Impact

We want to help create an environment which serves the school community, providing a learning experience which is as enjoyable, fruitful, and uplifting as possible.

The typical school building in northern Burkina Faso is made of cement block, with a tin roof. It provides a place to learn, but can get very stifling and uncomfortable in hot season. We are looking into would help put architecture at the service of the community.

The school building should be:

• Academically stimulating : encouraging student engagement

• Physically comfortable : reducing climatic impact

• Socially empowering : creating community-building space

• Aesthetically pleasing : displaying beauty

• Environmentally friendly : made with appropriate materials

Economic Sustainability

We want to create a school that will eventually become sustainable economically.

Creating a school that aims to help the poorest means that school fees will never cover the running costs of the school. We want to investigate creative ways of helping the school become financially sustainable in the long-term.