About us
The association "Hand in Hand Burkina Faso e.V."Activities of “Hand in Hand Burkina Faso e.V.”
Nothing is easy – but nothing is impossible!
‘Nothing is easy – but nothing is impossible!’ This sentence by Abdoulaye Zize Banse, Chairman of our partner organisation A.J.E.D., could not be more fitting for our work. The military officer Ibrahim Traoré has been head of state of Burkina Faso since 2022. The local population is very proud of their young president, even though there have already been around 10 assassination attempts in the few years he has been in office. Since Ibrahim Traoré took power, he has ensured that the terrorist attacks from the north have been pushed back more and more and a number of projects have been launched to strengthen the economy and infrastructure. There have also been reforms with an impact on healthcare, e.g. in future all regular check-ups for pregnant women are to be free of charge. Projects such as ours, which contribute to strengthening healthcare provision for the population, are welcomed and supported.
Goals for 2025 and beyond
We were able to collect enough donations in 2024 so that we can start building a midwife counselling station at the beginning of 2025. However, we still have to wait for the final approval of the ‘Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene of Burkina Faso’ before we can start operations. The building site still needs to be inspected and checked for suitability, after which nothing should stand in the way of authorisation.
We have also set ourselves the following goals for 2025:
- Equipping the midwife advice centre with the necessary medical equipment and furniture
- More precise definition of the organisation of the midwife advice centre
- Commissioning of the midwife counselling unit with approx. 2 midwives
- Drafting of a child protection policy and coordination with our project partners and the midwife centre operators in Ouarégou
- Carrying out an assessment of the organisation with the Schmitz Foundation (necessary to apply for funding from the Foundation for NGOs)
- Building a fence for our property (if we still have enough money)
- If we can get hold of a Christmas market stall, we want to sell Burkinabe specialities there throughout the Advent season. All proceeds will go towards our projects.
Once the midwife station is up and running, we want to use it to gather experience of what is most urgently needed locally in order to build on this.
Once the fence for the birthing centre has been erected, the next step is to purchase an ambulance. This would enable women in labour to be taken quickly to the nearest hospital in Tenkodogo, at least outside the rainy season.
Pour en savoir plus sur nos actions, vous pouvez consulter nos rapports de responsabilité (« Rechenschaftsberichte » en allemand). Tous les rapports des années précédentes sont disponibles dans nos [Archive (german)].
Foundation of the association
After his own experience and the messages from friends and relatives about suffering and death in childbirth in his home country, Adama Bance decided in 2018 to change this situation. On 28 October 2018, the time had come: the statutes of “Hand in Hand Burkina Faso e.V.” were signed and the association was officially founded.
Articles of Association
latest update: 12.07.2020
Leave a trace as a member
Would you like to support us in our activities? Then just come and meet us at our planning meetings. he decision if we also meet onsite in Cologne will be made at short notice and the location will be sent out with the invitation. You can find out when our planning meetings are taking place under the [Vereinstermine (German) ] here on our homepage or on [Facebook].
Do you only want to support the association by making a regular donation? Then you can also become a member. With our [Newsletter] we keep you up to date.
Download a member application form here and become a member of our assosiation.
Membership Request
last update: 13.02.2023
We introduce ourselves
Chairman – Adama Bance
Adama Bance is a father of three children, happily married and an operations manager at BUCHEN UmweltService GmbH. He is a native of Ouarégou in Burkina Faso, but has been resident in Cologne for several years with part of his family. His other family members still live in Ouarégou, which is why he has excellent contacts to this region and visits them regularly. Here in Germany, he is also networked with several Burkinabe in NRW. When his first daughter was born in the village, Adama saw for himself how much his wife had to struggle during childbirth and how bad the local medical care was. Tragically, he has also experienced several times in recent years that young women from his circle of acquaintances have died during childbirth together with their unborn babies.
vorstand@hand-in-hand-burkina-faso.de
Vice Chairwoman – Christine Masuch
Christine Masuch is a computing core developer for insurance companies and lives in Düsseldorf. During her own pregnancy she was diagnosed with placenta praevia. In this case, the placenta lies in front of the birth canal, so that without a caesarean section, mother and unborn child would bleed to death. Due to inadequate medical care, especially in sub-Saharan African countries, this unfortunately still happens very often today. Because of this experience, she wants to contribute the rest of her life that she has been gifted, so that not only she and her son are granted a life after a Planzenta Praevia. Within the association, she takes care of the general organisation and the maintenance of the association’s homepage and is the contact person for the press.
vorstand@hand-in-hand-burkina-faso.de
Treasurer – Nicole Ibsch
Nicole Ibsch is a mother of one daughter and a management consultant for IT projects in insurance companies. Her own pregnancy and birth fortunately went without complications. Nevertheless, she noticed how vulnerable and exposed one is during birth. Her empathy for families who do not have access to good health care has increased even more through this experience. That is why she would like to actively support the association and its goals.
finanzen@hand-in-hand-burkina-faso.de
Our ambassador – Kadietou Sare
Like Adama Bance, Kadietou Sare grew up in Ouarégou in Burkina Faso, where the planned maternity ward is to be built. Kadietou Sare gave birth to two of her three children in Ouarégou and knows the problems within the health care system there first hand. She describes her experiences of this [here].
Kadietou Sare is an excellent cook. She always provides us with original African specialities and delicacies at events.
Our partner associations
Our partner association Hand in Hand Burkina Faso – branch in Burkina Faso
On April 13, 2022, we founded a partner association “Hand in Hand Burkina Faso” with a branch in Burkina Faso. The association takes care of the implementation of our projects on site in Ouarégou.
Registered office of the association: BP: 10BP 13880 Ouagadougou 10
We are also in close contact with associations in Italy and France that pursue similar goals to ours and have more project experience, particularly in Ouarégou. Our partner associations with whom we work closely are the following one.
AKI: Association Kouassagoulais en Italie
In Italy, there are six associations for the individual neighbourhoods of Ouarégou. These associations are run by a large number of emigrants from Ouarégou who live there in Italy. The associations support relatives in Ouarégou in the event of illness and other difficulties and implement projects in the neighbourhoods. The “Association Kouassagoulais en Italie” is responsible for the district of Kouassagou, where we want to set up our maternity ward.
A.J.E.D.: Association jeunesse engage pour le développement
In addition to the neighbourhood associations in Italy, there is also the “Association jeunesse engage pour le développement”, which is a kind of “umbrella” association for Ouarégou. The association pools the activities of the neighbourhood associations and organises joint projects for the whole of Ouarégou.
U.D.O. – Union pour le Développement de Ouarégou
The activities of the A.J.E.D. association are organised locally in Ouarégou by the association ‘Union pour le Développement de Ouarégou’. You can find out more about their activities on the following Facebook page:
ABF: Association des Bissa en France
“Association des Bissa en France” is an association based in France that is generally involved in development projects for the Bissa-speaking region, which includes Ouarégou.
Kenya AIDS Waisen Hilfe e.V.
https://www.kenya-aids-waisen.de/
Barbara Weiss founded the organisation Kenya Aids Waisen Hilfe e.V. in 2005 to provide a future for the many children in Kenya who have become orphans or half-orphans due to AIDS. It seeks sponsors for the children, who support them with a donation of 30 euros per month so that they can receive adequate health care and attend school and carries out other support projects.
We became friends with Barbara in 2024 and support each other.