The Land of the Upright Men. Early Learning and Preschool Center.(Zingane, Burkina Fasso)
P. Roger BABENE. Director
I am Father Roger BABENE from Saint Etienne de Samatite, a religious of the Order of the Pious Schools of West Africa.
My first experience in charge in our educational institutions began in September 2008 in our Complexe Educatif Ecoles Pies Thiaroye, where I served as director of the primary section and mathematics teacher in the lower cycle.
In 2013, I left Senegal for Ivory Coast, where I served as parish priest at Sainte Marie Mère Dieu parish in Daloa. In 2017, I was assigned to the capital, Abidjan, where I was appointed rector of the scholasticate and master priest of the scholastics. But this appointment was short-lived, barely a year. An emergency mission called me to the foundation started in Burkina Faso in 2017.
So, after setting foot on August 18, 2018, in the land of men of integrity, it fell to me to ensure the continuity of the foundation by seeking recognition and authorization for our Province to operate in Burkina Faso, not to mention the construction work of our educational structures.
THE SCHOOL
Our institution, the Center for Early Learning and Preschool (CEEP) Pious Schools of Zingane, has its origin in the foundation project, an agreement signed between the local Ordinary of the Diocese of Diébougou, Bishop KUSSIELE Dabiré Der Raphaël, and the Order of the Pious Schools of West Africa, under the authority of the Provincial, Father Christian EHEMBA.
The diocese had an educational need, so we were asked to support it according to our charism.
Zingane Pious Schools is located in the diocese of Diébougou, in Burkina Faso, in the southwest region, in the commune of Koper, specifically in the parish of Maria Taw (Mary’s Hill), in the village of Zingane. This village, where we laid our foundation stones, has a very young population. In addition to the population of the town of Zingane, the private CEEP Zingane Pious Schools serves the surrounding villages of Bingane, Dalgane, Gorgane, Babora, Maria Taw, Kpaï and Koper.
Our school is our commune’s only private Early Childhood Education and Preschool Center (CEEP). It was established on April 22, 2022, although classes started at the school in October 2021. It continues the first public CEEP in Maria Taw village, created in 2020. All of them are structures that teach children from 3 to 5 years old, which is a novelty in the area.
Children in this area start school when they are six years old. One particularity is the continuous school day. We receive the children from morning to evening. In other words, in addition to having a snack, they also eat at school, much to the delight of the local population.
CHALLENGES
Our main challenge is to raise public awareness of the importance of early childhood education. As pointed out in the school presentation, from an educational point of view, parents do not think much about this age group. After all, they think, the child will go to school at the age of 6. They often ask themselves: why spend money on children from 3 to 5 years? So, for them, there is no urgency. So you can understand the uphill battle we fight and continue to fight in early childhood education because of parental ignorance on the subject. We have to convince parents to let their children go to school and tell them that they have to be involved in their children’s education.
Speaking of schooling, the precariousness of the environment leaves much to be desired. Parents cannot make ends meet, let alone ask them for money for their children’s educational needs, and so far, they cannot see the results, not even the fruits.
Another challenge is food security. We are called to see the reality in the foundation’s environment at this level. As for our foundation in Zingane, the village where we live, we must rethink our contribution to the search for well-being, especially for the children. It always turns my stomach when I hear the brothers leave out the nutritional aspect, saying that we are not there to bring food to the people. Can we teach or evangelize hungry people? “You give them something to eat” (Lk 9:13), a recommendation that is still relevant in our precarious foundational environments. Let’s reflect on it!
PASTORAL SERVICES
Pastoral care is vital in our C Early Learning Center and Private Preschool Escuelas Pías Zingane.
Classes begin with the raising of the flag, followed by prayer. At the end of classes, all prayers are addressed to God through the intercession of our holy founder, Joseph Calasanz, and our secondary patroness, the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Pies Schools. In addition, before meals and snacks, the children acquire the custom of praying to thank God for the gift of life and nourishment, entrusting to Him their food sources.
We have also implemented activities such as Eucharistic celebrations at the beginning and end of the school year, Christmas celebrations, and New Year’s greetings, without forgetting extracurricular activities such as organizing the Centre Aérés with the help of the Calasanz Movement.
Our deepest desire is to instill in these children the fear of God, the ability to pray, the trust in God, and the gratitude to the Creator, to parents, and above all to all people in a spirit of integrity, resilience, and social cohesion.
PASSION
The Holy Spirit guided the team from our province, which set foot in Zingane, the village that now houses our mission. At that time, they were unaware of the intricacies, significantly the scope of this mission in this area. In the criteria proposed for the implantation, there was no mention of poverty in the environment, peripheries, and underprivileged populations. The idea was to find a large piece of land, with the agreement of the landowners, and housing to accommodate the first team. But the Spirit of God was at work. As we know, the Spirit is God and blows where He wills, but we do not know where He comes from or where He is going.
If I review all these events, it is to say that, in reality, the Spirit of God has led us to the heart of our charism, which is the preferential option for the poor. My passion is born precisely from the preferential option for people experiencing poverty. It is a reality that I experience every day when my eyes meet those of an inhabitant, especially a child of this village or this community. The more I learn about the area, the more my passion grows.
While we are overwhelmed by concerns related to the challenges mentioned above, we also have to address human, food, and educational security.
We need your support in this foundation in the land of righteous men, Burkina Faso. Passion remains an essential element for any missionary. No wonder I continue to nurture mine in this preferential option for disadvantaged children. And this joy, this passion that inhabits me when I am at work, despite my limits, defects, shortcomings, and imperfections, by the grace of God and the help of the Holy Spirit, no one will be able to take it away from me.
EXPERIENCE
The first innovative action for me is color climbing. We do it every morning except Wednesdays (classes end before noon). Most schools do this civic act every Monday, and rare are the preschools that do it.
I am very proud to see these children around the flag, the emblem of the Burkinabe nation, singing the national anthem and hoisting it themselves.
The other experience is the HAPPY NEW YEAR. The particularity of our New Year’s greeting is the meeting between father and child or mother and child. The parents are informed of the gifts that will be given to their child on the “big day,” and the gifts are prepared and wrapped. The ceremony involves each parent calling their child and presenting them with the gift. Upon giving the gift, the parents greet their children with good wishes and prayers for the New Year. Full of emotion, this celebration takes place as soon as the child returns from Christmas vacation, thinking that there are no more gifts for him, only to be overwhelmed with joy by a beautiful gift.
Almost every parent shares the pride I feel in this ceremony, and I am so busy as the New Year approaches.
All for the glory of God and the salvation of our neighbor. All is grace. God is faithful.
