Wisconsin-based Nonprofit Increases Education Access In Burkina Faso, West Africa
The Sababou Education Fund aims to send 350 students to school this coming September. (Photo courtesy of Ellie and Abou Koné)
Sababou (noun) \sah-bah-boo\ is a Dijoula word that "in honor of you" and is often used to describe a gift someone has given to you that changes your life and gives it a motive, reason, or cause. The Sababou Education Fund is the manifestation of co-founder Abou Koné’s wildest dreams. Originally from Burkina Faso, he chose the name because of his own story.
“Sababou means, like, because of something or someone, you have motive or reason in your life. So it's a Dijoula word, and Dijoula is the regional language in West Africa. You’ll find Dijoula in all areas of West Africa, Mali, even Senegal… So it's the regional trade language, and they use it… it really means when you talk about your future. Things don't happen just on their own. They don't happen just because of you. Someone has done that for you or done something to give you cause and motive in your life. And so [it describes] somebody who is like that gift of motive for your life,” Abou Koné said.
The Sababou Education Fund is a nonprofit organization that wants to increase access to education in Burkina Faso. Unlike the United States, parents are expected to pay for their children to go to school starting when they are very young. Although many people in the region have large families, they are typically only able to afford to send one or two children in their family to school.
“[Abou] is the only one of his nine siblings that ever got educated, ever went to school, kindergarten anything, and became literate. If you are not educated at all, you only speak your tribal language, so Abou was the only one who was ever able to speak French. About when he was of age to go to school, he's the youngest of all of his siblings, and they all pooled their money to send him to school because they thought, none of them are educated, none of them could speak the official language, none of them were literate at all. And they really felt like one of them had to be,” said co-founder Ellie Koné. “They actually ended up stopping paying for his education around eighth grade because his oldest nephew became of age to go to school. So they couldn't afford to send both of them to school… and that really hurt Abou… that was kind of a huge turning point in his life because he wanted to have the opportunity of an education.”
While Burkina Faso has made positive progress in sending more kids to school, rural areas like where Abou is from still struggle because families work in agriculture. Age and gender play a role. 75 % of elementary-age kids are now in school in Burkina Faso, but by middle school, only 18 % of boys and 13 % of girls are enrolled, according to UNICEF. This is why Sababou Education Fund’s next goal is to pay for all the middle school kids from Abou’s village, Karfiguéla. They’ve gradually increased the number of students paid for since their founding in 2019.
“The first year [we sent] 269 [to school]. The past year was 289. Our goal this coming year will be to get to about 350. We're focused on kids just from Karfiguéla right now, so we've paid for the entire elementary school to go to school, but we're hoping that this coming year in September, we'll be able to afford to pay for all of the middle school kids as well,” Ellie Koné said.
Co-founders Ellie and Abou met working alongside each other while Ellie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso. (Photo courtesy of Ellie and Abou Koné)
Ellie and Abou Koné are married. They met while Ellie served in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso. The Board of Directors for the Sababou Education Fund is predominantly former Peace Corps members, some of who served alongside Ellie.
“I think when you become part of the Peace Corps and not just me as a Peace Corps volunteer, but when Abou worked for the Peace Corps, it becomes this community where you can find community anywhere. If we're in New York and we find out someone's a Peace Corps volunteer, you're like, almost family already,” Ellie said.
To see Sababou Education Fund manifested is what Abou has hoped for years, and he’s grateful his dream has become a reality.
“[I’ve] wished for this for so long and want to thank God for the ability to do all this and the opportunity. We’re really blessed for all of the donors and the members that we've had so far participate,” Abou said. “When you grow up [in Burkina Faso], and you don't have a lot of educational opportunities, it's just what you think about forever,” Abou said. “I know that my parents would have given me this if they could have, and even the parents now in Burkina, they would if they could, but they just don't have the opportunity and the financial means to do so. And so, it's wonderful to be able to help parents back there to give this opportunity to their children.”
To learn more about the Sababou Education Fund, connect with them here.
All of Abou Koné’s answers have been translated from French to English.