Friends of Guirgho

Victor Guirma and Pascal Guirma along with Bob Rich visited RadioRotary from their home Rotary Club, New Paltz. All three are part of Friends of Guirgho, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is trying to improve the school and other facilities in the village of Guirgho, Burkina Faso, the ancestral home of the Guirma brothers. Burkino Faso (formerly known as Upper Volta) is a landlocked nation in West Africa whose people are mostly Mossi. Roughly 100 years ago when France controlled this part of West Africa, French Jesuits wanted to start a boarding school, but few natives would attend. Finally the Mossi emperor had his second son, known as Bila Victor, hogtied and carried off to the school, which signaled the other Mossi that it was safe to attend. Bila Victor became educated and his children did also, one of whom became the first ambassador from Upper Volta to the United States and later the ambassador to the United Nations, which is how his sons Victor and Pascal came to attend school at SUNY New Paltz and later settle in the town. They always had remained connected to the ancestral village of Guirgho, a rural settlement about 60 km from the capital of Burkina Faso. Visiting the

village of they saw the need for a better school and for other modern improvements. One of their most complicated projects was bringing computers to the school, since there was no infrastructure. Listen to the program, which tells much of the story.

Learn More

Friends of Guirgho: https://www.friendsofguirgho.org/

New Paltz Rotary Club: https://www.newpaltzrotary.org/

Burkina Faso: https://www.britannica.com/place/Burkina-Faso

Ambassador Frédéric Guirma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frédéric_Guirma