Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

SUNY Korea Resumes Global Support
Providing educational materials to rural elementary schools in Burkina Fasoㅇ

SUNY Korea donates educational equipment to Ecole A de Kougsin and Ecole B de Kougsin

SUNY Korea has resumed its support for elementary schools that have been hit by COVID-19 in West Africa, to help people overcome it. SUNY Korea provided educational equipment to elementary schools located in rural areas of Burkina Faso in West Africa to overcome COVID-19 and promote education.

In October, educational equipment and materials supported by SUNY Korea were delivered to Ecole A de Kougsin and Ecole B de Kougsin in Kougsin Village, located in the midwest of Burkina Faso. With this support, 581 students from Ecole A and B de Kougsin, who stopped studying due to the worsening economic and medical environment caused by COVID-19, were able to continue their studies with proper educational equipment such as textbooks and writing implements. Students from the school shared their gratitude for SUNY Korea for allowing them to take a step closer to their future dreams of becoming teachers and doctors (refer to the photos below). Ecole A de Kougsin opened in 1983 and now has 407 students and 11 teachers, and Ecole B de Kougsin opened in 2014 and has 174 students and 6 teachers.

Student appreciates the donors 

Arthur H. Lee, the President of SUNY Korea, said, “It is regrettable that members of SUNY Korea cannot visit and serve in person as we did before the pandemic; however, it is fortunate that students in Burkina Faso's Kougsin Village can continue their studies through this support. We will continue to devise various measures to spread the vision of SUNY Korea, Shared Prosperity, around the world, starting from developing countries."

Okgon Hwang, the CEO of [더멋진세상] in Burkina Faso, Africa, said, "We appreciate the continued support of SUNY Korea even in the difficult situation of COVID-19. Next year, I hope to meet the members of SUNY Korea in person and carry out various volunteer activities."

Since SUNY Korea’s opening in Korea, the university has been carrying out the ‘Global Village Hope Project’, a volunteer activity and exchange cooperation program. From October 2015 to September 2018, 'Burkina Faso's Sanogo Village Self-Reliance Support Project' helped the Burkina Faso community to grow continuously by remodeling schools, installing solar panels in homes and schools, and installing village communal mills. 7,400 people in 1,500 households benefited from this service, which was also broadcast in Korea through the ‘Finding My Friend’s House’ episode of KBS’ Documentary Sympathy in 2016. In 2019, family photo shoots, school construction and remodeling, and streetlight installation projects were promoted in the Guksaeng village of Burkina Faso with the international activity organization The Great World, receiving very good results and responses locally. SUNY Korea’s involvement this time was also decided based on this deep relationship with Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso has a land area three times larger than Korea, its total population is 22.67 million and its Gross National Income (GNI) is $860. It was a French colony until the 1950s, and gained independence after that; however, most of the people are living in poverty due to unstable political and economic conditions. In particular, there is an absolute lack of underground resources, water, and food, and the overall living environment is very poor, including a lack of an educational environment and various infrastructures. According to the 2021-2022 Human Development Index (HDI) report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the level of advancement of Burkina Faso ranks 184 out of 191 countries, making it one of the poorest countries.