Build Workshop for Physically Disabled Burkinabes

It has been relatively quiet at TN as Zoénabou and the committee have taken much needed holiday from the co-operative. Zoénabou has been suffering with health complaints: these are likely to be stress related. The money that TN has fundraised over the last 2 years still remains in TN’s bank account. This puts Zoénabou under a lot of pressure mentally and even physically. It is becoming urgent that we hit first target, so that the remainder of the money can be disbursed and TN can buy a plot of land. This is the plan.

Sales:

• UK charity LAFI (Lasting Action For Inclusion) Burkina placed an order with TN which is being processed by Zoénabou and the leadership committee today (26/08/16) : such great news! The team in Ouagadougou will all have either spent money on petrol, or used a hand trike in the heat, to get to the co-operative. This is something to take into consideration . No one is being paid a salary for the work they are doing in Burkina and many people rely on TN to provide them with a small income and give their life a purpose.
• TN has received 3 orders for clothing from the UK so far, made by artisan Léonie. These were packaged and shipped to the UK and took two and a half weeks to arrive. They arrived in perfect condition to 3 happy cutsomers. We aim to process 3 more orders for Léonie within the next month.
• Jewellery and bogolan textiles are selling well in the UK. There has been a dip in jewellery sales recently however thanks to a profitable spring for Rasmata, one of TN’s jewellery designers, we are not too worried about this.

Advertising and Networking:

• Ex-team leader Alice is promoting Tigoung Nonma through her artwork. She has been taking commissions for portraits. 75% of the money raised is being put into TN’s project. She is now on her 6^th commission and has more in the pipeline.
• Ex TN volunteer has been supporting TN on facebook. He asked that people donate to TN’s project on GlobalGiving rather than giving him birthday presents. He is rallying more support for the co-operative through his own network. So far thanks to him TN is £107 closer to reaching its first target. He is keen to get out to Burkina next summer to lend his support and expertise to the project. He is studying molecular medicine and is knowledgable about TN.
• A dress design evening has been scheduled for October: there are currently 13 people attending who are keen buy customised dresses from Léonie.
• Two volunteers will be running for Tigoung Nonma on the 4^th September at the Parallel London 10k along with LAFIBurkina. This is an inclusive event: people with disabilities can participate! We have had two T-Shirts printed to advertise TN!

Research:

• We plan to apply for at least one grant in the next month. We have identified a fund to apply for through ‘Fondation de France’.
• Once we have been successful in securing a grant, we may approach Hewlett Packard for Investment. However this is just an idea which has not been reviewed by the co-operative.
• Through clarifying our ideas for progress using the Causes diagram on the GlobalGiving website, we have increased our status on the site from Leader to Superstar. We are now ranked 459^th out of 20,509 projects. GlobalgGiving might now tweet about TN's project. We are also now more likely to be recommended to corporate partners as a viable cause to give to.

Difficulties:

• The main difficulty is that the team at TN are not receiving any money for what they do and are working really hard in harsh conditions. This has more or less been the case since 2005 as even when salaries have been given, they have been negligible.
• From the causes diagram we found that most of the problems TN faced were caused by cultural differences and differing expectations from European markets and Tigoung Nonma’s artisans. For example length of time for delivery etc. We have since identitifed new ways to overcome this.
• The distance between TN’s committed, able bodied volunteers based in the UK who are carrying out fundraising is a problem as we aren’t able to discuss things face to face with our colleagues in Burkina Faso.

Conclusion:

Despite difficulties, things are progressing. We would like to thank-you for your continued support. All of us, donors, volunteers and TN members are involved in a really exciting development project!

• Causes Diagram (DOCX)