Andrew Mello lived in Rochester his entire life. He went to Rochester Memorial School as a child and eventually graduated from Bishop Stang. Like many Tri-Town students, he moved on to college, earning his bachelor’s degree in elementary education and then his masters in special education at Endicott College. But where Mello went next in life isn’t something the average 24-year-old often chooses.
Mello joined the Peace Corps and set out for Burkina Faso, a land-locked country on the southern border of Mali and the northern border of Ghana in western Africa. He was assigned to work at a preschool (bisongo as it is called there) in the village of Gogo and arrived in June 2015.
“I’ve had an interest in the Peace Corps since I was young,” said Mello in an email correspondence. (Phone access and Internet access is a challenge where Mello currently resides). “It fit in with my career/life goal of wanting to be helpful. I also looked up to my dad and his friends who were in the Peace Corps and did work in the international community. The opportunity presented itself a few years back, so I decided that I’d go for it.”
Mello spends his days working at the preschool from three to seven hours a day. He wakes up and feeds his cat in the morning, and then after work he studies, fetches water, rides his bike, charges his laptop at the police station or local NGO, and works on other projects. But now he has a bigger project in mind, and with a little help from back home, he might just get it done before he returns to Rochester in June.
At the bisongo, there are some pretty serious problems. Although it might not sound like a big deal, the fence surrounding the bisongo is trampled down and the front gate is broken. This lack of a proper enclosure has led to a number of issues for the staff and students at the school. People who don’t belong there come and go, and stray animals enter in, damage equipment, leave disease-transmitting feces all over the grounds, and even sometimes enter the classrooms and interrupt the class.
“The preschool’s teachers at the preschool stressed the need for a proper barrier the first time I saw the school grounds,” said Mello in a press release he shared. “I asked them if they would want to replace the fence, and they correctly responded that a new fence would be insufficient, since a new fence would not last; they wanted something better.”
Mello has worked with his local contact NGO to devise a plan and concluded that a wall would be the best option to effectively enclose the school. A price tag of $11,000 for a 2.1-meter high wall, though, is a formidable cost for the village.
“There would be many positive outcomes for the preschool if we are able to get a wall built around the school,” said Mello.
Teachers could leave supplies safely in the school without the threat of being stolen. The grounds could be cleaned-up and kept clean and sanitary, and playground equipment could be repaired without the threat of further damage. The latrine could be fixed and kept intact, and a garden could be created and protected sufficiently enough to provide a benefit to the entire community. But most importantly, outside forces would be kept from interrupting the teaching and learning process for the village children.
“The community would now have a functional meeting place,” said Mello.
The people of Burkina Faso, Mello says, are welcoming, kind, and seem to freely express their senses of humor. Although there have been some cultural and language barriers for sure, Mello has found himself at home there.
“I’m hoping to help my preschool get to a point where they function successfully and independently,” said Mello.
You can help Mello achieve that goal by contributing any amount towards the project by visiting www.peacecorps.gov/donate, clicking on “Projects and Funds,” then clicking on “Education” and then “Burkina Faso/Bisongo Wall for the Bisongo in Zoundweogo.” The project still needs $7,759 to meet the goal.
By Jean Perry