Celebrating a Milestone Year in Burkina Faso

This past February, our CEO, Chad, and Marketing Manager, Julie, traveled to Burkina Faso—where The Sonder Project began its mission back in 2015. It was in January of that year that two of our co-founders, Jason and Ashley, first visited the country to help build a school. What started as a single project quickly turned into a larger vision, and The Sonder Project was born.

Ten years later, our return to Burkina Faso was a powerful moment and a chance to reflect on just how far we’ve come. Burkina Faso holds a special place in our history—it’s where we helped build our first school; it’s where we drilled our very first well; it’s where we established our Community Farm, and it’s where we’ve directly impacted the most amount of lives through our programs.  As a result, it is the perfect location to begin commemorating our 10-year anniversary!

This visit was also long overdue. It had been several years since Chad last traveled to the country. A global pandemic, political instability, and other security challenges made it difficult, but now was the right time.

It was glorious to return, and upon our arrival, we jumped right in to meeting some big to-dos: 

• Reconnecting with our in-country team—Martin, Saidatou, and Wielfried.
• Meeting with local government officials in the areas where we work.
• Visiting several wells we’ve funded and celebrating their impact with the communities.
• Assessing our community farm project, which has overcome significant challenges over the past seven years.
• Holding a one-day workshop with some of our high-achieving Education is Power students.
• Meeting with our local Board of Trustees.
• Documenting and reflecting on everything we saw, learned, and experienced.

Some Highlights of the Journey:

Team Time

Spending time together and strengthening our team bonds is always a highlight of visiting our in-country teams. Very early mornings, hours in the car between our office in the capital, Ouagadougou, and our partner communities, morning croissants with instant coffee and peanut-butter & jam sandwiches for lunch out of the car trunk.  There was a lot of language exchanged between French, English and Moore! We shot this fun ‘meet the team video’ too 🙂 

Visits to Sonder Well Communities

The community turned out in Tingyiri where we drilled a well in October 2024.

We toured several communities where our wells provide reliable access to clean water. In each place, we saw firsthand how access to water transforms daily life—improving health, reducing time spent walking for water, and freeing up time for education and economic opportunity.

Surprise well repair demo 

Sonder-trained mechanics demonstrate their expertise by fixing a non-functioning well.

Sonder-trained mechanics demonstrate their expertise by fixing a non-functioning well.[/caption] A visit to one of the wells we drilled in the community of Komsnedego presented a double surprise: 1) the well had been non-functioning for a few weeks due to structural damage, 2) the community water committee had called a small team of mechanics who had graduated from our well maintenance training program in 2024 to see what could be done. On our arrival it was determined that the damage could be temporarily repaired while a replacement part was sought later and the team of 5 worked together to fix the well right before our eyes. The mechanics went on to tell us they have repaired over 25 (mostly non-Sonder wells) since their training and have been able to establish small businesses to support themselves and their families as a result. This is sustainability in action!

Community Farm Visit

Members of The Sonder Project’s Community Farm proudly met us to show the hard work they’ve put in to maintaining their individual plots.

Members of The Sonder Project’s Community Farm proudly met us to show the hard work they’ve put in to maintaining their individual plots.[/caption] Visiting our pilot community farm project to meet and celebrate the progress with our 100+ farmers who each maintain a plot was inspiring, to say the least. Our vision of creating economic opportunity and sustainability for people all year round has come to fruition over the past 7 years, not without much trial and error! Seeing the farm thriving and expanding, and the impact on the farmers and their families was a major moment for us. Watch as Chad takes us on a walk through the farm in the video below!

Power Student Workshop

Power students acting out a drama to demonstrate their decision-making skills.

On our last full day in-country, we invited 30 of our best and brightest students from our Education is Power program for a one-day workshop focused on decision-making. It was wonderful connecting with our students and discussing how to overcome life’s obstacles. We wrapped it up with a fun mini-theatre competition to demonstrate their learning.

Hearing and Documenting Individual Stories 

Sonder Power student, Antoinette (second from left), and her family, demonstrate their excitement when they found out she was selected for our ‘Education is Power’ program.

We did a lot of dancing and celebrating with the communities we visited, spoke to crowds of hundreds of people and heard from community leaders and representatives.  We also got the chance to speak more deeply with individual students, farmers, and families, to hear more about how the Sonder Project’s work is impacting their lives. Many of these conversations were the most eye-opening and inspiring moments of the trip and we look forward to sharing those stories and visuals with you here over the coming weeks and months—stay tuned! 

Looking Back; Moving Forward

This trip wasn’t just a visit—it was a homecoming. Ten years ago, The Sonder Project started with a simple belief: that we are all connected, and that through collective action, we can help communities access the resources and opportunities they need to thrive. Walking alongside the communities of Burkina Faso, we were reminded of the power of that belief. From clean water flowing freely from a well, to students sharing their dreams of becoming doctors, teachers, and engineers—our work is not only continuing, it’s growing.

As we enter our 10th year, we are more committed than ever to walking in solidarity with our global neighbors and ensuring that the next decade is filled with even greater impact.