15-year-old Antoinette Guirou from Doundouni, Burkina Faso is one of the brightest stars of our Education is Power program. She’s been in the program for two years and ranks #2 in her Grade 9 class!
Before being accepted into the program, Antoinette said her school life involved much uncertainty. “Before the program, my dad had to look and ask around for money to pay half of the school fees. I would attend class until the school called about the 2nd half.”, she recalls. “I had doubts that I would be able to finish my studies at all.”
Antoinette (right) and fellow students at a recent Education is Power student workshop.
For a family with three other children to provide for, it was a real financial burden on her parents, who themselves did not have a chance to attend school as children.
In a conversation with The Sonder Project team, Antoinette’s father spoke of the impact the Education is Power program has had on their family: “It’s no longer a daily worry for me to find the funds for Antoinette to go to school and have something to eat that day. Now thanks to the sponsorship and the lunch program by The Sonder Project, I don’t have to worry about her and I know she’ll succeed.”
Antoinette at home with her parents and Sonder Project Education Coordinator, Saidatou
Speaking of her family, Antoinette’s stepmother, Suzanne, is one of the registered farmers on The Sonder Project’s Community Farm! Suzanne has only recently started earning money selling the chives and other herbs she grows on her plot, and she plans on re-investing any profits into a second plot and using the rest of the money on her other children’s school fees.
Being part of the program has ignited new hope for the future in Antoinette, who dreams of becoming a midwife one day, just like the midwife who recently spoke to our students at the 2025 Education is Power Camp.
Go Antoinette!