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| From Burkina Faso Case_Sister Marie Rose Koné |
It all started with an Aalto Social Impact event. On 22nd April 2010, we created an interactive workshop on project management and team work with a real social problem (for more background information, read the related blog posts by following the links at the end of this page).
Tommi Vihervaara, business student co-ordinator and lecturer at A? School of Economics, was an invited lecturer during a session of “How to Change the World” course in Spring 2010. He accepted to have a longer session with students and Aalto Social Impact community and work on a real case at the same time. It turned out to be a great workshop. The case pertaining to the orphanage and schools from sister Marie Rose Koné in Burkina Faso truly raised compassion and interest among the Aalto Social Impact community that we decided to bring it to the students by integrating it into an educational course.
For years, Helsinki School of Economics has launched Students Projects where students make real research and consulting project for companies. Student Business Project usually works with a client’s request, i.e who comes with a business problem and pays. The students are recruited according to the problem at hand. In the Burkina Faso case, we decided to use the same principle, except that there is no money involved. The client is Marie Rose Koné, sister of SAB (Soeurs de l’Annonciation de Bobo).
After a selection process, 4 students got selected to work during the summer 2010 in order to lay out the various solutions which could be selected, taking into account the implementation, the short and long-term sustainability of the solution and the possible implementers of the solution.
Currently the project team is finishing off an interim report on how to solve the issue and looking for additional members to carry the work further along. The interim report will be available on this page soon.
The students were supervised by project coordinator Tommi Vihervaara and tutored by PhD and researcher Paula Linna (both from Aalto School of Economics).
Quick info on the Burkina Faso situation
Sister Marie Rose Koné keeps an orphanage in the bush skirting the town of Nouna-Dédougou, Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in Africa and sixth lowest on the Human Development Index. Among the many severe problems in Burkina Faso is the high rate of maternal mortality during childbirth. Sister Marie’s orphanage takes care of such children and caters to their needs. At present the orphanage caters to 48 children between the ages of 3 and 4. In addition to the orphanage, Sister Marie oversees 9 different community projects in Nouna-Dédougou that cater to the most deprived sections of the society.
These projects experience several challenges in their day to day operations, but the biggest and most urgent is lack of reliable, clean water supply. These locations are outside the coverage of the national office of water and sanitation. Sister Marie’s autonomous congregation receives a recognition from the Roman Catholic Church, but no budget. It appears, therefore that she has no hope of solving the problem without outside help.
Fundraising for extending the water distribution network or building a well is the least of the problems; rather the technologically efficient, socially, morally and environmentally sensitive design of the intervention that goes with installing the well sustainably and securing it for its deserving users is where we can contribute with our creativity and skills.
If you wish to read more about the Burkina Faso case and the events which were organised around this issue, go read our previous posts:
- Interactive workshop on project management skills coupled with a real case: Burkina Faso and scarcity of water
- New Student Business Project kick-off with Sister Marie Rose Koné in person
You can also read the complete report from the first group of students
Student Business Project – Burkina Faso Case report
For this autumn, a new group of students are taking over the project and working towards finding concrete implementation solutions for Sister Marie Rose Koné. Stay tune for more information soon!
