A land of hope

"IT is my dream in the next ten years for my district of Ouagadougou to be just like downtown, where you have asphalt roads everywhere and clean streets. But right now, we are facing a lot of problems."

Zenabou Drabo, one of Burkina Faso's urban mayors, neatly sums up the national attitude: hope in the face of adversity. And as a female politician in a largely paternal society, the mayor of Bogodogo knows all about adversity.

Recently elected as MP in a country where just 11 out of 110 members of parliament are women, she is a widely-respected politician. We meet at the town hall, a large, Seventies-style building, which, like much in Burkina, would be considered shabby to Westerners, but is palatial in this African state.

Zenabou tells us that rapid urbanisation is one of the biggest problems facing the city, as local government does not have the money or resources to put in infrastructure such as drainage, water standpipes or even proper roads.

"We don't have very good streets," she says. "During the rainy season, we have serious problems with flooding. If I could, I would address all these problems so my area would be just like downtown."

Yet, looking at the narrow lanes of dry, red dust, the stinking piles of rubbish and the makeshift shacks of Ouagadougou's shanty towns, I can't help wondering if this is realistic.

One man who does not share my reservations about the country's future is WaterAid Burkina Faso's head of programme, Yerefolo Malle. A native of neighbouring Mali, his government has awarded him the equivalent of a knighthood for his work in Burkina.

The programme has educated tens of thousands of people about the importance of clean water and sanitation as well as helping them access these necessities.

Key to its success was getting the government on-side and testament to this is the two awards they have given the project.

However, there is still a great deal to be done if Burkina is to meet the millennium goals set by the United Nations for water and sanitation coverage.

Now, just 14 per cent of the urban and ten per cent in rural populations have proper sanitation - the UN target for 2015 is 57 per cent and 54 per cent.

Goals for clean water are slightly less ambitious but still significant. To meet the targets, rural areas must increase coverage from 60 per cent to 75 per cent, while in urban areas the rise must be from 74 per cent to 84 per cent.

Clearly, this is a mammoth task, but it one Mr Malle believes possible.

"It is achievable," he says. "We just need money to ensure we can deliver the education. We need to educate communities, educate providers, educate the private sector, educate even the government."

He says the next stage of the programme will tackle infrastructure, working with the private sector to provide a proper water network, but education would continue to underpin WaterAid's work.

One WaterAid success story is a soap-making business run by women in Magourou, a village near Tenkodogo.

The project allows women to earn their own money - rare in male-dominated Burkina - but also sells soap to villagers for a nominal price, about 17p a piece. It is probably no coincidence that the village's sanitation education programme has a 100 per cent success rate.

When we arrive, the atmosphere in the village is subdued. In every other place we have visited, the whole village has turned out to give us a grand reception.

Here, we are warmly welcomed, but there are few people around.

The reason soon becomes apparent - just the night before, a woman died in childbirth. Many villagers have gone to the neighbouring hamlet, where her family live, to pay their respects. It is a poignant reminder that, for the people of Burkina, preventable death is an all-too-common reality.

Adama Seone, 44, one of the women involved with the soap-making project, says. "There were 47 of us in the beginning but two women from the programme died."

But there is no denying the project has empowered these women. "The soap we are making contributes to our own hygiene. When we sell it, we have some income which also contributes to our feeding. The soap we are making is very cheap, so even the poor people, they can afford it," she says.

The results of education about hygiene can also be seen in the nearby school of Zompalma. One of the most optimistic places we visit on the trip, it is a clean, cool and calm environment. And from the pristine latrines, to the children's knowledge of hygiene, it is plain the message has sunk in.

Even their favourite song, which they are only too happy to sing for us, is related to cleanliness, translating as: "You are dirty like a donkey, you must wash every morning, wash every evening."

One of the girls in the class, ten-year-old Djawaratou Billa, says: "It is very important to be clean.

When you don't wash, you are dirty and can be contaminated by disease."

Djawaratou's teacher said she is a very good student.

Like her classmates, she is learning French as well as the indigenous language.

"When I grow up, I want to be a nurse," Djawaratou tells us.

In the UK, this young girl would undoubtedly have a bright future ahead of her. Sadly, in Burkina, that future is not so clear. The country has massive obstacles to overcome: it is the world's second poorest country, one in five children die before they reach their fifth birthday and the average life expectancy is 47.

But if Burkina Faso has a national characteristic, it is surely optimism.

In just one week, I met mothers who had endured the heartbreak of losing not one, not two, but three children for the want of clean water, a father whose eldest son had died from the lack of a latrine, teachers who were ashamed that children in their care are forced to defecate in the school yard.

Yet these people were not only some of the kindest and most generous I have ever met, but were also some of the most industrious. They do not deserve to live without the most basic of human rights - safe drinking water and proper sanitation - yet millions do.

Experience tells us sanitation infrastructure is the first essential step out of the cycle of poverty and disease. Victorian Britain saw its life expectancy jump by 15 years in just four decades following the widespread creation of proper sewers and water works.

Burkina has the talent, the ambition and the will to deliver the basic rights people in the North-East of England take for granted every single day. All it needs to save lives is the money.