Sawadogo, Issouf

Issouf will be about 12 years old in March 2010.  He just finished his 6^th year of school and passed the test which is necessary to continue on in school!  He has consistently rankedar first in his class!

His father died in 2002 leaving Issouf, his mother, and four older siblings. Three of those siblings have since been sent to live with an uncle.  An older sister is still with Issouf.

Issouf lives on the outskirts of the town of Yako.  He is in a courtyard with several women and children, but no men to help with the workload. There is no electricity and they have no animals. They draw their water from a nearby well.

His mother and older sister cultivate a field of millet for the family to survive on. The mother also buys some of the local condiments and resells them to generate a very small income.