An Italian organization called the “Heart Melts” foundation, has given foreign aid to Burkina Faso, Africa, through pizza. This seems like an unconventional way of providing aid, but it could be a potential solution to some problems facing local African communities. There has been a recent outcry that giving foreign aid to Burkina Faso, and other African countries, is harming rather than helping them. This charity group from Italy has decided to go a different direction with their foreign aid. Rather than giving food to Africans, the charity has taught them how to make the food, and in particular, how to make pizza.
The “Heart Melts” foundation provides aid through supplying ingredients and tools necessary for both making pizza and running a small business. So far, this foundation has opened three pizzerias across Burkina Faso, with the most recent being in Fada N’Gourma, a city of 50,000. The foundation gives locals technical training as well as resources necessary to start a business, but the entire pizzeria ends up being locally run. The charity helps the community economically as well as build solidarity.
Burkina Faso is generally ranked last on the UN Human Poverty Index, which takes into account standard of living, survival rates, and access to knowledge. However, many different agencies, including “Heart Melts,” have appeared across the country to give foreign aid to Burkina Faso residents, and help develop their national agriculture, school, hospital, and business sectors.
The main goals of the “Heart Melts” foundation is to create unity between the people of Burkina Faso, primarily because there are multiple different religions and ethnicities within the country. The charity works to prevent any potential civil wars that could arise. They also want to create jobs through their pizzerias and other ventures, such as a carpentry school. Already, the organization claims that the three pizzerias are having great financial success. “Heart Melts” speculates that they will continue to have long-lasting success, allowing the communities in Burkina Faso to run the businesses without the presence charity representatives.
– Corina Balsamo
Sources: World Crunch, Human Development Reports
Photo: Flickr