At 6 and 8 years old, Pascal and Victor Guirma, now both in their 60s, moved to the United States from the African country of Burkina Faso. Not knowing the English language, they switched their TV channels to “The Flintstones” every Saturday morning.

It’s how they learned English in a matter of months.

“We watched cartoons for the most part, and I remember not understanding a word of what was going on the TV, but eventually we started understanding words,” said Pascal.

He continued, sharing that shows like “Superman” were another favorite, and had them fluent in English in just a few months.

It was the childhood exposure to technology and resources that fast-tracked them to success in the U.S., and something they wanted to share through a nonprofit as adults.

Friends of Guirgho, their nonprofit, is designed to help provide resources to the elementary school in their home village of Guirgho, 4,757 miles from the current home in New Paltz.

Initially, they set out to build an “Imagination Center” outfitted with desks and computers for each student. But on their initial visit, what they refer to as their “fact-finding mission,” what they saw wasn’t a need for computers, but instead proper ventilation, running water and a textbook for each student.

Their tablets weren’t iPads or Chromebooks, they were slabs of slate. The students needed essentials before they could even think about computers and an Imagination Center.

“We don't want to reinvent the wheel. We want we want to try and maximize what our input would be to be able to be able to help as many kids as possible,” said Pascal.

After five years, the program is already a success, and with the infrastructure in place, they were recently able to move on to more state-of-the-art items. The hottest items: new televisions that act as windows to the outside world, through the lens of this year’s World Cup.

“These are kids watching the game at a classroom that could be anywhere in the world, which is exactly what we want. It doesn’t take a lot of resources to create a learning space like this,” said Pascal.

While it may seem like hundreds of kids glued to a TV screen, watching this year’s matches offers more than just that. It’s the chance to see players they’ve only heard about play on a national stage, the introduction to new cultures and fan bases, and the opportunity to watch the first-ever African nation in the World Cup semifinals: Morocco. Although the team fell to France in the semifinals, takeaways from the tournament extend far past the historic run.

“Presently, the kids are writing the names of American players like back Sergino Dest, Tim Weah, Messi, Mbappe ... The fact that they’re writing the names of players, they’re learning vocabulary and writing,” said Denis Ouedraogo, the elementary school principal.

Previously, students only thought of two options when asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” What was once a choice between soldier or nurse now has a myriad of answers as children are exposed to roles all over the world.

Watching soccer or National Geographic, spelling names or reading has only expedited the learning process. At the end of fifth grade, students are required to pass an exam to continue their education. The program’s success can be found there.

“What we’ve been able to do so far has just been amazing. The passage rate for that fifth grade exam was what, in the low 20s? Twenty, 21, 25%? This year, it was 95%,” said Bob Rich, a friend of the brothers and partner in the nonprofit.

That means 95% of fifth graders at the elementary school qualify to continue their education.

Now that they have laid the groundwork for the dream, Friends of Guirgho will be returning to the village in early 2023 to install internet and a drip irrigation system in their garden classroom to extend the growing season.

“We might not be around to see what’s started, but I’m 100% sure that one of those kids, or several of those kids, are gonna do great things,” said Victor.