Today, in the village of Manga, there is a center that trains women and youth with skills so that they can acquire employment and independence. Emmanuel founded REHOBOTH Training Center shortly after he married. Seeing his wife weave from time to time sparked the idea to train others in this skill, since the market was there and many of the women and youth in village were unemployed.

Hence, in 2007, while still a civil servant, Emmanuel opened the center which trains villagers to make clothing or pagne*, also called Faso Danfani** in local language. By 2013, the center was so successful that he left his position to dedicate himself fully to its activities, which included creating REHOBOTH DANFANI+, an enterprise dedicated to the production and commercialization of the products from REHOBOTH. This drastic move to relinquish the comforts of such a coveted position shocked people. But all along, he had a bigger dream.

"I did not enter civil service to make a career out of it. It was a point of departure that would allow me to pursue my own initiatives. I understood early on in my life that when you have a master, you can never be independent. But looking back, I made the right choice. Leaving and letting go of that sense of 'security' really opened me up so that I could forge my character and personality."

When the center opened, it was initially based on the system of paid tuition. But they soon realized that there was a fundamental problem: many people did not have the monetary means. As a solution, the center trains those with a genuine willingness and desire to learn in exchange for their commitment to work at the center post-training, as a way to pay back the tuition expense. Some trainees set up independently after their time at the center and others decide to remain as paid hires.

This system fosters motivation—motivation to learn, motivation to work for one's livelihood—which are traits connected to independence. This brilliant management thinking encourages long-term solution. "Weaving is an activity with many constraints; it is a test of one's patience and will. Without these qualities, one won't last. For example, there are those who are able to afford the tuition, but they eventually quit because they realize that weaving is not easy as they had initially thought."

It is a philosophy to which he strongly adheres. Emmanuel believes that giving people something free could hinder their understanding of importance of things and cultivating their sense of work ethics. "This sense of responsibility that we try to foster in the center applies and translates to life in general. One cannot wait and expect life to give him gifts. One must strive for things. That is how I see it."

Emmanuel contributed to his school tuition from the early age of 10. "Because there were six kids in my family, it wasn't easy for us. During the rainy seasons, after finishing working in my dad's field, I continued on to other people's fields in order to earn money for my brothers and sisters' school materials. As the eldest, I wanted to help my mom pay for our tuitions. My dad never knew about this because in our village, this is normally the women's responsibility and it is unusual to see men (especially those who are not educated) pay for school fees."

This personal work culture and ambition continued throughout his life, at times appearing in comical counter-culture situations. "Here is an anecdote to demonstrate to what degree our men discharge all responsibilities to women. Before dyeing, one must wash. So you can imagine, for a man—let alone a civil servant—in the context of Burkina to be seen 'washing' is quite a rare sighting. After work and during the weekend, I would dye the thread that would be used for weaving during the week. A man washing and dyeing, a man who does women's work…this turned people's heads in my village! One day there was an old man who was passing by while I was washing. He said to me, 'My son, is your wife ill, that you are washing your own clothes?' And I replied, 'No, she is not sick. I just like to help her, that's all.' This man shook his head and continued on his way. Perhaps he was thinking to himself that this young man is foolish."

As the recipient of Prix Artisan Entrepreneur award, Emmanuel encountered Paris for the first time in his life. During his three-month stay, he studied at the prestigious ENSCI-Les Ateliers with students from all over the world. But it was the city itself that was the most profound experience for him.

"What I learned was eye-opening. I learned an enormous amount by being in Paris, by walking its streets, by visiting museums. It confirmed that I needed to push my pursuits to their utmost possibilities. Here, everything is done with rigor and quality. Everything that one does in life should be done in excellence and with perfection. When you are in the midst of a creative process in a new cultural setting, you start to see details that others do not see. The trees, even the fencings around the trees, are a work of art! I've never seen that done in that fashion. Then there are the colors! There is a language behind colors here. Attributing mood, emotions, and seasonal usage for colors—all of this was new to me. It certainly shaped the way I see things. In Africa, we are all about a splash of colors without giving them much reflection. It was a process that helped me to better understand the European market and its intricacies."

Then there is that marvelous yet universally comic education of being in another culture and encountering "the other." "When I arrived here, I didn't understand. I would enter into the metro and as it is natural for me, I would say 'Bonjour'. People just looked at me as if I were a crazy man. Of course! We don't know each other! Back home, we are not accustomed to this lack of trust that is common in big cities like Paris. When we are on the street, we exchange hellos whether or not we know each other. So that was a bit of a culture shock for me."

In Emmanuel's eyes, each and every person is born to occupy a place in his or her community. And if one does not occupy it—and occupies it well—no one else will. He believes that what is in one's control is the way one shapes his or her fate, regardless of the situation or condition to which one is born.

"I was born into a condition, I grew up in a condition, and I know what poverty is. I know it well, because I lived in it. I also know what it feels like to have a decent life. So I know both. So what I can bring, especially to the youth of my community who are not yet conscious of this difference, is to awaken them and cultivate their sense of responsibility to strive for things. I wish to be a role model to incite hope for my people and to awaken their awareness to the fact that no one is there to save you. That needs to be your own initiative."

So, should we nominate Emmanuel Ouoba for TED talk?