Education Benin Project #8520

Supporting village children into school in Benin

by HANDS AROUND THE WORLD

Project Report | Aug 9, 2017
The story of Herve

By Dick Wheelock | HANDS AROUND THE WORLD Project Co-ordinator

Herve and mum not long after his Operation

H.A.T.W. has been working in the small town of Affame in Benin, for the last fifteen years.

About 11 years ago, Margaret C, a nurse/volunteer, on visiting Affame, came across a young boy called Herve who had a club foot. She subsequently arranged to have it operated on the Mercy Ship when it docked in Cotonou. Margaret then undertook to keep Herve supplied with corrective boots.

On my first visit to Affame about a year later, Margaret had asked me to check up on Herve, to make sure he was wearing his boots. Off I set on the back of a motorbike for the six or seven kilometre drive, along some rough and steep tracks, to the tiny isolated village where Herve and his family live. On arrival, the village elder sent someone to seek out Herve. Moments later a small boy stepped out of a hut without a stitch of clothing on but wearing his boots!

As I later got to know his mother, it became apparent that she was quite determined to always do her best for him. It also seemed that the whole village was adding this support. Thus Herve never had the chance of going barefoot again until he was completely healed.

The next time I visited Herve in his village several years later, it was to meet this fine upstanding youth who was the pride of his school football team and had no sign of his former handicap. He incidentally spoke about the best French I have ever heard from a junior school student in Benin.

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May 16, 2017
May 2017 Update

By Nigel England and Dick Wheelock | HANDS AROUND THE WORLD Project Co-ordinators

Some of the Children at Chez Papa Geoff

We have recently returned from a visit to Benin, where the Orphanage Chez Papa Geoff has now been in operation for 6 months.

Dick writes:

My responsibility is for the agricultural project which is to provide for running costs of the orphanage. The fields or “les champs,” as they are now being called have changed out of all recognition since I saw them last autumn. Now, most of the 8 hectares (20 acres) have been cleared of weeds, rank grass and non productive palm trees. There are still roots to be removed; brutally hard work in which Dieu Donne and Albert have now been joined by Justin.

Justin is the tailor who has always made school uniforms for those children who are supported by Hands Around the World, but has found his other work declining. He seems to love the change of pace and has become a valuable member of the team. Equally useful is his encyclopaedic knowledge of the locality and where, for instance, the nearest welder can be found.

April is the most important month of the year for planting maize in this region and several hectares of ground had already been prepared before our arrival. A broken injector pump on the tractor had caused a temporary hold up but we were able to bring a replacement with us. The two-row seed drill which I had built using proprietory seeder units, mounted into a far more robust frame and powered by a two-wheeled market garden tractor, was given its first real test. After a few very minor modifications and on a seed bed that was far from ideal, it worked as well as I could have hoped. At the same time as planting the seeds it also places fertiliser along the rows. On the impoverished soils of the area this will give much improved yields.

In 6 hours we were able to plant half a hectare (over 1 acre), with only one operator. A large gang, even if it were possible to recruit one at this busy season, could not plant as much by hand. The drill will also be used to plant peanuts and haricot beans later in the season. Once the maize has started to grow, manioc (cassava) will be planted between the rows giving a second crop maturing after the maize has been harvested in July / August.

There are still trees for firewood, fruit, or palm oil to be planted. As June is considered the only month wet enough for tree planting it won’t be possible to plant all that Dieu Donne would like this year. It will take several years before 'les champs' reach full production, but the start which has already been made is most encouraging. I look forward to seeing even more progress on future visits.

Nigel adds:

On arriving at Chez Papa Geoff (the orphanage) we were delighted to see the 11 children and young people were settled and happy. They had got used to each other and were making friends with the local children. Alice, the full time carer who joined the team last October, was making a great job of feeding the children well and getting the balance of care and discipline at the right level within the cultural setting.

Two of the boys have a disability. Epiphane has a problem with his legs and needs an operation. We are trying to get an agreement with his family to have the operation but without much success yet. Marc, who is the oldest boy in the orphanage had an ulcer on his arm when he was younger and it has left his right arm permanently bent. We have arranged for him to have the operation he needs and his mother will accompany him to the hospital.

We were able to take out clothes donated by people at my local gym and they were a great success. All the children tried on clothes for their size and chose the ones that suited them the best. They then gave us a fashion show. We also took out some footballs and taught the children a form of basketball. They had a great time. The children made up, produced and performed a play about coming into care. It was heart rending and I am talking to people I used to work with in the UK about the therapeutic benefits of this.

The solar panels we sent out were working but not to the output they should. Dick has been speaking to the manufacturer to try to sort it out.

The main building is working well and we hope that after the planting season the new well should be completed, and the water pump supplying the orphanage should be up and running. At that point and with the fields producing enough food we hope to increase the numbers of children in Chez Papa Geoff to the maximum of 24. It is expected that within two years Chez Papa Geoff should be self supporting with food and a cash crop from the fields.

We now support 110 young people in secondary education and 6 in university and 4 in apprenticeships. After visiting all the school directors we have 88 reports and at the end of the academic year we should have all 110. I am creating a system to monitor attendance and attainment records and be able to identify young people who are able to access a university place, or an apprenticeship.

Thank you for your interest! Please support us as we seek to make a major and lasting difference in the lives of these children in Benin.

Nigel with Dieu Donne and other Friends

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Feb 21, 2017
February 2017 Update

By Nigel England | Project Coordinator

Hands Around the World Benin projects February 2017

At this time we have a commitment that 12 new children per year will be able to access

secondary education.

I gave an undertaking that I would Identify all the children who are in the programme and

provide a spreadsheet for the 5 schools with the child name, year, attendance and

achievement records. As of 2016 year we are supporting the following :-

98 young people across 5 secondary schools

6 young people in University (plus one young woman in a nursing MA)

4 young people in new apprenticeships

8 young people in apprenticeships paid for in a previous years

That is a total of 116 children and young people being supported

Chez Papa Geoff

The main building is completed with capacity for 24 children/young people, except for

connecting the shower pipework.

Kitchen completed with workstation equipment and fires in place.

Payotte completed with roof and flooring for dining, play area and homework.

Store room completed with solar roof panels for electricity for whole compound. Work

needed to finish flooring and storage racks.

Water pump needs replacing and well whole needs clearing out.

New room needs building off the side of store room for office space.

As of October 2016 there were 6 girls and 5 boys in residence at Chez Papa Geoff. They are

being well looked after and seem happy. It was decided that for 6 to 9 months this will stay

the number to make sure the systems work appropriately. The team has given Alice (a

widowed mum with a 2 year old child) the role of on site manager/carer of the orphanage.

She is a hard worker and looks after the children and buildings very well. She does live on

site in the room with a bathroom that was going to be an office. This is working very well but

she does need some financial support.

We would like to see some revenue from excess water and electricity and the renting out of

the tractor that Dick provided come on stream in the near future.

Agriculture

On the 8 hectares (20 acres) donated to Chez Papa Geoff project a variety of crops will be

planted to support the orphanage directly by providing food, (the largest expense) and cash

crops from the sale of the surplus crops. FAO figures for yields in this area show that the

project will be viable.

The land is currently being cleared of grass weeds and a few non productive wild palm trees

ready for the main planting season in April.

Initial crops will be maize and manioc (cassava) which form the staple diet locally. Maize

planting in April will be harvested four to five months later giving time to raise a second crop in one year. Even at very low yields of 3 tonnes per hectare. One hectare should produce all the

orphanage requirements of maize for one year.

Cassava requires an 11 month growing season but can flourish on poor soils and is more

drought resistant, so even in a bad seasons produces something.

Beans and peanuts will be grown both for their protein content and the much valued nitrogen

which leguminous plants fix into the soil.

Tarot (another root crop with high vitamin and protein content) yams and sweet potatoes are

proposed as minor crops.

In the longer term palm trees (the oil is a very profitable crop) will come into production.

Bananas are especially useful as they yield throughout the year and thus provide some cash

income outside the main harvest season.

As can be seen from the above figures the first produce will come on stream in September

2017. From March 2018 support from HATW should fall steadily.

There is the obvious risk of natural disasters but generally Benin has a fairly stable rainfall

and mixed cropping reduces the chance of catastrophic losses due to pests and diseases.

Dick Wheelock

Nigel England

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