Oct 9

After having worked on the accounts today, Herve took me to visit some of the families of the children whom EDEM supports. There are two very positive points in Benin regarding orphans and schooling. First, the orphans are not without shelter – the surviving parent or aunts and uncles provide for the child. Second, Benin has the schools – it is simply a question of getting the children to the schools. The negative point regarding orphans and schooling is the relative poverty which is exacerbated by no longer having one or both parents earning an income. This poverty can mean that it is not just the school fees which are a barrier to going to school but the fact that if the child goes to school, there is one less person to earn an income for the family.

And the poverty really is pronounced. For me, the culture shocks continue but despite becoming slowly acclimatised, nothing prepared me for what I saw today. It’s such a different world that it’s quite difficult to believe that we share the same planet! In the centre of town people call home a lean-to shack with no electricity, water or sanitation. Cooking is done on wood fires and there are no modern conveniences. Whilst the setting is urban, it as if the way of life is still principally rural. In this environment, the people have considerable needs and hopes: not least the children, but almost half the children aged 5-14 work. Hopefully, education is a means to escape the poverty trap.

EDEM acts as a sort of “guardian” for the children to not only help them get to school but to then encourage them and follow their progress. This also means visiting the families and offering support and advice to the parents. This is what I saw today, zooming round town and through the market on the back of Herve’s motor bike. I was glad I was not driving because for a visitor the rules of the road seem impossible to decipher! Later, watching the national news headlines, the culture shocks continued: a chimpanzee that was causing havoc in town was shot by police (much to the delight of a watching crowd); at the market a thief was lynched; and there were “only a few” road accidents today!

Photo: the EDEM office and transport