Our education projects currently focus on children and women. The lack of education for children in Benin effects both boys and girls. Because a family must pay for uniforms, books, and supplies they can not afford to send their children to school and often resort to sending them to work. The boys will be sent to work in the fields and the girls will be sent to sell small items on the street, in the market, or become a house servant. The problem of child labor and lack of education are intertwined, hand in hand. So, through our push for education among the children we are also combating child labor and trafficking.
Due to the views of women's roles within the Beninese society, many women are uneducated and lack the proper tools for success in their daily living. Eventhough they are looked to as the provider and keeper of the homes, they are expected to accomplish these tasks while remaining uneducated. Through our education projects, women are becoming empowered and a shift in the mindset of the village is taking place.
Well construction is a continual project with PfP because the need for clean water is so great. Providing clean water is so basic, and completely necessary if change is to occur within a village. The incredible thing about clean water is that from the very first sip change begins. The body becomes healthier, allowing one to attend school, work, and provide for the family. With a well comes a new life.
The current water sources for area villages include hand dug wells, small rivers, and flooded land during the rainy season. All of the sources are dirty and consumed with dangerous bacteria and disease. They wash their clothes, bathe, bring their animals to drink, and draw cooking and drinking water all from the same source. Because clean water is so powerful, this is one of the first things we do when partnering with a village.
Being an orphan in Benin is a little different than in other parts of the world. Children are viewed as property, property that is “owned” by the father and the father’s side of the family. When a father passes away, the mother is “released” to marry into another family and in essence orphaning the child. Most children are given to the father’s oldest brother becoming nothing but a new burden on the family. Although they are not living in an orphanage, they are very much alone and on their own. Through our program, the child receives education, frequent medical visits, needed medications, and food distributions. Those that are sponsoring these orphans are completely changing the course of their adopted child’s life. No longer will the child have to beg, work, and feel worthless, but now they can be educated, have value, and begin to find a purpose and plan for their life.
Through our project, the orphaned child does not live in an orphanage, but with extended family or an older woman in the village. So, when the sponsored child receives the monthly food distribution it not only sustains the child, but the entire family that he or she is living with. We have had testimonies from some of the sponsored children of how this program is rescuing them from child labor in the fields; that alone makes the project completely worth it. Each sponsor commits to a one year sponsorship of a child and may continue after that as long as they like. If it was not for our sponsors, these children would not have their basic needs met nor would they have the hope to dream. It is amazing to watch how one person can truly make a difference in the life of another, a difference that can transcend age, race, religion, and distance, a difference that will impact generations, a difference in the sponsors life as well as the orphans.
Below are pictures of orphans that need sponsorship today!
Sustainable projects that bring transformation to the economy is what is going to bring lasting change to a people in need. This is the thought behind the Small Enterprise Development (SED) Project, and the business school classes. These programs are focused toward women who have the desire to operate their own business, but do not possess all the necessary tools. These developmental programs have been hugely successful due to the accountability factor among the ladies and the fact that they must contribute monies they have saved toward their business. Through this program they are able to invest into their own future and the future of their families, giving them a sense of pride and ownership.
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