C.I.E.L.O

CONSTRUCTION OF A STANDPIPE IN A SCHOOL IN OUIDAH – BENIN

Project co-financed by the SOCAPS Fund, the SOCAPS Endowment Fund and led by the French NGO C.I.E.LO in collaboration with the Beninese association Secours Enfance.

In Benin, one of the poorest countries in the world – ranked 163rd out of 189 countries listed in the 2018 UN Human Development Report – where only 30% of the population has access to drinking water and as low as 4% in the whole of the town of Ouidah according to the communal development plan, the objective of the project was to build a standpipe in each of the 2 beneficiary schools and to connect it to the network of supply of drinking water to the National Water Company of Benin (SONEB), from the city’s water tower. This is in order to offer more regular hydration to the pupils, to help lower the prevalence of water-borne diseases, to eliminate the cost of purchasing and transporting water at the expense of teachers and to participate in the reduction of dropping out of primary school by improving the living environment within the school and facilitating awareness of personal hygiene thanks to more accessible water.

Following the approval in June 2018 of a first funding from the Fondation Mérieux, the search for funding continued unsuccessfully until the end of 2018. In order not to delay the implementation of the project, CIELO then decided to start work first in the Houakpé-Daho school because their cost was lower.

Subsequently, the search for funding continued and it was fortunately successful in July 2019, thanks to the financial support of the SOCAPS Fund.

CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT OF A CLASSROOM FOR THE “BEAU JARDIN” SCHOOL IN HAITI

C.I.E.LO is a French international solidarity association (NGO) created on May 17, 1995, whose actions in the field help improve the living conditions of children and families living in disadvantaged neighborhoods in developing countries, in particular through education and in collaboration with local partners.

The “Une classe – Une salle“ project (“One class – One room“)  will take place in the “Beau Jardin” school in the Haitian town of Bois de Lance, located in the north of the country in the rural area of the municipality of Limonade, 30 minutes by car from the city center, connected by an unpaved road which is very impractical in rainy seasons. The successive priests of this parish wanted to encourage the poorest families to send their children to school from an early age, many young people who failed did so because they started school too late. Thus, the 2 Kindergarten classrooms were created but only 3 elementary classrooms were built (Initial course in 2016, CP in 2017 and CE1 in 2018) before the intervention of C.I.E.LO in 2019, thanks to which 2 classrooms are to be added: the one that hosted the CE2s at the start of the 2019 school year and that for CM1 at the start of the 2020 school year.

The project will complete the installation of the 6 levels of the elementary cycle by building the last missing classroom to receive CM2 students at the start of the 2021 school year and by equipping desks made by a local carpenter so that each student can study in good conditions. The project will also include a games trunk in the school with 30 educational games as well as ten sports games after training on site by C.I.E.LO of teachers for their use. It will also award 15 scholarships covering registration fees for the neediest and deserving students. Finally, it will consolidate the training of the 9 teachers at the school by sharing the practices teaching a French-speaking teacher seconded on site.