What do we do?

The Sonagnon Centre.

The Sonagnon Centre, located in Bonou is a vocational training centre established in 2006 by the charity after consultation with the village elders, which provides a training programme for 20 girls (aged 13-16) every 3 years. This facility was built to educate and to protect local girls from the danger of domestic slavery, human trafficking and the problems they encounter when lured to Nigeria 30 miles away.

The centre offers 4 different specialisations: food processing, sewing, hairdressing and tie-and-dye. In addition to these vocational skills, the girls are taught literacy, numeracy, basic French, home economics, health awareness, market gardening and basic principles of management of micro-enterprises. When the girls complete their 3-year curriculum they are able to set up a small business and to earn sufficient money to support their own family.

The first cohort of 20 girls graduated in February 2010. Find out more details about the graduation day

The Sonagnon Centre is a boarding facility as a boarding environment is an important educational tool for girls who had never left their village and their immediate family: it teaches them independence and gives them a new self-confidence.

Some other key projects we have been involved in since July 2003

Funding the construction of a library for the main secondary school in Dangbo in the Bonou region. We were able to do this thanks to Kennington Overseas Aid. KOA is a village-based charity doing all sorts of fund raising activities from March to October which give the money raised to a different project every year in the developing world. Their emphasis is on sustainable development.

Providing medicines and building a new wing to the existing Health Centre in the village:

Providing the 2 basic text books (French and Maths) published in Benin for more than 1200 primary school children in Dangbo districts: