Learn about Action Sociale and Orphans in Benin
Trip Start
Feb 02, 2007
1
12
18
Trip End
Mar 30, 2007
Porto Novo,
Benin
Monday, March 5, 2007
I think its important we share a little about who we are partnered with in Porto Novo, Benin. The organisation is called Action Sociale and its an NGO (non-governmental organisation). The organisation office is in Porto Novo however they do their work all across Benin. They serve the community of Benin in various aspects, training oppotunities such as an adminstration tranining centre, place for college Beninoise to do internships, microfinacing for families...but I would like to share with you is my experince with their work in aiding orphaned children.
What is considred to be an orphan in Benin is different from Canada. If you have lost even 1 parent you are considered an orphan. This definition for orphans is rooted in tradition where only those who have lost a parent 'an orphan' can play the drum that announces a death(or what is more readibly belived here, when the soul has moved to another place)
Centre d'appui à l'éducation des enfants
. Its known as the Orphan's drum and its long and tall. Only orphans who have lost both parents can play with both hands. Those who lost just a father play the drum with their right hand and those who lost a mother play with their left hand. Its forbidden for a non-orphan to play the death drum as it is belived you will shorten the life of your parents by doing so.So back to the NGO...they work with orphaned children and their families who are considered to be at high risk as a result of the loss of a parent. Those who have lost their fathers generally are more high risk then those families that lose a mother because fathers tend to be the sole or main financial contributors to the family and are more likely to re-marry. Generally, the NGO learns of orphaned families by the hospitals who notifies them when they feel that a family is likely to be in need of assistance. When they learn about a new orpahan a visit is arranged and an assessment is done on the families ability ot provide and support the orphaned children in all aspects:food, shelter, clothing, education, health...ect. Unfortunaly, because the spread of HIV/AIDS is high among the poorest of society and is who is most vulnerable to die from this virus is how this NGO ends up dealing with many families affected by HIV/AIDS. So, its likely when doing a first visit the assessment will include asking the entire family to take an ELISA test (HIV/AIDS test) if the deceased was +ve. If the spouse(s) are found to be ill then their medical costs will be considered in the overall assessment, ensuring their well being is also taken into consideration. In general the assessment looks at the family as a whole, determines their needs and makes a plan of action on how long the NGO will be invloved to ensure all membes of the family can be selfsufficent and reliant.
Children from Quartier Abogome
When doing assessments of families affected by AIDS getting them to take the test can be a great challenge. Some families do not see the urgency or need to take the test either because they dont belive their family member died from AIDS or they dont have a good enough understanding about HIV transmission to think they are at risk. In addition, the threat of death is not as grave as we North Americans perceive it to be, for them death is just another stage of life. Therefore, using the possibility of dying as a motivator to take the test is not always affective. The other challenge is the high illiteracy rate in Benin that affects their ability to understand how such a virus exists and can impact them. In addition, there is a greater tendency to believe in voodoo like religions among the illiterate so geting ill to them is more spiritual, greater then them and destiny.
As part of the learning expereince here we get to go with the outreach workers on their site visits. The site visits can include going to the orphans home, school, Dr. apointments, community meetings, traning workshops... During one of my visits I met a little girl who is 8 yrs old, both her parents died from AIDS and now lives with her Grandma. She is HIV positive, has a hearing problem from birth and because of this has never been to school. She is not aware she is ill becuse the outreach worker does not feel she is capable of understanding, which worries me because then she doesnt know to be careful either. Its so sad and its real. There are many children in thes types of situations here today and although the NGO has only been around 8yrs there are many children who have benefited from their aid.
To learn more about Action Sociale please visit the site however it is in french only at the moment:http://www.actionsociale.org
Cindy
