Sponsor update letter from Natitingou
26/09/2008
Update from Spring 2008
We are happy to provide you with latest information related to SOS Children’s Village Natitingou.
At the National level, one of the key events of 2008 is the unprecedented visit of the US president George W. Bush in last February. Even though the host spent his three-hour stay only at the international airport of Cotonou, it is the first time that an American president has ever visited our country. At his arrival, Mr Bush said his congratulations to the people of Benin for the deepening of democracy, the peaceful environment, the safety of individuals and goods, and for our government’s efforts to eradicate poverty and corruption in our country. The American First Lady in turn, encouraged Benin’s people to send all children to school, especially girls.
Besides, local and municipal elections were held across the country during the last April. At the end of these elections, the ruling party FCBE has got more than sixty percent of the seats at national level. However, as far as the country’s economic capital city Cotonou is concerned, more than fifty percent of the votes were in favour the former president and incumbent mayor of the concerned city Nicéphore SOGLO’s party RB.
As for Porto-Novo, our country’s political capital city, PRD, the former national Parliament chairman and unfortunate candidate during the presidential elections of March 2006 Adrien Houngbedji’s party. At the social level, prices of consumption goods have increased considerably. The SOS children’s villages are suffering from that crisis but will overcome it thanks to our Regional Office’s support. Food self-sufficiency, access to fresh water and to health care still remain our rural populations’ key preoccupations.
Today, 99 children live in the SOS Children’s Village Natitingou. Indeed, 8 new children were recently admitted. In addition to its usual programme of taking care of orphans and abandoned children inside villages, SOS Children’s Villages has initiated the Family Strenghening Programme (FSP) since 2004 in Natitingou. This progamme is aimed at preventing from child abandonment through a financial, socio-educative and psychological support to the community’s poorest families. Across Natitingou today, the programme involves among others, 2 families whose heads are old people, 43 families whose heads are widows, widowers and parents who suffer from deadly diseases such as AIDS for instance, and 12 families whose heads are disabled parents who are not capable of taking care of their family because of physical disability.
Keeping families together
One of the families which are involved in the above programme is Odette’s. Indeed, Odette is a forty-eight-year widow. Her husband died 5 years ago leaving her with 7 children among whom only 5 are still alive. Three of them are taken care of by our Family Strengthening Programme (FSP). Odette’s family has been involved in the programme for a little bit more than two years. In fact, her late husband was employed in a local organisation which has fallen into bankruptcy. Therefore, he lost his job and his family that used to live in comfortable conditions has started living in hardship. 8 years later, he died leaving all the household charges to Odette. But just after her husband lost his job, Odette has been bearing all the household charges and she supplies all the family’s needs thanks to her small business.
The situation became worse with her husband’s death and with her business not being successful any longer. She could not afford taking care of her family: paying the school fees of the children, affording the health care, feeding the family on a regular basis. Both her parents-in-law and her own parents abandoned her. Odette became desperate and even started losing the taste for life.
For more than two years, Odette has been benefiting from our family strengthening programme’s support. This support is in terms of:
- food supply every three months including maize, rice, beans, oil, soap and pasta
- medical supply consisting of consultation, medical check up and medicine gifts
- scholarship supply for children providing items such as school fees, school uniform, school tools and school care
- psycho-social support.
Besides, Odette has been granted a credit so that she can make new investment into her business to make it more profitable. The female association to which she belongs has also benefited from an equipment supply and training on small business management and on reproductive health.
Gaining financial self sufficiency
Thanks to the support she received from the FSP, Odette has now recovered her taste for life. Many admire her new life now. She has even sent one of her children to a private school in order to assure him a good education. She has now adjusted some rooms of her house and saved them rent to other people.
Given the fact that Odette’s situation has significantly improved, she no longer receives any food supply from January 2008. SOS Children’s Villages does so in order to help other poor families benefit from the programme and get also economically self-sufficient. Indeed, Odette is gaining her financial self-sufficiency, step by step. Even if ever her everyday business doesn’t go smoothly, she can still be financially stable thanks to her rent income. When she was asked her impressions about the programme, she declared “I thank SOS Children’s villages as well as its donors and sponsors who change the life of orphans and abandoned children, and of poor families. Thanks for giving them back the taste for life. Long live the FSP!”
We thank you very much indeed for your support without which we couldn’t achieve our goal. Thanks to your generosity, hundreds of hopeless children and families are finding back a smile. We are sincerely grateful to you and hope you will remain our sponsor for a long time again.
Relevant Countries: Benin.