Benin, solidarity on the move with WeWard
Since December 27, every step counts: thanks to the WeWard App, the distance from dropping out of school can be bridged for 300 children in Benin with Mani Tese.
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A virtuous partnership between Mani Tese and WeWard aims to promote healthy lifestyles and fight educational poverty in Benin, where Mani Tese has been present since 1979. In the department of Atacorà, in particular, Mani Tese has implemented agricultural projects over the years, to promote access to sources of drinking water and support education, with a particular focus on the rights of girls and women.
The partnership with WeWard
WeWard has developed a free App that motivates its users to have a healthy lifestyle and to do daily physical activity by walking: the App's pedometer translates the distances covered by the user into points (the "Ward"), who can then obtain prizes and benefits of various kinds. To all this, starting from last December 27, a solidarity motivation has also been added: the App user, in fact, can choose to convert his Wards into a donation in favor of the Mani Tese project "Let's give 300 children the means to access education in Benin". One step after another, it will now be possible to contribute to their education while developing greater awareness in the communities of Atacorà on the right to education.
The educational context of Benin
In a country ranked 166th out of 191 on the Human Development Index, ensuring the right to education – even if enshrined in the Constitution of Benin – inevitably takes a back seat for families who have to face the challenge of their subsistence and survival on a daily basis. Furthermore, in rural areas such as the department of Atacorà, the educational offering is particularly lacking: in 2023, only 65% of schoolchildren completed primary education and more than one in three children under 15 did not attend school at all. Poor awareness of children's rights among families and communities, as well as the inadequacy of the child protection system, can only perpetuate this situation over time. The Mani Tese program intends to address these factors, through greater family involvement, to encourage greater participation in school activities by girls and boys.
Fighting school dropout in the Atacorà department
The Mani Tese project “Let’s give 300 children the means to access education in Benin” will directly benefit 300 children between the ages of 10 and 13 in 20 schools in the Atacorà department, who will receive school kits with everything they need to promote the right to education, including a flashlight to facilitate evening study sessions. Having identified the close correlation between poverty and school dropout rates, the project will also support the families of the 300 children, providing them with roosters and hens: poultry farming, in fact, requires only minimal infrastructure to guarantee food and a stable and secure source of income. Finally, the project also includes the purchase of a motorcycle and the coverage of the cost of fuel for a year, so as to allow educators to reach even the most remote communities and hold awareness-raising meetings with families on the importance of education for their children, so that their continued participation in school activities is encouraged and supported.