For more than 5 years, Lucie Bourgeois, Founding President of Umalia, with a group of more than a hundred volunteers, has been working on the project of building an entrepreneurial community primary school in the lake village of Sô-Ava. To allow the children of this locality in southern Benin, reputed to be a landlocked area, to also access education, considered in urban areas and under other skies, completely as an achievement of modernity. Explanation.
Umalia refers to a company created in 2012 realizing the impact that the private sector can have on society and the environment. By deeply believing in the potential for positive impact of multisectoral partnerships for the benefit of the sustainable development of communities all over the world. For Lucie Bourgeois, this project seemed an almost impossible vision to realize at the time... But, she adds, as Lao-Tzu said: "A journey of a thousand leagues always begins with a first step". Thus, by continuing discussions, analyses, feasibility studies and others, the initiators of this ambitious project have launched themselves. We know the rest of it.
One first step, one first class at a time... The Holy Anna of the Lakec Community School has thus become a reality that forces admiration. By promoting the education of children and by serving literacy classes on evenings and weekends to parents, who are 80 percent illiterate. Thus, over time, the young children trained on the benches of this school, will become real agents of change within their community. What could be more noble!
In 2018, the community laid the first brick, made by sand collected at the bottom of the water by about twenty male divers. Sand that will be carried by dozens of women, walking in the water up to the thighs, basin on the head, baby on the back. For each class that has been mounted every year for the past four years, there can be counted about fifty sand boats filled on the ledge, and about ten thousand sand trips made by these women. And that, for a single class.
Volunteering, partnerships, financial contribution and request for help
Volunteers over the years, there are about fifty in Quebec, Canada and more than a hundred in Benin within the community. Mostly craftsmen, carpenters, masons, backfill women, children and people of good will.
At the stakeholder level, we can mention Umalia, Papillon MDC (leadership development firm), NTD Apparel (clothing firm), Mission Inclusion (a Quebec NGO working in Africa among others), and Idée Education Entrepreneurial (NGO working for conscious entrepreneurial education) in addition to all the volunteers.
The Holy Anna of the Lake Community School benefits from the financial support of several hundred donors. In order to allow each year, the operational team, to raise funds to the tune of 15 thousand dollars about nine million three hundred and fifty thousand CFA for the construction of a classroom ($ 15,000 / class) in this lake area.
To date, the school has four classrooms in total four. Which is beautiful. The icing on the cake the school is appreciated and loved by students and teachers. She is cherished for everything she brings and because she allows these children to build themselves, to educate themselves and to be able to hope for a brighter future for them, their family and their community. It is effective because more than 92% of children graduate each year. This is an achievement for this community where more than 80% of adults suffer from illiteracy.
Only now, today, after persevering despite the pandemic, despite the many difficulties, the slab of the second floor could be completed. Which gives hope that the funds raised this year could be enough to mount the last two classes and finalize the roof. Hence the appeal of the president of Umalia and her group of Beninese and foreign volunteers to all people of good will to help them mobilize 25 thousand dollars to complete this work. Convinced that together we can, all together, make it happen. Collectively, one last push to succeed in making this community school
For all intents and purposes, an invitation to view these 2 minutes of video to see how this school is special and different from the others. Then go to the website of our non-profit partner in Quebec, Mission Inclusion, which allows us to send 100% of the funds directly to the field, transparency obliges.
By Serge Babylas de Souza
babylas25@yahoo.fr
Video of the school : https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=739448153861589
Make a donation here : https://missioninclusion.ca/ecole-sainte-anne-du-lac/
