From Tenants to Owners, Women in Benin Are Securing Their Rights and Future
The morning sun rose over the land of Benin, casting a golden glow on the land Assana Abdoulaye had tended for decades. For years, Assana and the women in Sinendé had planted, harvested, and labored – always tenants, never owners. The land they worked was passed down through generations of men, and women like Assana…
Read MoreTraining helps increase awareness of menstruation hygiene in Benin
Puberty can be a frightening and confusing time for any girl, especially when the topic is considered taboo. Fortunately, one program in Parakou, Benin is trying to change that. From February 27 to March 3, a Cuso International partner implemented a micro-project where women and men learned about menstruation and safe sexual intimacy and women…
Read MoreFarming programs in Northern Benin aim to bring independence for women
In Benin, women are often overlooked when it comes to land ownership. This leads to challenges when they try to farm so they can generate revenue for their families. Cuso International is working hard to change this reality. With local partner Union des femmes élues conseillères communales (Union of women elected communal counsellor), the Projet…
Read MoreEducation as a means of fighting FGM
As the only girl in her village who has not undergone the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), 15-year-old Rachidatou felt isolated, displaced, and different. “My village practices FGM as an honourable and necessary exercise,” explained Rachidatou. “Even though I’m very afraid, it is something I have always believed I should do.” Her attitude is common…
Read MoreWe will stop it: Meet the women of northern Benin working to end female genital mutilation
Agnès* remembers all too well the pain of her own experience. Sitting in the shade of a tree in her rural village, she is joined by three other women from the community. They speak openly and frankly about female genital mutilation (FGM) and what happens before, during and after the procedure. “We remember our own…
Read MoreCultivating independence in Benin
Nadette is saving for her own plot of land thanks to an agricultural training program offered by Cuso International in Porto Nuevo, Benin. She enrolled in the Songhai farming project and spent a year and a half learning the skills she needed to grow and sell her crops. “After my training, I decided not to…
Read MoreQ&A: With David Forest, Head of Programs, Africa
David Forest, Cuso International’s Head of Programs-Africa, moved from Ottawa to Benin in September 2019 with his partner and their two young children to assume his new role. The family was forced to return early as the coronavirus began to rapidly spread through Europe and North America, and the Canadian government urged Canadians to come…
Read MoreWomen engaged for human dignity in northern Benin
Every year, more than three million girls are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM). An extreme violation of a person’s human rights, this practice affects more than 200-million girls and women around the world, increasing their short- and long-term health risks. As the world continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Cuso’s work…
Read MoreLiving Well at St-Camille
The plight of those with a mental illness is similar throughout Africa—they are the forgotten ones. They can be described as “the most forgotten of the forgotten”. Across African countries, psychiatric hospitals are very rare, as indeed are the psychiatrists; the price of medication is excessively expensive. Meanwhile, the mentally ill remain untreated. Without the…
Read MoreChanging Your Frame of Reference Transforms the Way You See the World
This interview originally appeared in Les Affaires magazine. Martine Kurtzweg is a certified trainer and manager who specializes in the field of information technology. From February to June 2016, she was living in Avrankou, Benin, working as a volunteer for a Cuso International program. The work has boosted her commitment to her own business plan…
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