A school for Aného

Aného, Togo

Project start: 2008

Completed

Target achieved:

4.000 €

Poverty and hard work characterize the lives of children in Aneho, a town in the West African state of Togo. Our friend Ajmal made us aware of the precarious situation on the ground. Not only the hard work, but also the long journey to school prevents the children from going to school. Together with the local organization “Streams of Hope”, we provided the local children with donations in kind and a school bus. We also support our partner organization with local bureaucratic processes to make their work possible in the future.

INITIAL SITUATION

Togo is a country in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea and borders Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. The country is divided into five regions – De la Kara, Des Plateaux, Des Savanes, Centrale and Maritime – and has around 6 million inhabitants. Persecution and human rights violations have forced many people into exile.

The project site is located in Aného, the eighth largest city in Togo with around 28,000 inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country in the Maritime region, around 45 km from the capital Lomé. Aného is characterized by severe poverty and there are many impoverished, neglected and hard-working children.

Through our friend Ajmal, who is a long-time member of the Togolese aid organization “Streams of Hope”, a cooperation between the local organization and Visions for Children e.V. Streams of Hope supports local schools, hospitals, needy families and orphans.

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

The children in Aného live in extreme poverty and contribute to the financial support of their families by going to work. It is not only child labor that prevents children from attending school, but also the long journey to school. The nearest one is 8 km away.

Our immediate measures included clothing and material donations for the children. We then provided the village with a bus that can now be used to transport the pupils to school. As a non-governmental organization registered in Germany, we were also able to assist Streams of Hope with official matters. Through the cooperation of a Togolese organization with a reputable foreign organization, bureaucratic processes in Togo can be simplified and in some cases eliminated altogether.