Primary Schools: In 2014, WELL Africa built its first primary school in a small village called Touih. The school was the results of many months of negotiations and collaboration with local farmers in order to offer an education to hundreds of children trapped in child labor. For the last 6 years, the primary school has served its purpose. The attendance rate at the school has been growing every year, parents, tutors, and farmers are more willing to at least allow children to learn how to read and write. We now have 4 primary schools completed and a High School under construction.
Uniform distribution: Child labor is still a rampant issue in the Ivory Coast for many reasons. One of those reasons is that many parents and/or guardians simply cannot afford sending their children to school. The costs related to education are extremely high considering how much a typical rural household makes per year (an estimated $700 annually). For parents that have more than one child, education becomes a matter of choosing between taking care of the extensive family or paying for someone’s education. Most people in that case would choose to feed the family. Finding ways to make education more affordable in these communities could prove to be effective in the fight against child labor. One way of doing it would be for us to provide school uniforms, so that parents do not have to worry about what their children are going to wear to go to school. This is a commitment we made to farmers as we were encouraging them to let children attend our schools. In March 2017 we joined forces with Akin Clothing to provide school uniforms to the children of the first WELL Africa primary school. Amazing day at the school distributing new school uniforms. Since then, it has become a tradition…
School Materials: An important aspect of our commitment to provide education to children engulfed in child labor is to ensure that the burden of the cost is not on parents and guardians alone. School materials are distributed every year to every child in our schools in addition to the uniform distribution system. The goal is still the same. We want to make education more affordable. We want to give to every child the tools and resources necessary to succeed.
Teacher Housing: The most important selection criteria for the location of our schools is how exposed children are to child labor and human trafficking. These criteria led us to places so remote that we eventually had to open up new roads ourselves to be able to access them. Collaboration with government officials, especially officials at the ministry of education has been an integral part of our action from the start. We understood that working with them will not only bring a level of credibility to our organization, but it could be a cost saving partnership for us. The biggest expense in operating an educational institution is teachers salaries, and we simply did not have the means nor the desire of spending a large portion of our resources into salaries, so we entered into a deal with the ministry of education. Part of the deal was that we were going to provide housing for the teachers while the government in return would send us certified professional teachers and keep them on their payroll.
Innovative Ideas: Education for us is more than building classrooms for children to attend. It goes way beyond that, and we intend to bring that ambition to life. Our education program is being built to become the best in the country designed to prepare the next generation of leaders in the country, people that will go out to conquer the world and yet remain involved in their communities. This will require us to deliver way more than the classic curriculum. We want the children attending our schools to know that they can go after whatever dream they have regardless of what it is. Our commitment to them is to provide the structure necessary for them to do just that. A world-class computer program/coding school will be provided in conjunction with art, filming, and sports. Because we want them to chase their dreams, we will ensure to surround them with the structure and tools they need to succeed.
Womens Empowerment:
In Sub-Saharan Africa, roughly half of the population lives below the poverty line and more than 80% are women (UNFPA 2008).
The Women Empowerment Program (WEP) seeks to empower women and thus improve gender equality in the Ivory Coast, a country that is far behind on the issue, especially in rural places. The goal is to also establish a solid partnership with the women in our fight against child labor knowing that having their back will ensure that children basics nutrinal needs are met at home
Road Infrastructure: Getting the construction of the high school going was not an easy task. From the day of the groundbreaking till now, we had to overcome multiple challenges. The land that was given to us is located on a hill that dominates the village, but access was almost impossible. We had to literally open up a brand new road to bring the construction materials onsite.
With access to the construction site-wide opened, the work began. The construction moved fairly quickly due to easy access. In a matter of 8 months, the entire main structure was up despite the COVID crisis and the unprecedented restrictions that were imposed. Now that the main structure was up, it was time to make plans for the roof to be on top of the building. We needed woods and a lot of them for the school benches, tables, chairs, and other furniture for the school.
As soon as we were done cutting the wood, another challenge came up. The trees were deep into the jungle, and we were in the midst of the rainy season. Getting them out would require a miracle. After several attempts, it became clear that we either had to abandon the wood in the jungle or create a way out. We chose to build yet another road, which we knew would be used by farmers to get their cocoa beans and other agricultural products out more quickly and facilitate the transportation of pregnant women out of their villages to the nearest hospital in order to reduce infant and maternal deaths in the region.
