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Benin: Bringing Communities
Together to Support Children
The residents of Nikki village in northeast
Benin face many problems. The community has
experienced an increased number of undesired
and at-risk pregnancies, medical complications
from abortions, rising divorce rates, poor
student grades, and emerging complaints from
parents about their children's behavior.
In response to these challenges, the people
of Nikki decided to organize a festival to
encourage parents and residents to take a
more active role in the lives and successes
of their children.
Since 2004,
AGSP has been active throughout Benin,
providing nearly 8,000 scholarships to
primary school girls and boys in areas
where financial hardship is most pronounced.
In May 2009, with support from the USAID-funded
Ambassadors' Girls' Scholarship Program (AGSP),
the Nikki Family Festival brought the citizens
of Nikki together to discuss the ongoing
problems in their community and develop potential
solutions to address them. Participants from
the village assembled early in the morning
on the day of the festival. Following welcoming
speeches and sketches delivered by school
children—including AGSP scholars—the
mood of the participants was upbeat. Under
a hot midday sun, special guest speaker Dr.
Cyriaque stood to speak. Highly regarded
for his expertise and service as the chief
doctor at Nikki Regional Hospital, he began
his speech with data gathered from recent
hospital admissions.
"In the last three years, of all the
cases of dangerous abortions due to complications,
like perforated uterus, 86% were school girls," he
said. The crowd grew very quiet. "And
between 65-70% of those patients who were
treated for risky pregnancies were, again,
female students simply too young to be carrying
children of their own." The statistics
were sobering, and the message was clear:
School attendance alone is not sufficient
to keep girls from experiencing unwanted
pregnancy and its associated risks.
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The Nikki
Family Festival
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Over four consecutive days, more than 3,000
participants including parents, students,
journalists, and professionals watched documentary
films, attended lectures, and participated
in group discussions about the greatest threats
to the welfare of Nikki's youth: Uninformed
decisionmaking, risky behavior, and parental
indifference toward school success. The major
themes tackled during the festival were HIV & AIDS,
unwanted pregnancies, quality education,
child behavior, and the timing of marriage.
The Nikki Family Festival was a tremendous
success. Participants young and old expressed
their appreciation for its timeliness and
inspirational impact. Many of those who attended
took away important lessons with plans to
incorporate them into their daily lives.
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An AGSP
scholar is interviewed at
the Nikki Family Festival
by local reporters.
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"The two documentary films shown during
the festival truly made me discover things
that will make me want to abstain from unprotected
sexual activities," said 16-year-old
Zakari Baké Doué, a student
at Nikki Middle School.
The statistics that Dr. Cyriaque cited during
his speech were mentioned repeatedly by participants
as being among the most impactful of all
the information given. As a result of this
data, and the activities and resources at
the festival, the residents of Nikki are
committed to doing everything they can to
maintain the momentum generated during the
event.
"The statistics provided by Dr. Cyriaque
on pregnancies and risky abortions had me
thinking really hard," said Fatiou Dossou,
Tchikandou School principal. "I took
notes and intend to use them to raise awareness
among my students and their parents."
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