Child Sponsorship Background, from Natitingou, Benin

SOS Children's Village Natitingou

SOS Children's Village Natitingou was built on the outskirts of town in Ourbouga, by the slip road to Djougou. It is located on a small hill right on the main road, about 4km from the centre of town. A primary school, a technical secondary school and a hospital are around 1.5 km away and the nearest market is about 5.5 km away. The Ourbouga area is still sparsely populated. It still only has a few makeshift huts, in which low-income small farmers live. Many small children run around among them, very few of whom are able to go to school.

SOS Children's Village Natitingou was built on about eight hectares of land that the organization had obtained from the authorities in Benin. It consists of ten family houses, which can house up to 100 children, an administration building, the village director's house, a house for the family helpers, a multi-purpose hall and a community hall that also serves as a canteen for the children.

Other SOS Projects in Natitingou

The SOS Nursery, which was opened at the same time as the SOS Children's Village, has a capacity of 50 children. It consists of two classrooms, an additional room for the individual tuition of children with learning difficulties, a playground with small round huts that are shared by the children and the pupils of the SOS Primary School, and a football pitch.

The primary school also opened in October 1999. It has six class rooms, an administration building, a classroom for children with learning difficulties, a library and workshops for various practical activities. Currently, the school has a capacity of up to 210 children.

An SOS Youth Home is designed to encourage the young people to become independent and to make it easier for them to be integrated into society and the working world. It was opened in October 2003 and makes it possible for the young people to prepare for an independent life under the guidance of educators.

An SOS Social Centre, opened in June 2004, aims to support people who have been infected with the HIV virus and their families (their children in particular). The SOS Social Centre can provide help to 100 children from families in need. In addiction to that, it raises awareness of the HIV virus among the people from neighbouring areas. It also provides people or families affected by the virus with food and supports them financially and materially (scholarships for children and one-off donations from school material and school uniforms).

Background to Natitingou

Natitingou is a city in north-western Benin with a population of approximately 75,000 people.  Founded by the Waama ethnic tribe, but is now populated by a mix of different ethnic groups.  Religion is evenly divided between Christian and Muslim populations, with a portion of the population adhering to traditional beliefs.  Agriculture is the most important industry to the local economy.