Supporting the education of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Sichem (Southern Togo) during the health crisis
Sichem Education Team Helps Improve Education in 35 Villages
For 10 years, SICHEM, a sustainable development organization in rural areas in Togo, has been helping to improve education in this region near Lomé.
We work with 35 villages where populations, referred to as "forgotten populations", live in difficult conditions and have very limited access to basic socio-educational infrastructure. We support students and teachers in 100 primary schools, 20 middle schools and 5 high schools.
Our concrete help reaches 3,000 students
Sichem supports these village communities in providing a better learning environment for students and teachers through a multiple and comprehensive approach.
We intervene by installing school buildings and equipping classrooms with suitable furniture.
Above all, we help to improve the quality of education by facilitating access to documentation and information for the 3,000 students and teachers via two libraries and a Bibliobus service which serves 22 schools in the area.
We run socio-educational activities for more than 1,500 young people to contribute to their overall development and their civic training.
300 young middle and high school students from the area are welcomed each week to the canteen of the Djagblé library, and benefit from healthy food in exchange for a modest financial contribution as part of the sustainable food education program.
Volunteer teachers from three local primary schools, recruited by parents to compensate for the lack of state teachers in these schools, are financially supported in addition to the parents' efforts so that they can continue to teach the students.
2020 young people, including 13 girls in difficult situations (orphans or from very low-income families), have been supported since January 7 in the pursuit of their studies and professional training by setting up a solidarity fund funded by various donations to pay their school and training fees, provide their daily meals and take care of their health needs. The Covid-19 crisis has made it difficult to feed this solidarity fund.
The health crisis has seriously impacted the smooth running of all these actions aimed at contributing to improving the quality of education in these disadvantaged environments.
Our team depends on 70% of international grants. We finance the rest with solidarity trips in the implementation of the project activities. These solidarity trips, organized each year for groups of people (usually Europeans) wishing to discover Togo and immerse themselves in SICHEM's projects, generate income that supports certain actions of the project. The health crisis has led to a drop in our internal income of 30 to 35%.
In order to ensure the continuity of actions for the benefit of students and teachers in particular, we have already reduced the salaries of our team of librarians and facilitators by 25%. To continue in 2021, we need help.
The team is made up of 8 people including 3 women, distributed as follows:
- 2 librarians
- 3 animators
- 2 catering managers
- 1 project manager who ensures coordination
What will the money collected be used for?
To continue in 2021, we need €3,750.
This will be used to pay 75% of the salaries for the 8 people in the team during the first quarter.
We also need equipment – in particular 50 tables and benches at €1,500 to comply with Covid-19 barrier measures, in particular social distancing of students.
No responses yet