03 November 2003

Benin: Education and Health are two main fields on which development depends, and Africa shows a gloomy picture as to those fields: two third( 2/3) HIV positives in the world; millions of unwished pregnancies each year; millions of people affected by Sexually Transmissible Diseases other than HIV aids; millions of illnesses related to a bad hygiene and many other diseases related to hot areas. These issues have come up pretty much everywhere in the world and a disease, whatever country it burst out in, is a threat for health everywhere else. What can volunteers do toward lasting and effective solutions to these problems?

Indeed a great deal of endeavours are carried out in the fields of education and health but volunteers are the right people regarding the achievement of certain tasks and can achieve a bit more. Here are a few examples which confirm the necessity for volunteers to step in.

1. In Benin the campaign of sensitisation against Sexually Transmissible Diseases and HIV aids undertaken by the Ministry of Health in November 1994 has bear fruit. I was both member of sensitisation team at that time and training officer- the current Minister of Health has confirmed the positive impact of that campaign upon the target group( increase in the rate of detection of HIV aids and other Sexually Transmissible diseases; increase in the selling of condoms.). That operation should be resumed periodically( three-four times a year ) and backed by media with a view to deepening the change in people's habit already on track.

- Home-based volunteers will resume the operation of sensitisation and get their job supported by NGOs working in the same field. An appropriate apportionment of campaign teams is necessary for it follows from experience that target group segments are not open-minded toward neither foreigners nor people living in their respective neighbourhood.

- Sensitisation will prove more effective within High Schools if it is carried out by team from somewhere else but by Teachers ( Biologist under the circumstances ) from the targeted school with whom students are more open-minded than with a foreigner( since students don't want people to find out about who they are in public ) or with parents( for whom sex related matter remain taboo ). I'm sure there are Volunteers-Trainers who are ready to sensitise their fellow-workers so that sensitisation should be planned and achieved to that end.

2. Education is the key for development and school teachers are ill-apportioned in Africa. Benin exemplifies that situation: teachers concentrate in cities seeking jobs where neighbouring countries are need teachers. "We're going to recruit scientific subjects teachers in neighbouring countries." has told in the early current month the Minister of Education of Burkina Faso interviewed by a host of International France Radio.

The body of volunteers would be an actual structure that will be able to apportion in the sub-region human resources in so far as the government of Benin will not be capable of supplying Burkina Faso with teachers due to the fact that Benin also lacks teachers in remote areas not equipped with drinking water facilities, electricity, entertainment spot to which teachers are used to and of which they are sorely in need. Most of those teachers rather wish to go and teach in areas where there is comfort and where there're going to earn higher salaries. Hence it is necessary to:

- Extend volunteers' network in countries where they aren't so far;

- Make existing networks pro-active and more effective through the design of program relevant to the current issues and their stringing implementation;

- Facilitate exchanges and connection between network through the arrangement of meeting aiming at pondering so as to figure out issues at sub-regional level and contemplate lasting and more effective solutions.

Those moves will definitely enable volunteers to perform much better and win over more and more policy-makers' collaboration toward a unity in action.

by Charlemagne Patrice ADOKPO