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SOWC / BENIN TRAFFICKING
STORY: SOWC / BENIN CHILD TRAFFICKING
TRT: 3.20
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH/ FON / NATS
DATELINE: 3-4 FEBRUARY 2012, PORTO NOVO, BENIN
1. Various shots, Doussou at school
2. SOUNDBITE (French)Dossou Kiki, 12 years old
“One day my daddy said to me come, we're going somewhere. And we went to Nigeria. The place he took me to, there was a lady there. She was selling maize. He told me to stay with the lady. When he left I cried. The lady told me to be quiet and I was quiet.”
3. Various shots, street scenes
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Chabi, Child Protection Officer UNICEF Benin:
"Child trafficking is a big issue in Benin. So UNICEF is supporting the government to fight against this phenomenon to be able to save these children, recooperate them and get them back into their childhood and to train them. "
5. Various shots, child shelter
6. SOUNDBITE (French) CarineAgossou, Psychologist, Salesiane Sisters of Don Bosco:
“With this type of child the first thing to do is reassure them, because he's a child who has been sold by his own father. So the first thing to do was to reassure him, to guarantee his protection and to tell him that in this place he will feel safe. That's the first thing. Then we had to motivate him so he would rediscover the joy of living, of going back to school.”
7. Various shots, Don Boscocentre
8. Various shots, outreach centre
9. Various shots, Honorine with bread
10. SOUNDBITE (Fon) Jeanette Olègbèyè, 51 years old:
“I have noticed that my daughter has changed since coming here. There have been great improvements in her up bringing.I have definitely noticed changes in Honorine’s behavior.”
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Chabi, UNICEF Child Protection Officer:
“The barracks that you see behind me were put in place by NGOS and they are very important step for children in life because they give them a second chance to return to childhood and begin their livelihood like a child and to start on a new path on their lives.”
12. Various shots, Honorine sewing necklace
13. SOUNDBITE (Fon) HonorineNoudjèmèdji, 14 years old:
“I come here and even if I am here people can buy my bread. I stay here until very late, sewing. The auntie teaches me lots of things.”
14. Med shot, Honorine at shelter doing match exercize
15. Various shots, Dossou and his mother picking tomatoes
16. Various shots, Dossou at shelter yard
Dossou concentrates hard to get his geometry exercise right.He is only 12. But he knows what it's like not be able to go to school.After his parents split up, his father sold him. He spent three months alone and scared in neighbouring Nigeria.
SOUNDBITE (French) Dossou Kiki, 12 years old:
“One day my daddy said to me come, we're going somewhere. And we went to Nigeria. The place he took me to, there was a lady there. She was selling maize. He told me to stay with the lady. When he left I cried. The lady told me to be quiet and I was quiet.”
His story is not unique in Benin, a small country with porous borders which sees thousands of children trafficked. In addition, around 600 000 children are involved in child labour within Benin. Oftentimes they are sent from rural areas to cities to earn money from a very early age.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Chabi, Child Protection Officer UNICEF Benin:
"Child trafficking is a big issue in Benin so UNICEF is supporting the government to fight against this phenomenon to be able to save these children, recooperate them and get them back into their childhood and to train them. "
UNICEF supports the work of organisations like Don Bosco and the Salesiane Sisters which aim to rehabilitate children from the streets, as well as those who have committed crimes and suffered abuse or who, like Dossou are victims of child trafficking.
SOUNDBITE (French) CarineAgossou, Psychologist,Salesiane Sisters of Don Bosco
“With this type of child the first thing to do is reassure them, because he's a child who has been sold by his own father. So the first thing to do was to reassure him, to guarantee his protection and to tell him that in this place he will feel safe. That's the first thing. Then we had to motivate him so he would rediscover the joy of living, of going back to school.”
The Don Bosco centre in Porto Novo touches the lives of vulnerable children in various ways. Some of them, like Dossou, live here. Others do fast-track schooling or learn a trade.
But for children who live on the streets and other vulnerable children -- three outreach centres have been opened in urban marketplaces offering a safe haven, a place to play and a chance to learn some skills.
Fourteen year old bread seller Honorine started coming to this children's shelter in centre of Conotou’s bustling market two years ago.
She didn't know how to tell her mother she was taking time off from work. So she gave her a necklace she had made at the outreach centre.
SOUNDBITE (Fon) Jeanette Olègbèyè, 51 years old:
“I have noticed that my daughter has changed since coming here. There have been great improvements in her upbringing.I have definitely noticed changes in Honorine’s behavior.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Chabi, UNICEF Child Protection Officer
“The barraques that you see behind me were put in place by NGOS and they are very important step for children in life because they give them a second chance to return to childhood and begin their livelihood like a child and to start on a new path on their lives.”
Honorine’s mother dreams of her daughter one day becoming a seamstress. But she can’t afford to send her to school. So the life skills the 14-year old girl learns here in this tiny two-roomed container are a welcome support.
SOUNDBITE (Fon) Honorine Noudjèmèdji, 14 years old
“I come here and even if I am here people can buy my bread. I stay here until very late, sewing. The auntie teaches me lots of things.”
While Honorine has a homelife but no chance right now of going to school, Dossou has a uniform and a school bag.
And soon he may no longer need to sleep in a dormitory.
Four years after he was sold by his own father, staff supported by UNICEF have tracked down his mother. She’s remarried and would like her eldest son back.
But the process of reuniting him with his mother is an ongoing and complex one.
In the meantime, in the safety of a school playground, Dossou is finding his feet as he learns to become a child again.
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