Why?
Around 60% of children of school age in Benin regularly attend classes. This proportion rises to 72% for city-based students and drops to 58% in rural areas. According to the Demographic and Health Study of 2006, only 70% of children attending school in the villages will complete the primary school while not pursuing secondary education in their lifetime. While there are many factors determining lack of access to schooling including location, poverty and gender bias, Tiwani focuses its efforts on improving and developing the already existing material and intangible resources at hand.
What?
Reconstruction and replacement of the water wells, equipping existing schools and advancing and advocating talents and skills of your entrepreneurs already in place are valuable actions helping with gaining a strong foothold in life for the most socio-economically fragile groups such as women and girls. As a community, Tiwani stands for hands-on strategies of support rather than direct financial donations - transferring and exchanging knowledge and providing information and skills for maintaining valuable material resources long-term.
Who?
We are a team of passionate individuals, each an expert in their field. Based in Cotonou (Benin), Berlin (Germany) and Utrecht (Netherlands) we act together to ensure effective support for the causes we stand for.
Moutiou
Berlin, DE
As a co-founder of Tiwani, Moutiou is working directly with communities in Benin and taking charge of the school and water programmes. Apart from overseeing all Tiwani´s ongoing activity, he is responsible for allocation and supervision of the water wells, as well as scouting locations for the new wells.
Patrycja
Berlin, DE
A co-founder of Tiwani, Patrycja contributes to the mentoring programme and manages Tiwani´s activity in Berlin. As an architect with an academic experience in urban research, she is also responsible for the water well mapping project in the regions of Porto Novo and Cotonou.
Mireille
Berlin, DE
Mireille oversees the Togo-based Tiwani locations (region of Lome). She is an ardent advocate for girls´ and women´s rights, particularly their equal access to education. She plays a crucial part in the development of our school and mentoring programmes.
Désiré
Cotonou, BEN
Being Tiwani´s co-founder in Benin, Désiré oversees all of Tiwani´s activity and completed projects directly on site, especially the school and water programmes. He is particularly involved in work with fragile communities and advocates for the rights of orphans and widows.
Maëlle
Cotonou, BEN
Maell is a student and plays a vital role in documenting, supervision and control of programmes taking place directly in Benin where she also gathers the feedback from the communities we work for and with.
She is also in charge of our social media channels.
Adam
Utrecht, NL
Adam is a musician taking an important part in creating and developing Tiwani´s pedagogical side of the school programme. With his experience of creating and producing electronic music, he is in charge of the workshops and events organized for children and youth based in Benin.