http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/12/091217_internet_cafe_hobe_doc2.shtml

The attached pdf is a report of the ceremony, as written by the students of APEED.

Book-giving ceremony (Eng)

Book-giving ceremony (French)

For all those who have donated money in the past twelve months, this ceremony is a direct result of those efforts. The money raised at the Beninoise Solidarity Spectactular in Sydney last September provided the funds to support APEED in providing educational materials to its members. A BIG BIG thank you again to everyone who was involved.

Stories from the blog will be aired on BBC World Service Radio and later in the year form part of a 3 part TV documentary. This is hopefully a sound bite of more to come…if you’re feeling inspired leave a comment on the site.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/worldservice/internetcafehobo/

The money is raised to coincide with the beginning of the school year in Benin where APEED holds an event each year to distribute the essential school materials to each of APEED’s 120 members. We will be posting photos and a report of this event soon.

A special thanks goes out to Masmoudi Artapis, owner of The Living Art Gallery and rug designer, thanks for opening your gallery to us and for your enthusiasm for the event. And to all the auction bidders and auction prize donors, a big thanks to you.
and…. to Papa Mbaye for an awesome Senegalese percussion performance, certainly added to the vibe.

Thanks again and see you next time!

Living Art Gallery, 1 Meagher St, Chippendale 6.30-11.30pm

$15 with auction on the night

An immense evening of fundraising, rugs and highlife music at the beautiful Living Art gallery in Chippendale. The Beninoise Solidarity Spectacular will introduce you to the music and the wonders of the west african nation of Benin, wow you with some beautifully woven Tunisian rugs from Masmoudi Artapis (a percentage of artworks sold on the night go to More Schooling) and last but certainly not least, lighten your wallet in aid of the educational NGO, More Schooling.

http://www.worlded.org/WEIInternet/features/breaking_silence.cfm

Summarised….

Although the pandemic was slow to reach Benin, it is growing at an alarming rate - close to 4% of the population is infected and in certain regions, up to 10%  This is a worrying trend for APEED, Parakou and Benin. The Beninoise Government has brought out some progressive policies with regards to HIV/Aids, however it’s resources are limited. Sex education is not on the agenda in primary schools and can sometimes face opposition from parents even in high schools (much like in parts of the US).

On the positive side, a organisation that has partnered, mentored and supported APEED and More Schooling for the past five years, CAEB (see more information about their organisation in the links section) has been heavily involved in the often controversial topic of HIV/Aids education. They have been touring high schools in Parakou showing a Ugandan film ‘It’s Not Easy’ which aims to combat the stigma associated with openly discussing HIV/Aids. The film recieved a particularly strong reaction at an all-girls boarding facility, ‘Foyer des Jeunes Filles’, which is attached to Lycee Mathieu Bouke. APEED has a strong representation within both of these schools and so we were particularly interested to hear about the intense discussions that the film provoked.

“the girls were very open in the absence of boys, parents, and male teachers. “I wish our parents could be more like friends so we could discuss issues about sex and AIDS openly with them,” said one student. “Many teachers won’t talk about AIDS even though we have a lot of questions,” chimed another.”

The aims of the film viewing were two-fold:

1. An increase in awareness around the issues of HV/Aids
2. Fostering discussion in searching for solutions to the pandemic that are appropriate to Parakou.

I think this second aim is often undersold. Solutions have to come from the community level.  As the quote above shows, breaking down barriers within a community can be extremely difficult. In the coming year, we will publish some more information on this site about APEED’s response to the increasing levels of HIV/Aids infection within the community of Parakou.

Re-stock! The library has been replinished with multiple copies of texts and novels for the yr 7-12 curriculum. This increase in copies will allow for books to be taken out on loan overnight. This is the first installment of the library upgrade project. In addition to new books, two new shelving units have been built to library specifications large enough to allow for the next round of stock. The project was funded by 2008 fundraising activities, totaling to $1200. Check out photos online, www.moreschooling.com.

In sydney we are about to wind up into fundraising mode - in time for our Septemember deadline for books and scholarships. Feel free to get in touch should you want to organise your own fundraiser in support.

Finally, whilst you’re online you can post your congratulations on the one year anniversary of the blog!

Re-stock! The library has been replinished with multiple copies of texts and novels for the yr 7-12 curriculum. This increase in copies will allow for books to be taken out on loan overnight. This is the first installment of the library upgrade project. In addition to new books, two new shelving units have been built to library specifications large enough to allow for the next round of stock. The project was funded by 2008 fundraising activities, totaling to $1200.  

www.moreschooling.com

News for NOV/DEC :

Fundraising Success:
The boat cruise was a success, raising £1640, of which £1, 191.38 has gone to the Annual Distribution of School Books, which was held on October 8th. The remaining will be put to paying the salary for the librarian £30 monthly and to re-strocking library total cost coming to £1624.

Fundraising Goal- Re-Stocking the library:
Since its conception in 2006 it has not seen any additional purchases, by January next year we are looking to restock texts and novels for all secondary grades. The aim is to buy 2 copies of each text to allow students to borrow and take books home to study. Total cost coming to £1624.

School Fees:
This year each student had 3/4 of their school fees paid by the Association. The students in the school Lycée M. Bouké, pay school fees of £15 per year, £11.5 of which was paid by the Association. In the other schools the fees come to an average of £16.50 per year of which the Association paid £12.50.

This was funded by a private donation from a London Family who have a family connection to Benin and More Schooling.

Further Activities:
The Asssociation sees further activities funded by its Steering Committee, established as an adult advisory group to the Associations activities, based in Benin. This involves administrative costs aiding the development of the Association and broadening its funding base. The main cost being a series of ‘investigations’ into students to establish their eligibility as members, this occurs each year at a considerable cost of money and time to travel to each of the 100 students homes and school to meet with parents and teachers to confirm the need. This year this cost the association £190.