Case studies: former SOS child Kara, Togo

Bakollo is the eldest child in a family of six children, and his future seemed jeopardized after he lost his father, since his mother was too poor to secure him an education. He found refuge at SOS Children's Village Kara (Togo) in quite exceptional conditions at the age of fifteen. Today, he is the manager of a business which works well. It is with pleasure that he tells us the story of his life, while paying tribute to SOS Children's Villages.

What has become of me

I grew up in very difficult circumstances. I was not able to study normally because there was no money to pay for school fees. Our house wasn't far from the village and many of my friends were SOS children. I went there regularly to visit my friends in the village and we played and ate together. Visiting the village every day was my way of obtaining food every day because we were so poor at home that we often spent two or three days without something to eat. One day, I went to see my friends as usual. I found a dish of food outside. There was nobody around and I began to eat the food. When my friends came, they were surprised to see me eating because the food was served for the dog. They were very sympathetic towards me and told Sister Müller (the village director at that time) about me. Sister Müller called me and asked me several questions about my social situation. She began to give me food everyday. A few weeks after, she asked me to join the village. I stayed in a family house there for eight months before moving to the SOS Youth Facility.

I stayed at the youth facility for about three years and received training in carpentry. We were nine boys in our house and we had all the things we needed for survival such as pocket money, food, clothes, school fees, medicines, etc. Life in the youth facility was different from that in the village. Our education in the youth facility focussed more on community life, and we learnt how to administer our supplies, how to make decisions and how to become responsible and independent. It was interesting for us to see ourselves being treated like grown ups; that was a good preparation. I left the youth facility in 1990 after having completed my vocational training. I went to live in the semi-independent youth housing in the town centre and started looking for a job.

Children growing up in Kara, Togo

The first years were not easy at all, as I was all on my own. I felt like I had been left to my fate and was afraid of experiencing the suffering that characterised my childhood once again. I went to see the village director hoping that I could have a job at the village. He encouraged me to be creative and set up a business of my own. I didn't want to set anything up on my own because I was sure that it would not work. I wondered if I would have customers to buy the products that I offered. But the village director was so supportive. The administration gave me money to open a carpentry workshop. I bought some working material such as timber, chevrons and nails. I made a table and chairs which were bought immediately. With the money that I earned from this very first business, I made a bed. A hotel keeper saw it; he was interested and ordered 50 other beds. I made the 50 beds and was off to a safe start.

Today, I own a large carpentry workshop which is built on a plot 900 square metres big equipped with all the necessary working material. I have twelve permanent employees, several trainees and more than ten carpenters' apprentices. I have two cars: one for my personal use and another one for delivering furniture to the customers. I have many customers and people appreciate my work. Each month, my sale figure averages between 3,500 and 4,500 Euros. I am married and am the father of four children. The eldest is 17 years old and the youngest is eleven.

Plans for the future

My relationship with the village has not changed until now. Everybody there knows me and is affectionate towards me. I am not rich, but thanks to SOS Children's Villages, I can live well. My family doesn't lack anything. I help my brothers and sisters as well as others who need my support. I know that I could never repay all that the village has done for me, but I try to support people as much as I can. Every Christmas I give presents to every family house at the SOS Children's Villages Lomé and Kara. I am also involved in helping many needy children from the communities surrounding my place. That is my way of expressing my gratitude to the village.

Very often I wonder what I would have become without the support of SOS Children's Villages. The organisation's support shaped my life and gave me the possibility to become a man people can count on. I owe all my success to SOS Children's Villages and I wish that God gives me a long life so that I can help other children succeed as I did.