SOS Children in Togo

Togo is in West Africa between Ghana and Benin. The country's economic and political crisis in the early 1990s resulted in the suspension of nearly all foreign assistance, which impacted severely on the social sectors. Currently 39 per cent of all school-age girls are not enrolled or have dropped out of school. Of those girls who drop out of primary school, many end up as domestic workers or become the victims of child trafficking.

Eighty-five per cent of the population is employed in agriculture, mostly subsistence level farming, yet food production is insufficient for the country's needs due to obsolete farming methods and a lack of water, especially in the north. Diseases such as dysentery and malaria are widespread, a result of poor living conditions and a shortage of clean drinking water combined with a lack of medical care.

SOS Children began its work in Togo during the 1970s when the first SOS Children's Village was built in the capital, Lomé. The village, in the Tokoin-Wuiti district in the northern part of the river delta, has nine family houses providing a new home for up to 90 children. There is also a youth house for the older children on the path to independence. SOS Children has also built a nursery which is also open to children from the local community, all of whom are given a daily meal. Gardens in the village provide fruit and vegetables for the SOS families. A Social Centre here runs programmes particularly targeted towards families affected by HIV/AIDS.

The charity's second Togo Village was built in 1979 in Lama-Kara, a small but rapidly developing town in a remote area of northern Togo. As well as the ten family houses which provide a home for up to 100 children, the village has a youth house, a nursery and a SOS Primary School. The nursery and school are both attended by local children. The SOS mother and child clinic, which is open daily, provides basic medical care and feeding programmes for undernourished and sick babies. Courses on infant care and nutrition are organised on a regular basis. SOS Children's Kara community also has its own farm where sheep, pigs and poultry are raised and fruit and vegetables grown. As well as providing for the village's needs, the farm provides agricultural training for the older children who also use the farm products in a restaurant run by them as part of a vocational training scheme. In 1994, SOS Children's Villages established a community aid programme to support families in the area around Kara, which included assistance with house building, education and business development. In 2004 a second SOS Social Centre was opened to provide further support to the local community with a particular focus on vulnerable children and their families affected by HIV/AIDS.

A third SOS Children’s Village opened in 2007 in the north of Togo at Dapaong. Up to 120 children can find a new home in the twelve family homes in the village. An SOS Nursery and an SOS School opened the same year. The school comprises six classrooms for up to 210 children and a canteen. The nursery consists of two group rooms, where up to 50 children can be taken care of. Both of these facilities are open to children from the neighbourhood, helping the village children to integrate into the local community. The SOS Social Centre here runs Family Strengthening Programmes to support needy families and children from the neighbourhood. It also includes a small medical centre, which offers basic medical care to the people of the neighbourhood. The co-workers of the SOS Social Centre can look after 100 children from needy families.

See also Aids Orphan Projects in Togo, Africa

SOS Children in Togo
Association des Villages d'Enfants
SOS au Togo, Rue Kiwadjoi 112, rue Tokoin Wuiti
Postal Address:  BP 1394, Lomé

Tel +228 226 01 06
Fax +228/226 44 04

e-mail: bnctogo@cafe.tg

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