Benin: Raphaël's pathway to learning to walk

A young boy is walking home in the late afternoon sunshine. It's the end of the school day. This common enough scene is taking place in Cotonou, Benin. The boy is Raphaël, and the 15-minute journey he is making today might seem like nothing out of the ordinary, but for him, it's the reward for years of effort, courage and determination. Raphaël is ten years old. He was born with partial hemiplegia on his left side.

A mother’s courage

For Rosine Moulero, his mother, life has not always been easy. Raphaël's father was a violent man and, after the boy was born, he left, leaving his four children in the sole care of their mother. Rosine was never given any financial support. To get by, she bought goods on credit and sold them on. "The family stopped helping me and it was very difficult," she explains. "Sometimes I found it hard to give my children a proper meal. There were days when I didn’t eat to leave them what little food we had."

Rosine herself has a disability. She has lost the use of her hands, her fingers are curled and she can’t move them. One day, when she was just a child, she was punished by her mother, who grabbed her and plunged her hands into boiling water. This act of violence has had an incalculable impact on Rosine's life, and she still suffers from it today.

Personalised follow-up at home

At the age of six, Raphaël could not yet walk. It was his mother who took him to and from school. Noticing his difficulties, the school’s head teacher referred him to the Guichet Unique de Protection Sociale (GUPS), a decentralised structure of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Microfinance that houses a community-based rehabilitation (CBR) contact centre and is the gateway to the different social services offered by the Beninese State. Since then, Sabine Agbo, technical manager at the CBR contact centre, has been monitoring the boy and his family: she visits them at home regularly, identifies their needs with them and monitors Raphaël's progress.

“Many people with disabilities deserve to be accompanied and supported," explains Sabine Agbo. "My job is to listen to them, identify their needs with them and find a way of meeting them. We work with people until they become autonomous. Raphaël, for example, has benefited from medical care and a school kit, including a schoolbag, exercise books, pencils and pens.”

In 2023, Sabine referred Raphaël to HI and he joined the organisation's inclusive education project. The first priority was to improve his general health and help him become more autonomous. Raphaël attended medical visits where he was prescribed tests, treatment and medication. He also underwent fifteen sessions of functional rehabilitation.

The school's head teacher, who has been following Raphaël's progress, says: “I've seen real improvements: before, Raphaël couldn't walk, but now he comes to school on his own. The change is spectacular!”

Today, Raphaël can get himself ready for school himself. He can ride a motorbike and walks easily, even if his feet still hurt sometimes. He loves running. When he gets home in the evening, between his homework and his chores, he slips away as soon as he can to play ball with his friends. Rosine, delighted by her son's progress, is very grateful to Sabine Agbo for her unwavering support.

As part of this support, Rosine was given a grant in 2021 to buy a few items to help her start a small business. She has now set up a stall in the street from which she sells products such as coffee, soap, fuel and sweets. She dreams of being able to expand her shop so that she has the means to meet all her children’s needs. "I want to take care of my children, they're the most precious thing I have," she explains. "I pray to God to see them grow up and be able to give them a bright future."

A school for all

Raphaël is in Year 4 at Zogbo A state primary school, attended by some 1,500 children aged between 6 and 15. Around forty of these children have disabilities. To ensure they have the best possible learning conditions, all the teachers are trained in inclusive teaching practices and education. This has helped them to adapt their teaching to the children’s different needs. Accessible latrines with ramps have also been built with the help of HI, to provide all the children with a comfortable, adapted environment.

To move inclusion even further forward, in 2023 the school set up a new body, the School Government. This is a group of seven schoolchildren elected by their peers who act as ambassadors for inclusion and are actively involved in solving problems at their school. Throughout the year, they carry out awareness-raising activities to promote their rights and educate their peers about the law and disability. Together, they are the guarantors of a school that meets the needs of its pupils, especially the most vulnerable ones, and gives them the same opportunities to learn and develop as other children.

Raphaël loves going to school. "My favourite subject is maths. The teacher is very kind; he comes to see me in class and tells me what to do. When I grow up, I'd like to be a doctor, so I can treat people... and inject them,” he adds with a laugh.

The inclusive education and vocational training project, second phase of the CPP2 project, was launched in Benin in 2022 and it will run until the end of 2025. It will support 500 children with disabilities in school and 150 young people with disabilities in vocational training. Personalised support is offered to everyone according to their needs and plans, along with assistance for medical care (medicines, analyses), technical aids (prostheses, orthoses, etc.) and tailor-made training. HI also supports the training of teachers and apprenticeship supervisors in inclusive teaching techniques.