SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
In the early 1970's, a nun from the Alsace was struck by the tragedy of children being cast out and abandoned in the north of Togo because of traditional beliefs. She therefore contacted SOS-Kinderdorf International. After Hermann Gmeiner had visited Togo in 1976, it was possible for a government agreement to be signed in October of the same year. At the same time, two plots of land, one in the capital Lomé, and one in the provincial capital town of Kara, approximately 420 km north of Lomé, were signed over by the authorities to SOS Children's Villages. Thus, both the SOS Children's Villages of Lomé and Kara were built between the end of 1976 and 1979. The SOS Children's Village Association of Togo was founded and received official recognition in April 1984.
The first children moved into the SOS Children's Village Kara in September 1979. At that time, it consisted of a village with five family houses to begin with and a primary school. By 1982 five more family houses, an SOS Kindergarten, a school building with six primary classrooms, and an SOS Mother and Child Clinic with a first aid station and a laboratory were added.
The SOS Children's Village Lomé opened its doors in November 1979 and today, it consists of the village and an attached SOS Kindergarten. From 1986 SOS Youth Facilities were set up in Kara and Lomé as well as various schemes to help the youths on their path to living on their own. In 1992/93 Togo underwent a massive political and economic crisis, which came about following a ten-month general strike. The country has still not recovered from this crisis. Therefore, SOS Children's Villages in Togo has carried out a number of projects to support families in the neighbourhood. Particularly in 1994, which was the International Year of the Family, projects were carried out to develop the neighbourhood of the SOS Children's Villages, for example with building houses or vaccination campaigns, school programmes and head start programmes for small businesses. The local population particularly appreciates the ancillary facilities in Kara, which are the school, the farm and the medical centre. These all provide a great service to the people who live in this remote district in the north of the country. In 2003 the idea was born to start with a community self-help project in Kara. In 2004, family strengthening programmes with educational assistance and community support for needy families, especially people affected by the HIV/Aids pandemic, were started on both SOS Children's Village locations. In July 2005 construction of a third SOS-Children’s Village in Dapaong, in the north of the country could be started. The new Village is home to 120 vulnerable children and comprise a Kindergarten, a Herman Gmeiner School and a Social/Medical Centre. Operation started in the course of 2007.
At present there are three SOS Children's Villages in Togo, two SOS Youth Facilities, three SOS Kindergartens, two SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, one SOS Vocational Training Centre, four SOS Social Centres and one SOS Medical Centre.
Contact:
Association des Villages d'Enfants SOS au Togo
112, rue Kiwadjoi, Tokoin Wuiti
B.P. 1394
Lomé
Togo
tel +228-2 26 44 04
tel/fax +228-2 26 01 06