Adjeomi is a bustling farming village in Benin, West Africa. The women there take the cassava root vegetables that they harvest and produce a type of food called Gari. They take that to the local market to sell and trade. There are also craftsmen and craftswomen, welders, hairdressers, and dressmakers in the village. The entrepreneurial spirit of this community made them eager to install a water well back in 2017.
GAiN provided a well in October of that year, and also worked through the local church to provide hygiene and sanitation training and other community development initiatives.
On returning to the water point almost four years later, the people still remember the principles of hygiene and sanitation taught by the church and are practising healthy behaviours.
Pastor Seraphin told us that the well has made the church known in the community.
The next step is to build a church structure closer to the village. The community in Adjeomi has been saving money to purchase a piece of land worth 240,000 CFA (about $540 CAD) in Albarika Etuba village. The goal is to build a church there so that villagers from Adjeomi and Albarika-Etuba could meet there for services.
Beyond the time that GAiN spends in a community, it is the local church that remains, acts as a center of ongoing development and creates impact over lifetimes.
Today, the church in Adjeomi has worked to bring peace and life to their community, and have used their effective management skills and entrepreneurial mindset to purchase land to build a church themselves. They are taking great initiative to grow and develop in order to see their community flourish.
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