Build a school in Benin

<p><strong>Friends, family, visitors, welcome to my project page!</strong></p><p>My name is Donatien and I am 17 year old. As some of you may know, I will spend the month of July in Benin (West Africa) to&nbsp;build a primary school in the village of&nbsp;Korhou and&nbsp;give access to <strong>quality education</strong> to the local children, including young girls who are often prevented from going to school. We will also plant artemisia to provide <strong>natural remedies against malaria</strong>.</p><p>I am participating in this project through the Belgian association Le Verso du Miroir, that was set up by a teacher at my school and has taken groups of young people to Benin since 2008 to build schools and complete other projects.</p><p>I will live with a local family, work on the school with the local masons and explore this beautiful country at the weekends to further learn about&nbsp;its people and&nbsp;culture.</p><p>I have always wanted to make a positive difference through volunteering work involving concrete realisations.&nbsp;In the past,&nbsp;I participated in several projects focused on building eco-friendly constructions for children camps in natural environments.</p><p>I have heard about this meaningful project and its successful&nbsp;realisations since I joined my school three years ago. I have always wanted to take part and&nbsp;I am impatient to now have the opportunity to participate with a great team of people who all want<strong> to make a positive difference</strong>.&nbsp;</p><p>Here is what a finished school looks like, as well as a video from last year, that will give you a feel for&nbsp;how we work with the local community:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513302/benin-1461423527-1525600235.JPG" /></p><p><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513303/IMG_1640-1525600380.jpg" /></p><p><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://i.embed.ly/1/image?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leversodumiroir.be%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F04%2FIMG_1644.jpg&amp;key=8b7d8dd6504d41af9a77662672aabc2a" /></p><p><iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FGCqbfQnRt9E%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGCqbfQnRt9E&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FGCqbfQnRt9E%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=8b7d8dd6504d41af9a77662672aabc2a&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" width="500" height="281" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p><p>I am passionate about this project because it gives me an opportunity to <strong>make a true difference</strong>. It is not just about building the&nbsp;school. It is about giving the local children the opportunity <strong>to build their future&nbsp;and to contribute their full potential to their family and community</strong>.</p><p>Here are some pictures of our preparation week-ends:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513297/WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-06_at_11.27.08-1525599264.jpeg" /><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513298/WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-06_at_11.27.08_1_-1525599280.jpeg" /></p><p>The&nbsp;purpose of the first weekend&nbsp;was to get together as a team and to learn&nbsp;more about Africa,&nbsp;the local community that we are going to work with and what to expect when we get there. We also experienced practical tools to prepare ourselves as a team, such as how to manage potential stress situations.</p><p>We also spent a weekend focused on manual labour on a farm to learn to work&nbsp;together.</p><p>We also organised a series of fundraisers:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513299/WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-06_at_11.27.09-1525599346.jpeg" /><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513300/WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-06_at_11.27.09_1_-1525599359.jpeg" /><img width="100%" alt="" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/513301/WhatsApp_Image_2018-05-06_at_11.27.49-1525599373.jpeg" /></p><p>Such a huge project costs A LOT of money.&nbsp;While we have already come very far in our funding&nbsp;through the events listed above, there is still some way to go. <strong>Any donation </strong>towards this great cause will help <strong>make a difference</strong> to the children in Benin&nbsp;and will be very much appreciated. Actually, it is not only about the financial contribution, but also about your support, which makes you be part of our team and which&nbsp;means the world to them and to me.</p>