Making local celebrities for a cause

Child trafficking** is a major concern in Benin, specifically in cities near the Nigerian border such as Tchaourou. Why? Cutluarlly, children work here; they help run the kitchen, keep the house tidy and sell items (produce, shoes, drinks, etc) to make ends meet for the household. Yes, even kids younger than aged 6 do this. However, there are “traffickers” who exploit this culutural acceptance by telling parents that if they send their child to, lets say, Nigeria that the child’s life can be more prosperous doing the same work that they would otherwise do here in Benin. Moreover, the parents PAY to send the child away with the trafficker usually a couple thousand CFA and a few pagnes. The parents believe they are giving their child a better life; a life they otherwise could not provide. Once the child is gone, they are rarely ever heard from again and that child ends up living a life of, for lack of better word, in slavery not earning a dime. So, you see why this is a problem. And this is just one example of Benin’s problem with child trafficking.

There is a lack of knowledge about the reality of the situation here. To create an awareness campaign, I worked with local singers to create a CD of songs in Tchaourou’s local languages addressing children’s rights. This CD will be played in public areas, specifically the market where most children are either enticed or abducted to work in Nigeria, as well as in taxi cars and stores.

To create the CD, I took the local artists up to Parakou (the closest big city) to a recording studio.

Here’s a clip of one Nagot song.

Yes, that is a big poster of USHER on the back wall




After the recording tech was done, we “feted” by going to get a snack at a buvette next door.


Overally, the day was a success.


** Child Trafficking: "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation includes, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."