SOS Children’s Villages Guinea are transforming their village complex in Nzérékoré into an innovative community hub for children – and MAF is privileged to transform their gruelling two-day trip from Conakry into a two-hour flight.
Story by Joël Conte
“Illiteracy today isn’t just not knowing how to read or write, but also digital illiteracy,” says Richard Watchinou, the Country Director of SOS Children’s Villages Guinea. He and his team are passionate about giving children an opportunity to learn important skills for life, and he’s not just concerned with the children in their care.
“We want every child, from the village or the community, to be able to take up this challenge.”
Present in Guinea since 1985, SOS Children’s Villages is a non-governmental, non-denominational and independent social development organisation founded in 1949. They work in the field of children’s rights, and their main target group is children who have lost, or are at risk of losing, parental care.
“In the past it used to take me two days of gruelling driving,” says Richard, speaking of the challenge of reaching the children’s village in Nzérékoré from the nation’s capital, Conakry.
“The flight is a very nice experience because it allowed me to reach Nzérékoré in two and a half hours. Thanks to MAF, I’m able to arrive with all the energy I need to work immediately.”
Today, Richard is travelling to Nzérékoré to check on an important construction project. For him, development cannot wait for the vagaries of Guinean roads. The impact of MAF’s aviation support for organisations like SOS Children’s Villages is measured not just in hours saved, but in new levels of human efficiency.
Dagbino Faya Arsène, coordinator of alternative care, explains the urgency of their mission.
“The impact of the SOS Children’s Village in Nzérékoré, particularly in the region, is very important because we help children who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing it,” Faya Arsène says.
The current renovation project is not just a matter of paint or bricks. It is a total reallocation of the functions of the village.
“We have reassigned functions,” Richard explains. “The multimedia rooms under renovation will not be reserved for the children of the village, but open to all the young people of Nzérékoré to fight digital exclusion.
“Playgrounds will be accessible to all, because if you look all the way here, you won't find an amusement park for children, even when there are plenty of children here.”
Richard insists on a crucial point: the child at an SOS village should not be isolated.
“Our intervention does not stop at the four walls. We rent villas in the community and the children are there. They are mixed with others without stigma or discrimination,” he says.
“This desire for integration is reflected in the Strengthening the Family programme,” says Faya Arsène. “SOS actively contributes to the government to improve the living conditions of vulnerable families, particularly through savings and credit associations that allow women to become actors in their own development.”
As Richard surveys the project, there are technical challenges and slight delays in the work, but the hope is immense. Transfer of children to new houses is due to begin shortly to allow for the final phase of the work.
“Thanks to MAF, I am still full of energy to be able to work on the same day as my travel, when before it was not possible,” says Richard.
“I want to ask donors to continue to support the MAF, because MAF does work that has added value for vulnerable populations. By partnering with MAF, it can only help to better support the populations we serve.”