Sustainable development in Benin: A partnership with the Songhai Center

“Water is life,” says Elliott Wilson, a microbiologist at the Songhai Center in Benin, West Africa. The lack of clean water in Benin is a leading factors contributing to the high death rates of children in Benin and throughout sub-Saharan West Africa. Since 2004, faculty members have been working with the Songhai Center in Benin to improve access to clean water through ceramic water filter technology and improve health education.

The Songhai Center is an international NGO based in Porto Novo, Benin and has been recognized by the UN as a Center of Excellence for sustainable development. It is an integrated training system organized in commercially viable clusters of agro-enterprises and has developed a practically oriented training program. The Songhai Model adopts a holistic approach to sustainable development; which involves training, provision of support services, and linkages to credit and markets through its network of graduates. Exposure to this internationally recognized program and the ability to interact with leaders from across West Africa provides a rich opportunity for collaboration.

Water for Africa is a study abroad program that uses an interdisciplinary approach to development involving engineering, nursing and public health students, attempting to balance technology, education and ensuring reciprocity among project partners. Students in the course study one of the central problems of international development. The partnerships will be described using the Principles of Partnership developed by CCPH. Ongoing and new community initiated projects will be described in the context of the Millennial Development Goals.