FA valiant defender of the environment, it is in a natural space of four hectares in the heart of the Pahou forest, in the commune of Ouidah in Benin, that Mother Jah founded the Center for Awakening, Animation and Stimulation pour Enfants (CEVASTE): a unique educational center in Benin. This sexagenarian of Cameroonian origin with a contagious smile, left Guadeloupe almost 20 years ago to settle down in Benin where she currently resides with her husband. Together, they created EcoloJah, a primary school within CEVASTE offering the possibility for disadvantaged children from rural areas to flourish through a different approach to schooling combining pan-African history and agroecology.
A garden of Eden in the heart of Benin
25 kilometers from Cotonou, the economic capital of Benin, Mother Jah built her Garden of Eden: an ecological village with a school based on organic farming. She dreamed of it and it is now reality. Known for her commitment to the Rastafari community, she has long worked for the massive return of Afro descendants to the African continent, following the example of Marcus Garvey, pioneer of the “Back To Africa” movement in the 20th century. The choice of Benin, and more particularly of the commune of Ouidah, is therefore not insignificant since it once housed one of the main slave ports of the transatlantic slave trade. In the compound of CEVASTE that the couple creates in 1999, a school of a new kind simultaneously sees the day: EcoloJah, an alternative primary school with a hundred students from rural areas. In addition to the traditional teaching of Benin's national curriculum, the focus is on transmitting key values, teaching Pan-African history, and practicing activities such as agroecology. natural agriculture), agri-food processing and utilitarian crafts.
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