Northern Benin, near Copargo.
Walking in some villages, I found this child in front of a strange ten times table, wih 11 columns instead of 10, and starting with 0, without the last number (99)... (learning, dumb, the wonder of our mistakes).
Moving towards these villages, we stopped in a school, during break time.
Temperature was hot. Some children were outside the school, other children were inside the school. Outside, a teacher was trying to order in row the children, who started to watch us with a bit of distrust at the beginning, and with curiosity and smiles after a while. It was hard for the teacher to calm them down...
We moved inside the room where another teacher was teaching:
"La decentralisation est un systeme dans lequel une collectivité s'administre elle-meme sons la controle de l'Etat. Apres l'indipendence de la republique du benin del esperience decentralization sont ve cues mais sans succes. E n'est qui a la conference des foces vives de la nation de fevrier 1990 que de nouvelle bases decentralitazione furent fetees et en 2003..."
"Decentralization is a system in which a community administers itself without the control of the State. After the independence of the Republic of Benin, experiments in decentralization are experienced but without success. It was only at the conference of the most important forces of the nation in February 1990 that new decentralization bases were celebrated and in 2003..." and our presence stopped the lesson creating caos! But the teacher was nice, smiled and keep on writing, showing a great sense of duty.
The boys were very happy and euphoric, and they showed us their drawings, laughing and joking, but sometimes with serious expression:
Goodbye and keep on studying!
Pictures taken with Sony Alpha 7iii.
October 2022.
