In what world do children die for an education? In Nadagou, Togo, several students drowned trying to cross a river to get to school. Villages like Nadagou build and rebuild schools of corrugated tin with roofs of grass. They are rained on and blown over, again and again, like an alternate version of “The Three Little Pigs.” The “wolf” is poverty.

It is having class on the ground for lack of desks, little children walking 9 miles from Tamangue to attend school in Nano, and 379 primary school students unable to learn every time the rains come or their schools collapse.

This is a narrative that needs rewriting, and Alaffia is doing so by constructing brick schools that will not blow over. In 2016, Alaffia built a new school for these 379 students in Nadagou for under US $25,000. A kindergarten was built in Tamangue for $16,000 USD. As of 2018, Alaffia has built 14 schools in Togo. Several were constructed with generous support from Alaffia retail and vender partners, including Whole Foods Markets, Earth Fare, and Mother’s Market. To build schools, Alaffia hires Togolese engineers, masoners, and laborers. Members of the school’s community provide volunteer help as well. The school constructions have varied. Typically they include 2-6 classrooms and one or more outbuildings, such as store rooms, bathrooms, and hand wash stations.

To combat extreme poverty should not have to mean adopting Western consumption habits or culture. Alaffia promotes the protection and continuation of Togolese culture in many ways. However, all children should have the opportunity to learn, especially in a world where their local resources are traded globally.Yanakokari, Thank you, for your support of our mission to empower these young people to achieve a dignified human life with opportunity for advancement.