The history of the Children's Centre  is the fruit of a long adventure, marked by the friendship between a small Brussels association, Oasis N'Djili, and the community of a village in central Benin, Sowé.  

As series of cholera epidemic touches the village from 2000 to 2010 generating an unusual proportion of orphanages. In 2008 a Belgian teacher and a Beninese specialist educator became friends, together they developed the idea of a Children's Centre, then it became a programme, then finally a construction in 2019. 

To create a place, we believe that  architecture must be anchored in its territory, first of all materially, but also from a social and symbolic point of view. For this reason, the Centre has committed to local architecture. Its design is the fruit of exchanges with traditional territorial institutions and it was built mainly with resources from the region, respecting the climate, traditions and traditional craftsmanship skills. 

Moreover, XEWA SOWE is a social project, by integrating the village community from the design to the construction site. And by organising social and cultural events during all  the construction phase (workshops, conferences, cinema…).

Finally, we have adopted an ecological approach, using natural and sustainable materials and, since the concept and by using the principles of  low-tech. The Centre aims to food and energy autonomy thanks to solar equipment, a borehole and, above all, an agroecological garden.

The village of Sowé is characterised by a great solidarity and active community that at the time of the needs. At the time of the cholera epidemics, the population was organized: host families take in the most fragile children and women cultivate a vegetable garden on a piece of land donated by the community for the benefit of orphans. 
The XEWA SOWE project is a continuation of this energy of the villagers and for this reason it is a place that benefits the whole community. At the time of writing, the Center is opening its doors to the first children of the village and the community. It is expected that in a few years we will be able to reach the maximum capacity of 24 children. 
Aware that such infrastructure is a generator of urban development, public toilets and a well have been installed outside so that the neighbourhood can also benefit. The Center is also a meeting place, thanks to the library open every day and to events organized by the Oasis N'Djili Benin association. This was officially created during the construction and today is directly involved in the decisions of the Center.

Last but not least, 80% of the total amount of the construction went to the local worker and business. During its construction, and now with its operation, the Centre has generated local economic spin-offs necessary for the life of the village, as well as insisting on the need to extend the use of local know-how as a lever for resilient development.

A successful project must generate and be generated by a community. To achieve this, the team of four architects from L'Harmattan architecture, the Oasis N'Diji Belgium members, the Oasis N'Diji Benin association and the people of the village worked together every day for more than four years.

The Center wanted to become a place open to all, a place of gathering and sociability. In this perspective, the construction site was a meeting place, a scene of cultural and social activities. During the construction period, the Center became a place with its own identity and soul, gradually building its place in the community.

To anchor the project, the team of architects had to understand the local social fabric as well as possible and go to meet those who shape and structure the village territory: authorities, traditional or institutional, inhabitants and craftsmen and divinities... 

To do this, three study trips preceded a fourth, dedicated to construction. The first, in January 2017, had been an opportunity to meet village authorities and understand which interlocutors could be involved. The second trip was an opportunity to meet artisans, to better perceive the ways of living and apprehend the local constructive cultures, target materials.

Subsequently, during the 9-month construction site, a relationship was forged with all the craftsmen and workers in all the neighbourhoods, helping to federate a large and strong team of more than 150 people, all with the same goal.

Instagram
Web site projet
Facebook Page