3 Nov 2010

BENIN / FLOODS EDUCATION

UNICEF is helping to supply thousands of school kits to children in flood-affected Benin. UNICEF reports that 278 schools have been completely destroyed by the floods. Today, the UN and the government of Benin launched a joint $47 million emergency appeal to help those affected. UNICEF

Posted at: November 3, 2010 12:40 pm

Duration: 01:47

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: BENIN / FLOODS EDUCATION
TRT: 01:47
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / FON / NATS
 
DATELINE: 24-29 OCTOBER 2010, KPOTO AND COTONOU, BENIN
 
SHOTLIST:
 
COTONOU, BENIN, 29 OCTOBER 2010

1.Med shot, heavy rainfalls
2.Close up, rain pouring down from a roof

SOHOUE COMEY VILLAGE, AGUEGUES, BENIN, 25 OCTOBER 2010

3.Wide shot, flooded houses
4.Med shot, destroyed houses
5.Tilt down, young boy operating a makeshift raft
6.Wide shot, young boy operating a makeshift raft in flooded neighborhood
7.Wide shot, young boy operating makeshift raft in front of flooded house
8.Wide shot, flooded school, sign in the foreground reading "School Complex"

COTONOU, BENIN, 26 OCTOBER 2010

9.Tilt down, sign reading "school complex" towards flooded courtyard and children
10. Med shot, children playing football in flooded courtyard

COTONOU, BENIN, 29 OCTOBER 2010

11.Tilt up, water in the courtyard of a school towards kids at the window

KPOTO, BENIN, 28 OCTOBER 2010

12. Pan right, destroyed village
13. Med shot, destroyed house
14.Tilt up, destroyed village
15. Pan right, man sleeping among the rubbles of his house
16. Pan right, makeshift shelters built along the road
17. Wide shot, school courtyard with tents in the background
18. Med shot, tents in the school courtyard
19. Pan left, people living and preparing meal in front of classroom
20. SOUNDBITE (French) Franck Tossoukpevi, teacher in elementary school:
"The classrooms are damaged. The roof is bad so when it rains they have to stay up all night long and can't sleep. The next morning, they don't have their mind ready to study they way they should."
21. Med shot, Anice Dagnihound, 14 years old, pupil, walking in front of a classroom
22. Wide shot, Anice entering the damaged classroom that she uses as shelter
23. SOUNDBITE (Fon) Anice Dagnihoun, 14 years old:
"We cannot study comfortably here. During the night, the classrooms are transformed into dormitories, and during the day, we don't have the school books or pens, so we just sit in class and talk with the teacher, but we cannot write anything down."
24. Med shot, Anice sorting bowls in her shelter
25. Pan left, Anice's shelter classroom to classroom full of pupils
26. Tilt up, school kit with chalks, pens and books to tents
27. Med shot, pupils in the classroom, clapping hands
28. SOUNDBITE (French) Nadine Oke, UNICEF's Education Expert:
"Children had to flee from their house and left behind their bags, uniforms, they have no more chalk, and haven't got anything to write. We at UNICEF have to bring them the adequate gear so that they can start school as soon as possible."
29. Pan right, pupils in classroom
30. Med shot, pupils
31. Close up, young boy in classroom
32. Med shot, boys playing soccer on flooded road

STORYLINE:
 
Recent heavy rainfalls and flooding has affected more than 680,000 people in Benin. And as the water level slowly gets back to normal, the magnitude of the damage is revealed.

Among the hardest hit people are the children. Education in Benin has been put on hold because of the floods. More than 600 classrooms have been completely destroyed and many schools were flooded. The government of Benin has postponed the start of the school year for many schools around the country.

In Kpoto, a small village north of Cotonou, 1,400 villagers fled their homes and built makeshift shelters on dry land, some found shelter in a local school with what was left of the classrooms.

SOUNDBITE (French) Franck Tossoukpevi, teacher in elementary school:
"The classrooms are damaged. The roof is bad so when it rains they have to stay up all night long and can't sleep. The next morning, they don't have their mind ready to study they way they should."

Anice Dagnihoun who shares the classroom with ten other people, says she has a difficult time with her studies.

SOUNDBITE (Fon) Anice Dagnihoun, 14 years old:
"We cannot study comfortably here. During the night, the classrooms are transformed into dormitories, and during the day, we don't have the school books or pens, so we just sit in class and talk with the teacher, but we cannot write anything down."

Anice should have started school one month ago. There are 115, 000 children like her, waiting to get back to a normal education.

SOUNDBITE (French) Nadine Oke, UNICEF's Education Expert:
"Children had to flee from their house and left behind their bags, uniforms, they don't have any chalk, and haven't got anything to write. We at UNICEF have to bring them the adequate gear so that they can start school as soon as possible."

UNICEF will soon distribute thousands of school kits to help the children of Benin get back to their studies.

Today, the United Nations, its humanitarian partners and the government of Benin launched a joint $47 million emergency appeal to help those affected.