Since April 2016, Le Grand Cru is a partner in a four-year consortium with CINOP, Rutgers Foundation, ABPF and ABMS.
The program aims to improve sexual health within the school environment in Benin. Both in basic education as in high schools sexual abuse between teachers and pupils, and between pupils is common and the percentage of teenage mothers is higher than in neighboring countries. For this reason, a curriculum is being developed for all Teacher Training Colleges in Benin about sexual rights and sexual behavior. In september 2019 the Curriculum is validated by the Ministry of Education and the curriculum will be operated from the start of 2020.
The 9 courses involved are spread across the country. Le Grand Cru contributes to the curriculum by developing and implementing a ‘bodysensory’ program, consisting of a series of physical exercises for teachers and is also responsible for the extra-curricular program Ma vie en main.
Ma vie en main is a dance competition in which the participating schools present performances created by six young choreographers from Compagnie Walô, trained and coached by Le Grand Cru. Together with the students they make a performance on a theme about sexuality.
During the first 2 years of the program, a competition was held in the South in Lokossa, and one in schools in the North in Natitingou. December 2017, the best productions from both competitions were presented again in Porto Novo and a national winner was chosen by a professional jury. All performances are combined with follow-up discussions by an experienced moderator in the field of advocacy of sexual rights.
For 2018 and 2019, regional and national competitions will continue and teachers are trained on the new curriculum via a train-the-trainer process. The four-year prgram is supported by NUFFIC and runs from 2016-2020.