BENIN – For Jeanine Totin from the village of Mitro in eastern Benin, a lot has changed since she became chairwoman of the Local Water Committee. Her horizons have broadened and she works together with men and women to preserve a healthy environment.
Jeanine Totin is a trader from Mitro; her husband is an agronomist and grows tomatoes. Together they have four children. Jeanine has lived in Mitro all her life and is very enterprising. She buys and sells maize and beans. She makes oil from the palm nuts she buys and then resells it. During the work carried out by our partner CREDEL with the inhabitants, Jeanine was elected chair of the Dangbo-Aguégués Local Drinking Water Committee.
Jeanine:
“We are responsible for organising the maintenance of the canals. I regularly call everyone together: the fishermen, traders, farmers and everyone else involved in water management. A technical committee has also been set up to maintain a canal between my village of Mitro and Hêtin. We have planted a eucalyptus forest and the proceeds from the sale of the wood enable us to continue maintaining the canals. There is also a local tree nursery for young eucalyptus trees to replace those that have been felled. Maintaining these canals is really a necessity for the people, because all travel is done by canoe, especially in the lower-lying areas.”
Everyone here has experienced the positive effects of maintaining the canals. Because there was better drainage from the fields to the canals, they had a good yield of maize and peppers, among other things. They were able to transport the harvest quickly to sell it at the market.
Since she was elected chair of the Local Water Committee CLE of Dangbo-Aguésgués, things have changed for her as a woman.
Jeanine: ‘The world has become a bit bigger for me since I became chairperson. I had never been to Les Aguégués before. Thanks to my participation in the project, I have even been to Grand-Popo. I am very happy about that. I get respect from everyone and I am also proud of myself. My husband has no problem with my involvement; he is also very committed himself.’
Watch another interview with Jeanine: https://youtu.be/Bb9df8U2hTA
