Care and surgery
Training and skills transfer
Building and equipping hospitals
Prevention and screening
Emergencies and humanitarian crises
Maternal health
Anniversary: 20 years of hope in Togo
It all began in 2002 with the first sponsorships in two elementary school in Lomé, the capital of Togo. Over the years, La Chaîne de l'Espoir's work in the country has continued to grow and develop, focusing on two priorities: school health and surgical care. This development owes a great deal to the highly mobilized local teams and their partners.
Chaîne de l’Espoir celebrated its 20th anniversary in Togo with the theme “New smiles for sustainable human development”.
“I’m pleased to announce that I have a degree in public law and soon another in education sciences!” The future is now open for 26-year-old Fousseni Nibombé, who suffers from glaucoma that has left him visually impaired. As a child, he was supported by La Chaîne de l’Espoir. He was therefore keen to share his story at the event celebrating the association’s 20 years of action in Togo. “I was humiliated and insulted because of my disability. But today, I’ve regained hope and I’d like to express my gratitude, because you accompanied me until I obtained my baccalaureate.”
40% of Togo’s population is under 15.
“20 years of transformation and evolution, of hard work by every link in the chain, of meeting the needs of the most vulnerable populations, of investment in human capital, of hope restored to excluded, stigmatized children suffering from pathologies requiring orthopedic, visceral, maxillofacial or cardiac surgery… 20 years of smiles regained.”
Espoir Datchidi, Togo-Benin mission manager
Ramping up
Giving children the chance to create a future for themselves has always been the guiding principle of La Chaîne de l’Espoir in Togo. First with sponsorship and support for schooling for the most vulnerable, then with more comprehensive school health initiatives, culminating in the creation of the “Ma santé, mon école : un enjeu collectif au Togo” * project, with financial support from the Agence Française de Développement.
This growth is based on the close relationships forged by the local team with institutional players and associations. Such is the case of the Nyagbé theater association, which collaborates with La Chaîne de l’Espoir: “Together, we have created clubs for written, oral and artistic expression in various schools in Lomé, to encourage young people to speak out in public, and also to raise awareness of health issues,” explains Marielle Edorh, the association’s coordinator. This partnership has also enabled us to grow. With the teams from La Chaîne de l’Espoir, we’ve learned an enormous amount about support and project management.
* Ma santé, mon école: un enjeu collectif au Togo: Phase 1 of this project (2019-2022) aimed to improve children’s learning conditions and the health (prevention) capabilities of the school community, in 8 public schools in Lomé. Its phase 2 (2022-2025) continues this work by extending it to 16 schools in Lomé, with a particular focus on early detection and management of learning disabilities in kindergarten and primary school pupils.
Care, Train, Strengthen
This long-term approach is also applied to surgical care, particularly through the partnership with the CHU Sylvanus Olympio (CHUSO) in Lomé. Here too, the approach is designed to be comprehensive, to improve access to surgical care for the country’s children. This has been achieved through missions to the capital and to provincial towns with no pediatric surgery departments, theoretical and practical training seminars on pediatric surgery for West African health professionals, donations of medical equipment and even the rehabilitation of the CHUSO’s burn unit. These actions by La Chaîne de l’Espoir are in response to the health challenges facing Togo.
Professor Jean-Pierre Gnassingbé, head of the pediatric surgery department at the CHUSO, confirms: “The country currently has 6 pediatric surgeons for a population of over 8 million. And most of them are based in Lomé. Another peculiarity is that it’s the families who have to pay for the consumables and implants required for the operation. As a result, some families never return, or only return after several months.
Itinerant pediatric surgery missions enable us to meet patients, conduct large-scale consultations (up to 500 children over a few days) and operate free of charge on those who need it most (up to 30 a day). They are also an opportunity to train health professionals in the field. “These missions give CHUSO students the opportunity to see cases they’re not used to seeing in Lomé. They learn a lot. They are also useful in helping people understand that certain illnesses which they think are incurable or a curse are in fact operable,” explains Espoir Datchidi.
“In Togo, there are around ten anesthetists, and the pediatric specialty doesn’t exist. On site, I have the opportunity to share my know-how with the anesthesia technicians. And from one mission to the next, we’re seeing an increase in skills, especially in the care of toddlers. Seeing the families and children smile again, and the care teams mobilize with such determination, is really something…”.
Chantal Chazelet, a paediatric anaesthetist at Grenoble University Hospital, has been involved in this type of mission for almost ten years.
2 questions to
Pierre Midrefao, School Health Program Assistant for 20 years with La Chaîne de l’Espoir
What do you consider to be La Chaîne de l’Espoir’s greatest successes in Togo?
There are many, but I’d like to mention three that demonstrate the diversity of our actions. Firstly, the renovation in 2011 of the Adjallé public elementary school, which had fallen into disrepair as a result of the rains. The aim was to provide pupils with a safer, more suitable place to study. Hundreds of children were also treated, either by being transferred to France or Senegal, or on site during our itinerant missions or at the Sylvanus Olympio University Hospital. Last but not least, the school health program has strengthened the skills of educational communities on the themes of non-violence, reproductive and sexual health, menstrual hygiene, etc.
What are your next prospects?
Chaîne de l’Espoir has proven its worth to the relevant authorities in the country. It is recognized as a reliable partner. The many requests for cooperation it receives are proof of this. In the future, we plan to open up new areas of expertise, particularly in anesthesia and maternal and child health. Other geographical areas should also be covered. The visibility acquired over the past twenty years is an excellent tool for building these initiatives.
Two decades in the service of children
2002
Lancement du programme Éducation
Appui à la scolarisation et parrainage dans deux écoles primaires de Lomé.
14 651 élèves vulnérables parrainés
23 494 prises en charge à la cantine scolaire
2008
Lancement du programme médical
1ère mission chirurgicale pour des enfants souffrant de malformations maxillo-faciales
261 enfants opérés de fentes labio-palatines (becs-de-lièvre)
2009
Premiers transferts
vers la France pour des opérations de pathologies cardiaques.
51 enfants transférés (44 en France & 7 au Sénégal)
2010
Première mission de neurochirurgie
470 consultations
158 opérations de neurochirurgie
2012
Premières missions chirurgicales itinérantes
14 missions chirurgicales itinérantes permettant 3 211 consultations et 1 490 opérations
2014
Premier séminaire d'enseignement à Lomé
Environ 70 étudiants en chirurgie pédiatrique originaires d'Afrique de l'Ouest boursiers
14 séminaires de D.E.S
40 participants
2018
Premières missions de chirurgie
pour des enfants souffrant d'élongation du plexus brachial
10 enfants opérés sur les 45 consultés lors de la 1ère mission
2019
Phase 1 du projet " Ma santé, mon école : un enjeu collectif au Togo "
9 600 élèves concernés dans 8 établissements de Lomé
2022
Phase 2 du projet " Ma santé, mon école : un enjeu collectif au Togo "
21 000 élèves bénéficiaires dans 16 établissements de Lomé
