The humanitarian project that Bortolomiol has supported for the women of Benin in Africa has reached its third and final year. In 2008 training was provided to 60 women as part of the “Local development, active management of natural resources and the economics of biodiversity” project which aimed to improve techniques used in turning milk into cheese and extracting neem seed oil as well as the nutritional enrichment of corn flour, sorgo, millet and soya flour rice. In 2009 the training was dedicated to developing a range of methods and uses for the transformation of Karite seeds, particularly the production of butter, soap and body and hair lotion. The project was completed with the final cycle of training aimed at strengthening the skills acquired (above all the transformation of karate seeds into butter and its derivatives) and providing the women with some basic training on how to market their products. 

Elvira Bortolomiol in Africa from December 16th to 22nd to see the results. Daily blog on the site. 

To ensure the on-going success of the project and see first hand the results of the courses and hard work of the last three years Elvira Bortolomiol will be in Benin at the end of the year to oversee the final stages of the project. She will leave Rome on December 16th travelling to Cotonou in the coastal department of Benin, home to the government even though the official capital city is Porto-Novo. On the following day she will travel to Kandi just south of the W National Park. Over the next four days she will be getting a first-hand view of the courses held there. The first day she will be in Banikora (just outside the Park) where a course on the transformation of food products is being held. On the second day she will visit some local villages where they have already started to produce Karite butter and soap. On day three she will be visiting some experimental eco-tourism sites on the borders of W National Park, and on her final day she will be visiting some of the internal areas of the Park itself. On December 22nd she will travel from Kandi to Cotonou before flying back to Italy.

By going in person Elvira Bortolomiol will develop a personal relationship with the women who have benefitted from the project and be able to oversee the process where those women who took part in the courses (representatives from women’s groups or from associations from more than one village) pass on their knowledge to their friends, family and neighbours. This is to ensure that the skills and knowledge they have acquired will spread through the female population in Benin and help form the basis for on-going education which will one day become a part of the day-to-day culture of the local people. 

Each day Elvira will write about her experiences in a blog which will be published on our website.

 A full description of the Project as well as a summary of what has been achieved over the last three years (2008/2010) can be viewed in the Projects section of the website.