M’po has started dreaming again

– My parents couldn't afford to pay for school.

This is how 16-year-old M’Po Amanvi begins her story. She is sitting in the shade under a mango tree, breastfeeding her six-month-old son, Samuel. They live in northern Benin, in a small village between the larger cities of Parakou and N’Dali. Here, the houses are the same cement-colored hue as the dry earth, and even though it is only early morning, the sun is already high in the sky. M’Po explains that she was 13 years old when her parents could no longer afford the 25 West African francs—about 40 cents—that school lunch cost each day.

– I was so sad when I saw all my friends going to school every day. So my mom thought it would be best for me to get married so I could move out of the house. But I didn’t like that; I wanted to keep learning and find my own path.

Instead of being able to go to school with her friends, M’po was married off to a man from another village.

Poverty is often the cause

In rural Benin, arranged child marriages are common; sometimes families even exchange daughters with one another. In the vast majority of cases, the underlying problem is poverty—and in every case, this means that the girls can no longer attend school.

It is difficult to say exactly how many girls are affected. But in N’Dali and Pèrèrè alone—municipalities with around 100,000 residents—Erikshjälpen has ensured that 300 children have had the chance to return to school since 2024.

A Path Back to School

Through an initiative we call Kingdom of Apprentice, older children can train for a trade and then gain hands-on experience through an apprenticeship. For a girl who has been married off, this is crucial, as it breaks her dependence on her husband and gives her the financial independence she needs. For M’Po, it was like getting her life back.

– I was overjoyed when I got a second chance at life. Now I’m learning a skill that will allow me to earn a living in the future.

“I’ve started dreaming again”

M’po has found new hope. Every morning, she takes a short walk from her home to a small house across from the big mango tree. At the entrance hangs a canvas with sun-faded pictures of hair models and false nails. Inside the salon, it’s cool, and by the time the first customer of the day arrives, M’po has already finished cleaning.

"Maybe," she says, "I can do a client's hair extensions on my own. But if it gets too difficult, I sit next to my supervisor to learn how to do it." On her back, wrapped in a colorful shawl, little Samuel hangs with his legs kicking along his mother's back.

– Thanks to this program, I now see more opportunities in life. The future feels wide open, and I’ve started dreaming again. I want to be able to provide for my son so he can make his own choices in life.