Channel: education – Positive News

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Benin children freed from captivity

August 1, 2016, 6:41 am

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Couffo, Benin, lays claim to hundreds of voodoo convents: the home of secrets, sorcery and a place where children possessed by ghost spirits are sent to be healed. Children have been known to live in these convents for up to seven years, kept in captivity away from the outside world. They are made to sing, dance and learn a new language, day in day out. When children are eventually released, theyâve missed out on an education and thereâs little hope for a bright future.Now, with the support of child rights organisation Plan International and local NGOs, the time children spend in convents has been reduced to three months, giving them the opportunity to go back to school or learn a tradeâ¦Between September to October 2015, 310 children (193 girls and 117 boys) were released from the convents. Out of those who were released, 280 went to school and 30 went into apprenticeships. Now, it has been agreed that if children do have to enter a convent, they will only do for three months, during holiday periods so they donât miss out on an education.

Hundreds of children in Benin have been freed in a significant victory against the damaging voodoo ‘convents’ in the country.

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