Shelter.Educate.Uplift.
In Benin, the Village Béthanie takes in orphaned children from the age of 6, sends them to school and feeds them from its own farm. A Monaco association, approved by the Princely Government in 2016.
« Je peux dire qu'il représente mon père et ma mère. »
Olive, élevé au Village Béthanie
Watch the testimonialNews from the Village
Benin is home to more than 450,000 orphans. Many face illness, poverty and exploitation. We welcome them, one by one, to give them back a childhood.
Founded in 2014 and approved in 2016 by the Princely Government of Monaco, CEP Monaco has built the Village Béthanie orphanage in the heart of Benin. Around the dormitories, a teaching farm, farmland and running water make this a village that grows more self-sufficient every year.
The children of Village Béthanie, today.
We protect our children, including their right to their own image.
Three dormitories for 108 children. Two are standing.
108children housed once the third dormitory is built
2014
First dormitory
2017
Second dormitory
To build
Third dormitory
- 12
- years since the Village Béthanie opened
- 15
- projects carried out since 2011
- 10 ha
- of farmland under cultivation
From the first decision to the village of today.
View all projects- 2011Completed
Decision to create an orphanage
A trip to Benin and the decision to create an orphanage.
- 2012Completed
Founding of the NGO « Village Béthanie » and land purchase
The NGO is founded in Benin and the land is bought.
- 2014Completed
First dormitory opened
The first dormitory is inaugurated.
- 2016Completed
Fencing of the orphanage grounds
The orphanage grounds are enclosed.
- 2017Completed
Second dormitory opened
The second dormitory is inaugurated.
- 2018Completed
Teaching farm
A teaching farm is built inside the orphanage.
- 2018Completed
Purchase of 10 hectares of farmland
Ten hectares of farmland are bought 4 km from the orphanage.
- 2019Completed
Guest houses
Guest houses are built to host partners.
- 2020Completed
Livestock and fish farming
Three buildings are put up for livestock and fish farming.
- 2021Completed
Farm on the Béthanie land
PADAC builds a farm on the Béthanie land.
- 2022Completed
Drip irrigation system
A drip system is installed to water the market garden.
- 2023Completed
Director's house
The director's house is built inside the second compound.
- 2024Completed
First dormitory renovated
The first dormitory is repurposed and brought up to standard to house the children.
- 2025In progress
Fencing of the « Béthanie land »
The Béthanie land is enclosed by a wall 1.50 m high.
- 2026Upcoming
Sewing training room and multipurpose hall
A sewing training room and a multipurpose hall are created at the Village Béthanie.
It all began with a journey.
In 2011, Rémy Girardi witnessed the plight of orphaned children in Benin. From that journey came a conviction: to give them back a home, and with it a chance. The following year, the NGO "Village Béthanie" was born and the first plot of land was bought.
Ten years on, the orphanage has become a village: dormitories, a teaching farm, water, solar power, a school. Rémy and Souad Girardi lead it, supported by loyal partners and by donors without whom none of this would be possible.
Herménégilde Acclassato, president of the NGO Village Béthanie, and Jérémie Dogbé, director of the Béthanie orphanage.
Jérémie Dogbé and Herménégilde Acclassato
12years
leading the Village Béthanie, since it opened on 20 February 2014.
Jérémie has carried this calling since his teens: never to walk past a child left by the roadside. When the director's post opened, he applied among many others. He was chosen, and he never left.
The children come from every part of the country, and Benin counts some fifty ethnic groups. To give them a common language, Jérémie started with literacy classes. To bind them together, he went and learned the dances and rhythms of the north and the south, and he passes them on.
The first difficulty is how to fill the emptiness left in a child who has lost a parent.
At school, every day, a future is written.
Béthanie Village, day to day.
Three ways to change a life.
Community
Follow life at the Village, as it happens.
News from the children, photos from the building site, fundraising appeals and the association's events: join the CEP Monaco WhatsApp group.
Those who support us
Renault
- PADAC
- SBEE
Let's build the next dormitory together.
Three dormitories still stand between Village Béthanie and its goal. Your donation, whatever its size, lays one of the stones.
Support usDonate by bank transfer
- Bank
- BNP Monaco
- IBAN
- MC58 3000 4091 7400 0100 6745 918
- BIC
- BNPAMCM1
From Monaco and abroad
- Bank
- Banque Populaire Méditerranée
- IBAN
- FR76 1460 7003 6371 6130 1889 368
- BIC
- CCBPFRPPMAR
From France (tax receipt via C.E.P. France)