Songhai Center has built a vast network of development partners within Benin and internationally with whom it maintains contact, exchanges information, provides services and implements collaborative projects. Pioneering electronic networking, distance education and lifelong learning is a natural extension of this role.

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CyberSonghai in Porto Novo

Of the Village
Songhai’s two new centers look much like the other farms in the areas where they are located. Both are set in the middle of clusters of villages, and local people view them as no more — and no less — than new neighbors. Because the centers are very much of the village, sharing common concerns and working alongside local people, Father Nzamujo does not expect a debate among residents about the appropriateness of computers. He does not anticipate that people will question whether the tool may be too sophisticated for them or whether more basic inputs should take precedence. The bottom line is that this is a way for Songhai to get its information about how to produce bricks that do not need baking, for example, to people throughout the country, making the construction of new houses easier for everyone. It is a means of spreading information about methods for increasing agricultural yields, decreasing disease among livestock, and organizing work more efficiently. Access to useful information is wanted, needed and welcomed, and though electronic communication is new and different, it is also fast and full of promise and potential. The computers are not expected to be controversial because, at the end of the day, content is king.

The CNSC project will include a training program for staff at each of the three centers, who, in turn, will provide the population in general with the opportunity to learn about and use information technologies. Under the leadership of Father Nzamujo, who is a highly qualified computer engineer as well as a microbiologist, the Songhai Centers have both the vision and the technical competence to introduce and integrate CNSCs into the villages of northern Benin.