Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
The house is devoted to the provision of a viable working and social life to single women and their children. Through the restaurant, a street bar and a beauty shop, a provisional job is offered to single women experiencing financial difficulties. Work is assured until a woman has found independent means to make a living. Children are offered schooling all through high school. Women who leave the house are offered a possibility to leave their children there, who will receive an education at no cost. All schooling is financed by private donations.
We value traditional, environment friendly practices. Examples include:
- No washing machines. All clothes are washed by hand in water at natural temperature. Towels are changed at the frequency requested by our guests.
- No power generator. We enjoy the frequent power interruptions as occasions to create a friendly atmosphere in candle light.
- Although we provide showers, we propose our guests to try the traditional means: a bucket of water, and a cup.
- We use a really minimum amount of paper. Illiterate, but intelligent women have learned how to run a restaurant without paper accounting.
We are still working at the following issues, that will be implemented as soon as possible:
- Recycling of organic waste. We are buying a field where we shall cultivate our own vegetables, fertilized by our own waste.
- A solar stove to replace charcoal stoves at least for some dishes. This is very important, because wood is scarce in Africa, and a too much of it is employed to make charcoal.
- A water tank to collect rain water. Water is not scarce in Ouidah, but we wish to be ahead of time.
Our enterprise is owned and managed by Beninese women. It is a native initiative that makes use of local providers for all food and services. No foreign company has been involved in the building of our house or in its furnishing. All Beninese workers employed in construction, maintenance and servicing are independent artisans.
We are experimenting with a project to alleviate famine in Sahel during the dry season. Since tomatoes and other vegetables are available in huge amounts during the rainy season, we wish to teach housewives simple means to make conserves in-house. Besides the immediate aim of providing food, we hope to diffuse a mentality oriented to saving that may contribute to induce families to send children to school.
Ouidah is a historical town. It used to be one the main places in Africa where slaves were exchanged for weapons and loaded on boats to the Americas. Several historical buildings explain how the commerce was organised and how slaves were deprived of their will to resist. We encourage our guests to visit these historical places and to understand how slavery has been possible. We think that understanding historical slavery is important to fight its modern versions.
We encourage our guests to benefit other native initiatives, besides ours. We are keen of pointing to places where traditional handicraft may be purchased and to help with bargaining. We are glad to give any information concerning what food and fruits can be safely eaten by westerners and where they can be bought, where good restaurants can be found and as well as any information concerning lodging in other towns and cities.
In Benin, most people wear traditional clothes. We would like to invite you to the experience of choosing a fabric, bringing it to a tailor and ordering a traditional dress or suit just for you. Although most clothes cannot be wear in western daily life, some models resembles women summer dresses. We would be very happy to make fashions travel south to north, rather than the other way around.
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