Postcards from Côte d’Ivoire: Entry 3

Ou sont les pieds d’Alicia cette semaine?
(Where are Alicia’s feet this week?)

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Today I am writing to you from the city of Bouaké in central Côte d’Ivoire (CI) where we’ve traveled to visit friends and family and participate in an event with WEL NGO. Along the way we stopped in the government capital of Yamoussoukro to explore some tour possibilities. Yamoussoukro is the home of CI’s first post-colonial president - the beloved Félix Houphouët-Boigny. During Houphouët-Boigny’s 30-year presidency he oversaw many positive modernizations of the country, but he also made sure to enrich his own village and tribe, as is the custom here when one gets something of value. So, today Yamoussoukro is not only the government capital and home to the HFB Center for Peace Research, it is home to the second largest Catholic Basilica in the world, which was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1992 called Our Lady of Peace.

In Bouaké we are staying at our favorite hotel in CI called Hotel Mon Afrik. It is a little oasis in the middle of a vast savannah dotted with giant Baobab and Acacia trees. Hotel Mon Afrik has been owned and operated by a French ex-patriot family for at least 30 years. The parents started the business and now their daughter Maruska Prochazka has taken over management. It’s not uncommon while enjoying poolside cocktails to have one of the resident biche antelope wander by (one of Christina’s favorite things here). Hotel Mon Afrik took great care of our first tour group in 2020, and we will make it a standard tour experience for future trips.

We always love to visit our family and friends when we’re in Boauké, and this trip was extra special because today we accompanied our partner WEL NGO to a juvenile detention facility here housing 40 boys between the ages of 13-17. Through WEL NGO donations we were able to give the center new mattresses for all the boys, food items like cooking oil and rice, three new toilets (they really need shower facilities), and other personal care items. There was a short presentation by the director, Madame Kouassi, a very impressive woman who runs the best quality program she can with the nine staff and small budget she is given. The boys all go through a multi-disciplinary curriculum focused on self-actualization and skills development, so they have some way of making money when they leave the facility. Most are incarcerated for stealing cellphones, but there were a few murders and rapists amongst the group, too. Madame Koaussi’s goal is to create a family environment for the boys - she thinks of herself as their mother - because most of boys came from the streets and have no contact with their parents. What an honor it was to spend a morning and share lunch with the staff and residents.

Interested in learning about juvenile justice best practices in West Africa? We’d love to take you on a tour of the Bouaké Juvenile Detention facility on our next trip - hopefully at the end of this year. - Alicia

 Koné Consulting
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS INSPIRING CHANGE
AND LASTING IMPROVEMENTS

Follow us on our Facebook, Twitter and LinkdIn.