March, a month devoted to the celebration of women, has just passed, thus marking the end of the first quarter of 2026. Life in the two SPES Lomé centers continues under good conditions. The entire management team, staff, youths, and children are doing well. To date, with the arrival of two new children, SPES Lomé has a total of: Forty-eight (48) residents, including twenty-seven (27) in the center for the very young and twenty-one (21) in the center for adolescents. In addition to this number, there are thirty-three (33) youths being hosted, living with families, or in Benin. For the entire month of March 2026, SPES Lomé cared for a total of eighty-one (81) children and youths.
SCHOOLING
The children and young people from the kindergarten to high school are diligent and regular in their classes. Supervision with the uncles and dormitory mothers, as well as tutoring sessions with external tutors, continue at both the primary and middle and high school levels. Apart from these tutoring sessions and supervision, high school students continue to participate in paid tutorials (TD) organized by their teachers at their school.
The second term exams took place from March 23 to 27, 2026, in primary school. In high school, the supervised assignments for the second semester also took place from March 9 to 13, 2026. The practical tests (Physical Education and Sports) for the end-of-year exams 2025-2026 have started, and everything went well for our first-year students who have already participated.
ANIMATION
Playful activities, reading, and activities with the children take place both during the awakening sessions and at the library under the direction of Uncle Justin.
SMILEY PROJECT
Under the direction of Mr. BRUCE Elysée, the Smiley project continues with our young middle school students. One of the participants, very committed to the project, has already completed all the exercises and feels very proud. The other participants are working hard to also complete all the exercises in the upcoming sessions.
SITUATION OF INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STUDENTS
The young woman training to be a preschool teacher in Lomé is doing well. As for the young man in priestly training in BENIN, he is also doing well and returned to Lomé for the holidays (from March 26 to April 12, 2026). As for our young students at the University of Lomé, both boarders and day students, they have completed their exams in their various departments. This marks the end of the harmattan semester while making way for the monsoon semester.
STATISTICS OF EXTERNAL STUDENTS
| BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL |
| 08 | 03 | 11 |
STATISTICS OF INTERNAL STUDENTS
| BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL |
| 00 | 02 | 02 |
LEARNING
Everything is going well for the young apprentices in their various training or apprenticeship workshops.
EXTERNAL APPRENTICE STATISTICS
| BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL |
| 10 | 08 | 18 |
INTERNAL APPRENTICE STATISTICS
| BOYS | GIRLS | TOTAL |
| 03 | 02 | 05 |
HEALTH
During this month of March our children suffered from malaria, muscle aches, and mild headaches. They were referred to the Pediatrician. After consultation, they were treated and cured.
The wounds have healed on the young person who was injured in the hand. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation sessions while waiting for the cast to be applied to straighten the fingers.
The Psychologist continues her activities in both SPES TOGO Centers.
OTHER INFORMATION/PARTNERSHIP
At the beginning of this month of March, on behalf of the ARPEJ project (Regional Approach for the Protection of Children and Youth) and particularly within the framework of coaching for centers caring for vulnerable children, SPES Lomé, represented by: the director Mrs. ALOGNON Béatrice, the project officer and head of the adolescent center Mrs. AOUISSA Mati, the psychologist Mrs. SADJO-HETSU Love, the facilitator Mr. BATABADI Justin, and two childcare assistants (Mrs. ATIKPO Emilie and AGBONOU Apéfa), welcomed to the children’s center a team from SOS Children’s Villages composed of Mr. TAKASSI Constant, project facilitator, Mr. OURO-BODE, psychologist, Mrs. ADOSSI Nadia, protection assistant, and Mrs. ALI, prefectural director of social actions of the Golfe prefecture. Let us recall that before this new session, a previous one had taken place in July 2025.
The following five (5) key points were covered in this coaching session:
- – Follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations from the last coaching session held in July 2025.
- – Discussion with the managers on the implementation of the safeguarding policy established within the center and the difficulties encountered in the practical management of cases.
- – Refresher training on the use of case management tools.
- – Tour of the premises and discussions on the organization of the living environment for children/youth and the management of children’s files.
- – Summary of the session and discussion on the date of the next session.
As part of the celebration of March 8, International Women’s Rights Day, SPES Lomé organized, in the presence of members of the SPES Togo and international Board of Directors, an awareness day under the theme of women’s empowerment, a condition for their participation in community and political life.
To properly mark this day, in the morning all the staff participated in a jogging session, followed upon their return by an awareness session on the day’s theme, which was led by the president of the association CeFAD (Center for Women Supporting Decentralization) and her collaborators. The women of SPES illustrated this theme well through a structured skit. This day ended with a shared meal and a celebration with all the staff of SPES Lomé.
On Friday, March 13, 2026, a staff meeting organized by the director was held at the children’s center. All staff from both centers attended this meeting. The purpose was to reorganize the administration of SPES Lomé. Schedules were defined and set for each department, and the director urged all staff to strictly adhere to these schedules for the smooth operation of the center. A logbook has been opened at the entrances of both centers to record the arrival and departure times of all staff to mark actual attendance at work. During this meeting, the director made planning tools (weekly schedule and the annual individual work plan) available to all staff, which will allow them to easily plan and carry out activities at each level. Finally, a communication plan was provided to relay information from the center. During this month of March, SPES Lomé welcomed two new children, including an 11-month-old boy and an 18-month-old girl. They were received in a very good atmosphere by their brothers, sisters, and the staff. The mothers and children were psychologically prepared before the arrival of the children.
Furthermore, a meeting was held exclusively with the mothers on March 31, 2026, in order to discuss the care to be provided to the newly recruited children in terms of nutrition and medical care, as well as the quality of the meals served to the children and the improvements that need to be made.
On March 19, 2026, a meeting was held at SPES Lomé, at the adolescent center, which brought together the members of the Board of Directors of SPES Togo, the two directors of Lomé and Kpalimé, the project manager, and the psychologist. Its objective was to study and adopt SPES’s child and youth safeguarding policy. Let us recall that at the beginning of the meeting, one of our young people and former SPES resident, and a student in Iceland, who was in Lomé for administrative procedures, visited us. She took advantage of her presence to introduce herself while describing her journey from obtaining her scholarship to the present.
We received from Grandma Dominique LUQUET three boxes of books that will be shared between the two centers (Lomé and Kpalimé).
WEATHER
The major rainy season has started with heavy rains in the south of Togo, thus reducing dust and heat in favor of coolness and a green landscape. It is therefore on these notes that we wish you a good and fruitful April 2026.
Done in Lomé, on April, 13 2026
The Director
Béatrice ODJO-ALOGNON
