Formerly Emmaus Hêvié, the community changed its name in 2003 when it relocated to Pahou, a district 30km away from Cotonou.
Emmaus Pahou has a site used for livestock farming (poultry, pigs, rabbits and goats) and agriculture (market gardening, pineapple and manioc fields). Some 20 young people who have been in difficulty live and work on the farm under the supervision of a senior companion and a skilled worker.
After two or three years, they leave the community with training, enabling them to find a job. The produce resulting from these young people’s work is sold at the farm and in Cotonou, at the group’s head office. There, Emmaus Pahou sells goods sent by European Emmaus organisations via shipping container.
It also manages a second-hand mobile phone and computer sales area and runs a range of activities – micro-credit for women, literacy, placing and supporting young people on work placements, and collecting IT waste.
Emmaus Pahou also runs the Lake Nokoué water access programme along with the international secretariat of Emmaus.
