MARS (Movement of Action for Social Renewal – Mouvement d’action pour le renouveau social in French) is the only Emmaus organization in Togo. It works mainly in the area of education.
The group supports children in difficulty by providing school equipment and covering their education costs. Young adults who have left school early are given basic training there. MARS also gives them access to vocational training in farming, bread-making and chalk production.
The group’s social initiatives are paid for by selling the produce made in these workshops and by selling goods sent by European groups in shipping containers. Two agricultural engineers from MARS also support local farmers. These farmers, as well as young people, women experiencing social exclusion and single mothers also benefit from microcredit loans for their development projects.
Lastly, MARS runs awareness-raising initiatives about health and hygiene, defends child workers and migrants and helps distribute food kits to the area’s poorest families.
