African kids get a school in North Coast journalist’s memory

Stan Thompson’s goal of finishing a schoolhouse for Ivorian kids is realized with the help of Central Coast residents—seven months after his unexpected death

By Vicki Leon

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK PHILLIPS

Stan Thompson — who covered school events and fundraisers for the Sun Bulletin — is surrounded by the West African kids whom he photographed during an August visit to the village of Dawayo-Chantier, Ivory Coast.

Read about Stan Thompson’s visits to West Africa and the efforts of Cal Poly professor Tom Neuhaus to improve the lives of cocoa farmers through “fair trade” at:

• http://snipr.com/stantrip

• http://snipr.com/cocoavillage

Visit http://projecthopeandfairness .org to learn about efforts to help African farmers.

Thanks to the vision of one man, the photographic inspiration of another and the generosity of Central Coast residents who wanted to honor them both, a school in the Dawayo-Chantier village in the West African nation of the Ivory Coast has a new roof today.

With a schoolhouse, more children in that village will have a chance to learn — instead of spending their youth at work.

In August, Sun Bulletin writer and photographer Stan Thompson spent three weeks in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, learning firsthand about the struggles of cocoa farmers, many of whom have received a helping hand from Project Hope and Fairness, the nonprofit creation of Cal Poly professor Tom Neuhaus.

Along with engineer Mark Phillips and teacher Kate Montgomery, Thompson traveled the rutted back roads of West Africa, felt the warmth of local hospitality while witnessing villagers’ hardships and came to understand the burden poverty has placed on younger generations.

Because the cocoa that farmers grow for U. S. companies to make Hershey bars, M&Ms and Nestle products does not produce a “living wage,” most families are forced to put their children to work.

The statistics are shocking: 75 percent of U. S. chocolate is made with beans from the Ivory Coast, where the average daily wage is $2.

To make matters worse, more than 200,000 children from cocoa farming families have never seen the inside of a school.

Thompson—who covered countless events and fundraising activities of schools in Morro Bay, Los Osos and Cayucos for the Sun Bulletin —was staggered to learn that the candy bars sold by American kids to raise money for school activities are made from cocoa that is harvested, fermented, dried and hauled by Ivorian children who get little or no opportunity for an education.

The school grounds of Dawayo-Chantier struck a nerve for Thompson, who photographed the roofless mud-brick school.

When Thompson unexpectedly died Oct. 3, a little more than a month after the trip, a memorial service was held in which friends, colleagues and community members contributed in his name to a fund to finish that school.

That goal has now been reached with $4,000 was raised—sufficient to install a sturdy roof.

“A roof that size would cost five times that much here — and in West Africa, they also have to contend with high delivery and fuel costs — over $4 a gallon,” Neuhaus said.

The money went to Kedesch, a Ivorian nongovernmental organization dedicated to teaching and training the children of cocoa farmers in Galebre, Ivory Coast.

Besides the tools, equipment and expertise that Hope and Fairness provides to African farmers, the foundation has other projects in the works, including a grant application for $25,000 to enable farmers to produce and sell the highest quality cocoa beans, through the use of dryness meters, cocoa scales and hermetically sealing bags.

After he returned from Africa, Thompson said, “Now I feel part of something that matters, reaching out beyond my own sphere.”

Although he would be the last to call himself a good student or a do-gooder, Thompson would have a twinkle in his eye today.