The key point of the project is the acquisition of a mobile planetarium. The team sees astronomy as an entry point to science and the scientific method in general for the youth of Benin. Everyone in our country sees the sky and wonders about the universe, but due to the lack of scientific education, beliefs can be stronger than scientific facts. The mobile planetarium and telescope will be a unique opportunity to explain astronomy and the scientific method to young people in Benin, with the aim of attracting more science students (especially women) and, in the long term, educating Beninese about astronomy. The target audience will be large, as an observation session, combined with lectures, will be organised in the villages. Better still, this will be an opportunity for Beninese craftsmen to direct their creative genius towards the manufacture of materials for handling and observing astronomy, such as the manufacture of planetariums and telescopes, until they are perfected in the course of the development of humanity. Our team will also continue its frequent interventions in schools, two technical high schools, two universities and a polytechnic university… with from now on a planetarium to explain the sky and to arouse the desire of local manufacture. The work will then be done in the continuity of what we have been doing for 15 years, with adequate educational material.
Contact:
Pide Aristide Ahanhanzo pahanhanzo@gmail.com