VZCZCXRO9378
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0106/01 0840824
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250824Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0823
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1419
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000106 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/PD (ANYASO, TITUS, LISENBY), AF/W (ACOOK) 
DEPARTMENT FOR IIP/IR 
PARIS FOR ARS (DWINTON) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRC OIIP KPAO BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: IRO VISIT TO POST 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY: Regional Information Resource Officer (IRO) Myra Brown 
visited the IRC in Cotonou on March 15 - 20, 2009 during her first 
visit to Benin. The IRC Director Akodigna and the IRO took advantage 
of the visit to conduct a three-day methodology workshop at the 
University of Abomey-Calavi. During her visit to Benin, IRO Myra 
Brown visited two American Corners and attended the signing ceremony 
of the MOU renewal with American Corner of Grand Popo. She also held 
interviews with media outlets in Benin. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. DATE OF ACTIVITY: March 16-20; Second quarter, FY 09 
 
¶3. PROGRAM JUSTIFICATION/OBJECTIVES: As part of her regular cycle of 
Post visits, the IRO came to Benin to review the IRC operation in 
Cotonou, meet with the DCM, PAO and staff, and conduct a methodology 
seminar at the University of Abomey-Calavi as requested by Post at 
the suggestion of the English Department at the University of 
Abomey-Calavi. As a result of this seminar, students received 
training that will enable them to state the topic of their 
dissertation and can check for information using several Internet 
resources. 
 
¶4. MPP UMBRELLA THEMES AND AUDIENCE REACHED: Promotion of Education 
and Mutual Understanding. The seminar attracted more than one 
hundred students. They also watched the film "Ironed Jawed Angels" 
which depicted the courage, determination and team work of 
suffragists who fought for and obtained the passage of the 19th 
Amendment. The event was extensively covered by the media. A 
prominent TV station, Golfe TV, gave interviews to IRO Brown and 
some workshop participants. 
 
¶5. ACTIVITIES/IMPACT/RESULT: The workshop was initiated by IRC 
Cotonou and the English Department of the University of 
Abomey-Calavi as part of IRC Cotonou efforts regarding information 
literacy. The seminar was attended by more than 100 students and 
covered topics such as how to state a topic for a dissertation and 
how to use both traditional and online resources for information 
retrieval purposes. This workshop was also an opportunity for 
students to learn about copyright issues, plagiarism and 
procrastination. They were introduced to reference styles like APA 
and MLA. 
 
¶6.  The first day of the seminar was devoted to how to state a 
dissertation topic with advice regarding reading, working hard, 
getting focused on assignments and how to be organized. Students 
learned how to narrow a topic in order to focus on the most salient 
points they need to cover according to their time frame, work load 
and resources available. 
 
¶7.  On the second day, the IRO's presentation focused on copyright 
issues and plagiarism. The Director of the "Campus Numerique 
Francophone de Cotonou" allowed students to use his lab for 
presentations and practice sessions. The room was too small for the 
number of participants who came to learn, but the determination of 
students to learn as much as possible was clearly evident as some of 
them were obliged to follow the presentations while seated on the 
floor or standing at the far back of the room. 
 
¶8.  On the third day of the practice sessions, the IRCD and IRO 
introduced students to web directories such as the Internet Public 
Library as well as search engines and databases. They were also 
introduced to "Technorati," a website that lists most popular blogs 
and "Zamzar," a site where they can download and convert video 
files. IRO Brown's presentations took students through The 
Washington Post, the Library of Congress website, Wikipedia and 
other resources. 
 
¶9.  As a way to conclude the seminar with an educational theme that 
brought focus on Women's History Month, the IRCD presented the DVD, 
"Iron Jawed Angels," a film depicting the struggle of women who went 
to jail in their efforts to secure passage of the 19th Amendment to 
the Constitution which guarantees women the right to vote. At the 
conclusion of the film, students commented on how much they 
appreciated this initiative from the Public Affairs Section and the 
lesson learned: how to be courageous and work with determination to 
face challenges. One student commented that women and men are 
partners for life.  She said, "Women are our mothers, sisters and 
spouses and for all these reasons it is not good to mistreat them or 
to abuse them." Some other students pointed out the importance of 
education in women's emancipation. 
 
¶10.  Participants expressed their appreciation for the American 
Cultural Center's initiative in organizing the seminar and the film 
show. Students were so appreciative that they requested another talk 
for IRO Brown next visit. IRC staff also requested that the next 
visit be devoted to a training related to social media and web 2.0. 
 
 
¶11.  On the fourth day of the IRO's visit, the PAO, IRO, and IRCD 
 
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paid a visit on the Deputy Director of the National Library, Anne 
Marie Honnougan, to discuss the logistics of transferring the 
American Corner of Porto-Novo to this location. The delegation 
visited the space where the American Corner is going to be located 
and inspected the facilities to be used for program activities. 
 
¶12. NON-USG SOURCES OF IN-COUNTRY FUNDING/IN KIND SUPPORT: In 
cooperation with the English Department, the "Campus Numerique 
Francophone de Cotonou" allowed students to use their lab of 40 
workstations with Internet access. 
 
¶13. QUALITY OF USG SUPPORT: Excellent. Kudos to IRO Myra Brown who 
agreed to come and share her knowledge to empower young students. 
The use of information technology, mixing visual materials with text 
presentations, made the seminar more vivid and interactive. 
 
BROWN