Example Benson Wereje

“I used to be the first to run and I ran alone. The rebels wanted to get young boys like me to do terrible things. So, I would leave my mother and sisters. Alone, I grew strong. When I found my people again, I grew stronger.” -Benson, 2008

No one knows exactly when Wereje Benson was born. In the northern villages of the Congo, mothers did not keep records and children like Benson had to grow old very quickly. He was the first born of six children. Before the war started in 1994, almost one hundred members of Benson’s family lived together in the same village. But when the rebels and the fighting came, the family broke apart and ran in many directions. Benson learned quickly that the rebels wanted to kill students because “whoever gets education may also become strong leaders, may learn to change things, but the rebels did not want the war to ever end”

He escaped the attack and ran directly from school deep into the forest for two years without knowing if his family was alive. When Benson finally returned, his father arranged for them to move to Uganda. However, soon after they arrived in Uganda, his family decided to go back, believing they could die of hunger here or die by the rebels there—no difference. But Benson had seen too much torture, rape, dead bodies being eaten by dogs in the street, and violence to go back to Congo. Although he cried many tears at the border, he decided as to live in Uganda— to stay alone.

Benson struggled and almost died trying to make it alone! He would do so many things for money, but it was never enough to pay for food and school. Benson would carry 100 stones a day for builders to earn 1,000/=, would dig 40 metres squared of the neighbour's garden to earn 20,000/=, and cover waste to protect the community from Cholera for 2,000/=. In ‘O’ level, he started his first project with 1,000/= capital—buying sugarcane from 30 kilometres away and carrying it to sell in the village. Forso much effort, he would be paid in simple food such asIrish potatoes. In 2005, Benson remembered one the great lessons of his father, “find a good group, do not isolate yourself, share with them problems”. He finally understood that working alone and trying only to help himself was the wrong strategy. Power is in groups! By starting a cooperative, a group with a common mission, he could help bring himself and the entire community out of poverty.

Cooperative businesses work under 2 basic principles: User owned and User benefited. The user-owned principle means the people who own and finance the cooperative are those who use it. "Use" usually means buying supplies, marketing products, or using services of the cooperative business. Those who use the cooperative control it by electing leadership and voting on major decisions. The user-benefited principle says that the cooperative's purpose is to provide and distribute benefits to members. Members unite in a cooperative to receive services otherwise not available,such as to purchase quality supplies, increase their bargaining power,share best practices, or have a bigger market.

Benson started practicing cooperative leadership with his first talent: football. The football club was a great success and led to a partial sponsorship for school. Next, he organized young men and women by starting a small youth group at church. The group was given a piece of the most productive land and Benson was elected local chairperson. There were many old men that could have been given the leadership position, but Benson had proven himself to be trustworthy and strategic in solving problems.

In 2005, together with a group of four friends still in secondary school, Benson started a cooperative that would change his life forever. They called it CIYOTA. CIYOTA is a youth-led movement that unites and transforms communities to create sustainable peace and prosperity in Africa. Their strategy is to mobilize youth and orphans for collective digging to raise money in order to solve their own problems as refugees. When Benson was digging alone, he would earn 20,000/=; through CIYOTA, the group earns over 2,000,000/=!

CIYOTA has built a primary school and orphanage that gives over 200 young refugees per year an education inside Kyangwali. They also have a youth hostel and loan group for the poorest women in the community. Benson values unity the most. By working together they were able to move mountains and fund all their projects from nothing. In 2013 Benson travelled to the USA and won $90,000 US dollars as an Echoing Green Fellow. He returned home to continue his work. A proud father and husband, Benson hopes to be remembered as “a simple servant, helpful and obedient to all, who never wants my children to suffer as I have suffered”. When Benson says “my children”, he means the next generation of all Africans.