ECHOPPE (English “a shop”) is an NGO created by Beverly Ott '80 and her husband Olivier Hauville in 1980. The original idea for attacking the problem of urban poverty in Togo has expanded to include: small loans programs and youth employment opportunities in Togo and Benin; a fair-trade shop in Bev and Olivier’s home turf near Angers, France; and several other activities on behalf of small entrepreneurs in the Angers area and in several places in Africa. Several Manchester University students have spent a summer working with the projects in Togo. Emily Pleadwell spent a summer working with Bev and Olivier at their bed-and-breakfast near Angers. Her service, like that of the Manchester students who have gone to Togo, was supported by Pathways grants from Manchester.

Most recently, Katherine Skeen '16 spent some of her semester in Strasbourg helping Bev and Olivier strengthen their ties to benefactors in Strasbourg and develop ideas for closer cooperation between ECHOPPE and Manchester University. Katie is a major in political science, with minors in French and economics.