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24.03.2009 13:18
This is the new XICS Bamako
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The XICS centre in Bamako is much more than an educational support centre. It will also be a public school for the neighbourhood, something this Malian township did not have before.
The XICS in Bamako is the biggest XICS centre to date. Measuring 12,695 m², it will not only be used for educational support but will also provide psycho-social, sanitary and nutritional aid, and will also be a public school for the neighbourhood, something the district did not have before.
Almost one hundred boys and girls aged between 7 and 16 years will be the beneficiaries of this new centre located in the Téléphone Sans Fil neighbourhood of Bamako, where the people live in very precarious conditions.
The XICS centre is supported by the Mutuelle Benkan and Enda Tiers-Monde organisations as its co-executive entities, and, especially, the AECID (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo) and the Polaris Word Foundation. It has also enjoyed the collaboration of the Commune II de Bamako Council. The investment FC Barcelona put into this project was 247,000 euros.
XICS Mali, the district’s public school
There are only two private schools in this district, which many families cannot afford, and means that only 60% of the children living here get a school education.
It is a very poor area, populated by some 6,000 inhabitants, and where there is a severe lack of infrastructure, with many de-structured families loving in situations of poverty or social exclusion, and there are many labourers, or members of the Bozo fishing community, living in highly precarious conditions.
Most of the children are missing out on an education due to the difficult situations of their families, but also because of the lack of state education facilities. Many children have to work to support their parents as labourers at the livestock market or recycling objects found in industrial refuse containers.
More than 12,500 m2 of classrooms, library, changing rooms...
The community school is divided into two spaces, one with three classrooms to be used as a school, and the other with three classrooms for use for school support. It also has two offices, one secretary’s office, a library, a conference room, a computer room, toilets and changing rooms for boys and girls, a storeroom, a sports court and a football pitch.
Training and classroom activities
The centre offers integral support in the form of different school support activities for primary
pupils aged 6 to 9 years, health care supplied by the Mutuelle Benkan organisation in the TSF
district, and nutritional aid and psycho-social and emotional support to reduce the risk of these
children being socially excluded.
The older children that have left the school early will still be offered literacy classes to make sure they can read and write, as well as professional training. This work will be done in the Centre Père Michel, a professional training centre in Bamako promoted by the Salesiana Community, which works with 300 young people. The children attending classes at this centre will also enjoy sports facilities and will take part in the tournaments organised by the XICS Mali.
The older children that have left the school early will still be offered literacy classes to make sure they can read and write, as well as professional training. This work will be done in the Centre Père Michel, a professional training centre in Bamako promoted by the Salesiana Community, which works with 300 young people. The children attending classes at this centre will also enjoy sports facilities and will take part in the tournaments organised by the XICS Mali.
