FCBARCELONA.CAT

06.04.2008 12:56

A day in the Richard Toll XICS centre

Marc Parramon

The literacy classes, scholastic aid, sports and sewing workshops are part of daily life in the Senegal centre which, in a few months has become the meeting point where the community gather.

Everyone talks about Richard Toll. Eight months ago it was only an arid, unpopulated plot of land in this Senegalese town near the African Savannah. Now it has become one of the most crowded areas of the city; a space for educative, sanitary and psychosocial aid for the most vulnerable children of the zone. Here we find the XICS centre, built by the FC Barcelona Foundation, which has been active now for months.

The blackboards in the classrooms have been written on, the two workshops are in operation, the library has more and more volumes, and on the sports fields more and more balls are rolling. For weeks now the activity of the centre is a reality. To date there are 60% of the young beneficiaries registered; during the month of April they will reach maximum occupation with almost a hundred enrolled.

Among the beneficiaries there is an equal number of boys and girls and they mainly come from large, poor families. Most of them have never been to school.

A typical day in the jointly shared centre in Senegal

XICS Richard Toll, 8.30a.m.

The morning classes begin early. At half past eight there is already activity in the classrooms. At this time of day unschooled boys and girls fill the centre and dedicate their time to occupational training.

One of the first workshops to be set up is that of needlework and they have also begun horticultural classes. The first occupational talks were well received, to date several sessions on sexual and reproductive health have been well attended. In the mornings a group of social workers and doctors also work in the centre looking after the youngsters, especially those who find themselves in extremely vulnerable circumstances.

XICS Richard Toll, 04.30 p.m.

In the afternoon the activities are aimed, mainly, at teaching reading and writing and scholastic aid. At this moment there are two groups being taught how to read and write, one with children from 6 to 9 years old, and another with youths of 9 to 12 years of age. In a third group they give extra-curricular classes to boys and girls who go to the schools in the city in the mornings.

Sport and leisure also form part of the afternoon activities. On the centre’s various sports fields they are given physical education classes and also play sports such as football, basketball and volleyball.