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.