In English
Aminata Mbaye Center
Special Psycho Pedagogical Center for Mentally Retarded Children.
The Center
Opened in 2003, the Aminata Mbaye Center (named after its deceased founder) is the association’s first achievement. The construction of the center, which covers an area of 2,520 square meters, is nearly completed.
The Center’s children
Before their admission into the Center, all children are examined by a psychiatrist who determines their type of mental retardation and then proceeds with approving their enrollment. The Center provides care and support for 40 child inmates aged 5 to 10 who all have mild or rnoderate mental retardation. Following an observation period, a personally tailored plan is developed for each inmate by a multidisciplinary team, in collaboration with the child’s parents. The plan is based on the child’s needs, competences and motivation.
The training team
The Center is currently operating thanks to the dedication of ten full-time staff members comprised of specialized trainers, one elementary school teacher, and approximately ten care specialists including one psychomotor therapist, one speech and hearing therapist, one psychiatrist, one social worker and activity managers.
One of the Center’s priorities for 2007/2008 is to provide decent salaries and expand the continuous training program for its trainers.
The learning system
The children are divided into 4 groups corresponding to different learning levels, with specific work schedule for each group. The major focus is on school learning for the most advanced level children who are taught by a teacher from Senegal’s Ministry of National Education. Every child participates in numerous re-educational activities (gardening, cooking, do-it-yourself, pottery, sports, painting, music) to bring out children’s special talents for artistic expression, creativity, skills, feel for rhythm, solidarity, observation, etc.
The whole learning system is designed to contribute to children’s future social integration.
Gardening Djernbe drum-beating session
Vocational training workshops
Since the beginning of the 2006/2007 school year two vocational workshops have been offered for two afternoons every week to the most advanced level inmates and young adults with mental disabilities. The Center plans to turn these workshops into profit-making activities for next year. Shoe-making sewing hair-dressing
Major events
The Center hosts one or two major events every quarter for its inmates : a Christmas Party followed by Mardis-Gras and children’s birthday celebrations. The Center’s inmates have visited the National Zoo at Hann, this year. In May, the Center usually organizes e 3-dey trip to Popenguine, before closing with the end of the school year celebration.
Center’s visit to National Zoo, Hann
The Center’s needs
The Center is sorely lacking in rneans, but if has been able to operate thanks to the support of a few friendly donors and an annual Golf tournament at the Meridien President Hotel through the proceeds from its closing lunch entertainment taking place in April or May.
The Center’s priority is firstly to attract more sponsors in order to ensure decent salaries for the training team. The Center is seeking grants to complete its facility construction, and specifically to fund the tile covering of the main yard and install windows so as to keep the dust out of the classrooms as much as possible. The Center is fortunate to be visited in July by approximately twenty young students from e French technical learning school (CAT) who will be painting walls of the lastly completed buildings. As usual in every school, the Center also wishes to be equipped with sturdy chairs, with tables for the cafeteria and the classrooms, with cupboards and bookshelves, too, with miscellaneous educational materials, etc.
The Center would also like to create an adapted sports area in the backyard and get psychomotor therapy equipment.
The Centers plans
In order to calmly look to the future, the Center s considering what it can do to develop profit-making activities. In that regard, it plans to establish a chicken farm which would be run by the inmates. It is also trying to initiate the vocational workshops to provide training in sewing, shoemaking and hair-dressing activities. It is also reviewing the design of e laundry project.
The Center is looking for financial partners to implement these different projects.
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