educative and cultural skill centre
Educative Cultural Skill Centre
Due to a high unemployment rate in Tanji the living conditions are difficult and sometimes hopeless.
There are many local youth that have talent for the traditional art disciplines.
In our Skill Centre we offer the possibility to these Gambians to offer workshops in their line of expertise to tourists, volunteers, interns and locals. This way they can work in a field that they love and have a passion for and generate a much needed income, while exchanging their own West African culture with the other (western) cultures.
but we do more
but we do more
Free education for youths
Our workshops are all provided by experts in their field. They are happy to pass this knowledge on to future generations.
Everybody that offers the workshops in our centre also provide free classes to the local youth
Foster children
De many youth that are involved in our Skill Centre often don’t have the possibility to also go to a regular school. Besides the fact that we love and are proud of giving them the skills learned in our centre, we also think that they should be able to attend a regular school.
That is why we offer the possibility to foster a child so they are able to attend a regular school as well. The primary schools in The Gambia are free, but parents have to provide the school uniform, shoes, back packs and school materials. Unfortunately many families are unable to provide their child with these.
For € 50.- per year you can help 1 child to go to school.
Would you like to find out more about sponsoring a child to be able to attend school? Please contact us.
Every year we have contact with the family of your foster child. You will receive a photo and a report card. You also have the option to come and visit your foster child in The Gambia.
Seminars
We regularly give seminars in our Skill Centre about healthy food, health, hygiene and sex education.
If you have knowledge about these subjects and would you like to help us with these as a volunteer then please let us know. We welcome all the help we can get.
Children’s activities
In the School holidays we give the children of Tanji the possibility to join us for activities at the Skills Centre from Monday – Friday from 10.00 – 13.00.
It’s a nice time to do some other activities than the usual ones they do in the compound. These are fun and educational.
These activities are run by volunteers. Would you like to help us to organize or run these with us then please let us know.
Dance and djembe group
Franco Inn has its own dance and Djembé group. This group exists of very motivated boys and girls from the area. They train 4 days a week in our Skill Centre.
We cooperate with a dance/Djembé group from Senegal and during our traditional nights they perform full of enthusiasm to give you a night to remember.
For these youths it’s more than just a dance and music group. It’s belonging to a group; they challenge themselves and have fun.
It’s an activity beside the usual tasks on the family compound and they meet people from other countries and cultures and exchange their knowledge and learn from each other.
ongoing projects
ART GALLERY
Unfortunately, our art studio has partially collapsed during the violent storm in July 2021. At the end of 2021 we were able to start building a beautifully sturdy new studio where our artists can make, exhibit and sell their products in addition to the workshops they give. We hope to be able to finish this studio at the end of 2022 so that these talented Gambians can move forward again. So we’re almost done! What still needs to be done is, stucco, painting, electricity, floor tiling, and furniture in it.
Start budgets
The Gambians that provide the workshops in our Skill Centre are extremely motivated and love to share their knowledge and expertise. It’s nice to see for our guests that take part in the workshops how much work it is to design and make the products. Everybody always leaves very proud and satisfied with their new learned skills and souvenir that they made during their chosen workshop.
At the moment we offer 5 workshops and we would like to expand on these. We need starting budgets for the people giving these workshops so they buy the materials needed for these workshops.
English lessons
The Gambia is a British colony. Despite that not every Gambian speak fluent English. Many never had / have the opportunity to go to school. English is important as with this language they can communicate with everybody. Many that are involved with our Skill Centre don’t speak the language sufficient to be able to express themselves they way they would want to.
We would like to offer English classes in our Skill Centre for these people.
Our goal is to employ a professional English teacher for 5 days per week to teach for a few hours each day. We could make this happen for € 50.- per month.
If you would like to contribute to this cause, then please let us know.
Volunteer work
We can always use an extra set of hands.
Do you have knowledge of dance, music, art or theater? Do you have a talent for organization or marketing?
Can you provide English classes, you like to work with children, help at a nursery school? do you have knowledge about healthy food and something else that might fit into our organisation?
We also have the possibility to do volunteerwork in healtcare. For this area you would need a healtcare diploma.
contact us and we will have al look at the possibilities and your wishes