V. The Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains

         V. The Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains

As we continue to work on the website project (which is nearing completion - keep your eyes peeled), it makes sense to me to take a little bit more time to explain in more detail the nature of the project undertaken by the Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains, the administrative structure surrounding it, as well as the partners supporting the work they are doing. 

As mentioned in my opening post, the Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains was established in 2021 by Marème Thiam. Originally based in Saint-Louis, they had established a socio-cultural center there but moved to Louga a couple of years later with support from the GIZ’s Réussir au Sénégal project, which ran from 2017 to 2025 and whose closing ceremony we went to last week. Currently, the work they do is centred on two main axes: the school/training centre and the socio-cultural centre. 

The school provides technical training and education to young women and girls from disadvantaged and vulnerable backgrounds.

In front of an entrance to the main school building

In many cases, these women and girls have had next to no formal education and have no means of earning a living. The school has offered and hopes to offer training in ironworking, cooking & catering, market gardening, solar electricity technology, ceiling design, woodwork, screen printing, fashion & sewing as well as processing and marketing. Each lasts several months, and is followed by an exam at the end, thereby allowing it to count as a formal qualification. 

A typical classroom (top) and the metalworking area which is temporarily out of use (bottom)

Due to funding constraints, the Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains has only been able to offer the last three since the start of the new “academic year” around a month ago, benefitting 60 pupils instead of 250. However, even though the scope of the project is currently below capacity, the training offered gives those young women a tangible path to independence. In many cases, practical skills open doors to employment or entrepreneurship but on a more fundamental level they can also help build self-confidence and a sense of purpose. With the right support - which is practically nonexistent - the beneficiaries of the project can turn their talents into stable livelihoods, breaking cycles of poverty and shaping brighter futures for themselves and their communities.

Alongside this, construction of the cultural centre (which was also mentioned in the first instalment) is ongoing. Begun last year, the first two floors have been built. However, construction is by definition piecemeal. Once the organisation has some money, they can fund further construction - placing some wiring, building stairs, adding a wall. Everything moves slowly, but there is no other way. Once the project is finished a couple of years from now, it will be a cultural space like no other. There will be the opportunity for the students of the school to display and sell their work, with guestrooms also ensuring the possibility to have more developed cultural exchanges with engaged young people from the western world. 

The cultural centre from a different angle

Although currently registered as a nonprofit organisation, the charity will eventually become a fondation, pending approval of the relevant paperwork. This will allow for easier fundraising and expanded activities. The website already reflects this (Fondation Marleen van Aken), but the change is not expected to be fully implemented before the end of the calendar year. 

Much of the funding for the project comes from NGOs and large external organisations. The list of partners includes the GIZ (mentioned above), de Blokkendoos, a Belgian charity which supports education of young people, Wilde Ganzen, a Dutch NGO which supports social and entrepreneurial organisations, the Province of Limburg (Belgium), the City of Hasselt (also Belgium), the Salvatoriaanse Hulpactie, which works to combat extreme poverty, and of course the Government of Senegal.

An overview of some of the current benefactors of the project

However, foreign aid and support is increasingly difficult to come by in a changing political climate, leaving the Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains in a precarious financial position where Marème Thiam is having to use her own funds to support their work - no mean feat, given that it costs around €125 (£110, F.CFA 80,000) just to run the school every day. Nonetheless, through the generosity of others, they just about make do - although hopefully in future they will be able to thrive as a charitable organisation instead of just "surviving".

In my next installment, due by the end of the week, I’ll present the website that I’ve created and give an overview of its features. Until then!