Cameroon: Charities fair 2019

Thanks to Nadege, the Manager of the Jardin Eden Centre for representing us at the charities fair on Saturday at the AMT Club, which was organised by the Français du monde-adfe.

The Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) proudly confirms that 5000 young people from underprivileged areas have been welcomed in our centres for the past 15 years and have benefited from school support and health care, the majority of which have also practiced rugby.

It was a pleasure to discuss with our guests and an honor to see H.E. Christophe Guilhou from France back in Cameroon!

Nadège at the fair  The French Ambassador at our stand

 The SBA stand

Cameroon: Visit of the new Ambassador of France to Cameroon

Jenna, our consultant, went to Cameroon late September to work with the managers of our centres: Abaa, Nadège, Jean-Cyrille and Djibrail. She can happily attest that the work methods implemented for the past two years have given each manager more autonomy and more space to propose new initiatives in order to propose new projects to the SBA board as well as to voice the urgent and long term needs of our centres.

Her trip took place at the same time as H.E Christophe Guilhou, the new Ambassador of France to Cameroon, took office. We took this opportunity to invite him to visit our Jardin Eden Centre in Yaounde, during our Friday afternoon activities, which included rugby initiation. Jenna and Nadège presented to him the different activities of the centre and more broadly of the Association in Cameroon as well as abroad.

The Ambassador of France with our SBA children  Children of the Jardin Eden centre

The Ambassador of France with our SBA team  The Ambassador of France with our SBA children

Partnership: Spend a night at a hotel to benefit the Serge Betsen Academy!

The Serge Betsen Academy is pleased to be associated with the SOLIKEND initiative: first solidarity hotel reservation site. On SOLIKEND, 100% of your fees for your stay will be paid directly to the association of your choice and you can choose the Serge Betsen Academy as we are one of their partners!

Developed by an ESS start-up based in Biarritz, SOLIKEND allows you to take advantage of stays within a superb selection of hotels … while still getting involved in the charity of your choice! The full fees of your stay will be donated to the association you select online when you book.

  • How does it work?

On the SOLIKEND platform, hoteliers commit to solidarity and sell nights for the benefit of associations. When booking online, you choose an association from a wide selection of organisations working in all domains. The hotelier then agrees to transfer 100% of your payment to the chosen association!

  • A stay in magnificent 2 to 5 star hotels + A significant donation to the association of your choice

Take advantage of a selection of 2*, 3*, 4* and 5* establishments up to Palaces, mainly located in Nouvelle-Aquitaine but also throughout France (Brittany, Pays de la Loire, Provence, Cote d’Azur, …).
And who are committed alongside you to make a very significant donation to the Serge Betsen Academy.

  • Attractive prices with a unique pricing system!

On SOLIKEND, the rates are not fixed: the hoteliers open their doors to your generosity and allow you to choose the amount of your payment, at more or less 20% of the standard rate. Thus, you benefit from an offer that is both charitable and attractive in terms of price.

  • A solidarity offer in limited quantity

The SOLIKEND offer is however limited: hotels sell a maximum of 20 to 50 nights per year, within the limit of one room per day and on a wide choice of dates (excluding periods of high demand). You are therefore encouraged to not delay: discover this offer and allow our association to benefit from it. Each solidarity night is a very significant gift for our action!

To book a “solidarity night” for the Serge Betsen Academy or to find out more: www.solikend.com

Translation by Katy Birge-Wilson

Partnership: Sports d’Epoque during the 2019 World Cup

For the 2019 Rugby World Cup, please support the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) and the French Team by proudly wearing the colours of “les Bleus”. Choose from our garments, born from the Sports d’Epoque (literally Vintage Sports) and Serge Betsen collaboration, bearing our first tricolour rooster!

Grab yourself a tricolour polo shirt or sweatshirt from the vintage Serge Betsen X Sports d’Epoque line. The collaboration will last until the end of 2019. And 5% of the profits will be donated to our charity!

Click here to order.

 

Translation by Katy Birgé-Wilson

Cameroon: Renovation of the Netah nursery school, allowing for 40% more students

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support of the Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation, Netah’s preschool is looking great. The school has indeed been renovated and sanitary facilities have been installed in order to accommodate a total of 60 children in better conditions.

This school was built by parents which is quite common in Cameroon. As the budget allocated to the national education is not sufficient, the children of our centre had no space in the nursery school.

In January 2019, the SBA board announced the implementation of these works, carried out thanks to the 9 million CFA Francs (= 13,725 Euros) collected for this purpose. Serge Betsen, Odile Prévot and Sébastien Lovy were filled with joy when they announced the news to teachers and parents during their trip. One of the objectives of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) is, as you know, to facilitate access to education for the children of our centres and their classmates.

Netah avant les travaux

In February 2019, Atelewa, a construction company in Cameroon, began the work to allow the school to welcome new children in better conditions as from the start of the 2019-2020 school year.

Netah travaux en cours en février 2019 école de Nétah rénovée avec sanitaires

In September 2019, the children returned to school in a new, well-equipped building. It is a source of enormous satisfaction for the SBA to see these children studying in such good condition.

Djibril, the manager of the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté, also visits the school from time to time to talk to the head teacher and the children. During one of his visits, he made the most of it and coached a rugby session. It’s always moving to see such small children trying their hand at rugby! And for some of them, it was the very first time they saw an oval ball!

We wish these children great learning and more than anything a bright future, and we would like to thank the Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation and our donors for their fabulous generosity allowing these children to grow up and dream of a promising professional future.

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

Event: WateRugby, rugby on water in Toulouse

A massive thank you to our awesome team in attendance at WateRugby Sud de France from the 13th to the 15th of September 2019, on the “Quais de la Daurade” in Toulouse!

Our volunteers Boris, Isabelle, Aurélien, Caro, Marius, Djamel, Stéphanie, Élie, Guilhem, Thierry and Claire were wonderful! Thanks to all of them, we collected a little more than $1450 (€1300) over the weekend and met new partners.  A big thank you also to all the rugby players for the show and entertainment, for coming to our stall to meet the volunteers (they were really happy) and for advertising our activity. Thanks also to the team in charge of organising the WateRugby event.

For those of you who were not able to come to our SBA stall, you can order a bag, wallet, purse … made out of recycled rugby balls on Recycling Rugby!

 

Translation by Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

WateRugby

 

Partnership: Since its creation 3 years ago, the Recycling Rugby initiative has raised…

Recycling Rugby represents USD 48,646 which is the amount raised for SBA by the recycled rugby balls initiative within 3 years! Lionel Quenardel is definitely a second Santa Claus for our children in Cameroon.

A huge thanks to Lionel, his pupils from the Sports Association of the Collège Diderot (91, Massy) and to all the partners for your hard work.

And for those who want to buy a handbag, a travel bag, a wallet or a case, please visit the Recycling Rugby Facebook page to order your wonders.

Cameroun : La rénovation de l’école maternelle de Netah permet désormais d’accueillir 50% enfants supplémentaires

Grâce à la générosité de nos donateurs et au soutien de la Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation, l’école maternelle de Netah a fière allure et accueille désormais 60 enfants dans de bonnes conditions. L’école a en effet été rénovée et des sanitaires ont été construits.

Cette  école avait été construite par les parents, comme souvent au Cameroun. Le budget alloué à l’éducation nationale n’étant pas suffisant, les enfants en classe maternelle de notre centre n’avaient pas d’endroit pour aller étudier. En janvier 2019, le bureau de la Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) a annoncé la mise en oeuvre de ces travaux réalisables grâce aux 9 millions de Francs CFA (=13 720 euros) collectés à cet effet. Serge Betsen, Odile Prévot et Sébastien Lovy ont eu alors la joie d’annoncer la nouvelle aux parents lors de leur voyage. Un des objectifs de la SBA est, vous le savez, de faciliter l’accès à l’éducation des enfants, ceux de nos centres et leurs camarades de classe.

En février 2019, Atelewa, une entreprise de construction basée à Bangangté, a débuté les travaux afin de permettre à l’école d’accueillir de nouveaux enfants dans de meilleures conditions dès septembre 2019.

Netah travaux en cours en février 2019

C’est une source de satisfaction énorme pour la SBA de voir ces enfants étudier dans de bonnes conditions. Djibril, le responsable du centre Eau Claire de Bangangté passe d’ailleurs de temps en temps dans l’école afin de discuter avec la directrice et les enfants. Lors d’une de ses visites, il en a d’ailleurs profité pour animer une séance de rugby. C’est toujours émouvant de voir de si petits enfants s’essayer au rugby ! Certains enfants ont même vu un ballon ovale pour la première fois !

Nous souhaitons une bonne scolarité à ces enfants et un bel avenir. Nous remercions infiniment la Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation ainsi que nos donateurs pour leur générosité permettant à ces enfants de grandir et rêver à un avenir professionnel prometteur.

Cameroon: Happy back to school 2019-2020!

We wish a wonderful happy first day of school to all the students in Cameroon and especially to the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) children.

 At the SBA, education is our priority. We are proud of offering school tutoring in our centres and of having participated in the renovation of various schools in the country. A big thank you to our partners, the Arno Group and the ATF Group, for helping us buy school supplies for the children from our centers.