Cameroon: Children protected against malaria and parasites!

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This school year, the children of our centres, together with their leaders, have once again benefited from the implementation of anti-malaria and anti-parasite campaigns. Their health being our priority, all the children are also monitored by our nurses and cared for when necessary. Their family members are also welcome in our infirmaries.

Josué, the nurse at the Jardin Eden centre, ordered anti-malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and anti-malarial drugs from a laboratory and the boxes were then distributed to the various centres. Each nurse then saw to the implementation of distribution operations during the year in order to best protect our children.

Above, the grateful and happy children of the Jardin Eden centre

At the Jardin Eden centre, Josué, for example, with the tests carried out four anti-malaria screening campaigns during the year. The third malaria screening campaign was carried out at the beginning of May 5, 2022, and all the children present tested negative. Proof that once again the initiative is beneficial and that the anti-malarial treatment is effective.

As for the anti-parasite drugs, they were distributed in all our centres in more than one wave according to the diagnosis established by our nurses. Intestinal parasites are very common in Cameroon and they make our children suffer.

Above, the distribution of anti-parasite drugs

We would like to thank our donors and partners, in particular Ets Pellapore from Bormes-les-Mimosas (France) and our donor Jasmine Ritchie from Washington DC (USA) for their generous donations, as well as La Guilde for their donation Sport & Développement (a la Guilde program supported by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) (AFD)) specially dedicated to the well-being of the children of the centres of Jardin Eden and of Zoétélé. A big thank you for allowing us to care for our children!

To fight against malaria, our moms from the SBA Coop, our agricultural cooperative, have also started producing Artemisia, in addition to corn and beans. In 2020, we approached the Maison de l’Artemisia in Yaoundé in order to understand all the benefits of this plant and to learn about the production of herbal teas. Seven plants were given to Djibril, head of the Eau Claire centre; sadly we lost two. From the remaining 5 plants, Djibril collected 350 grams of seeds so the mothers of the SBA Coop can produce in large quantities. 100 grams were donated to the Zoétélé and Jardin Eden centres to plant in the vegetable gardens. We now have around 30 plants; this year, the SBA Coop mothers’ plant-nursery is on a trial period. Moms and their families will use the herbal teas to help fight malaria. Some will be donated to the centre to make herbal tea for the children, in addition to the anti-malarial drugs. During the second campaign, the mothers of the SBA coop will be able to start marketing part of their production.

Thanks to the donation of Sport & Development, a new order for health cards was placed, to allow individual monitoring of the children.  For the creation of the Jardin Eden and Zoétélé health cards, Josué asked for the support of a graphic designer and a printer.

   

The famous health cards/booklets of Jardin Eden and in third position those of Zoétélé

As for the stocks of medicines in each infirmary, they are regularly renewed thanks to a quarterly budget made available to the nurses. For the first quarter, Josué, the nurse from Jardin Eden and Etoudi, for example, bought anti-flu drugs, considering the period of drought and the cold, dry wind that was blowing in the city of Yaoundé. An emergency fund is also included in our budgets to react quickly to any health concerns of young people and our team on site. It has come in handy more than once this year.

Above, two patients seen to by Mr. Jacques, the nurse at the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté

In order to improve the health of our children, they are monitored regularly and care is provided when they become ill. Nutrition being also an integral part of our health component, meals are offered regularly in all centres. This school year, about 1000 meals are distributed per month in Cameroon.

Above, 2 of the weekly afternoon snacks at Jardin Eden

Before each meal, our children are asked to wash their hands. Our nurses, who are asked to raise awareness of personal hygiene especially during a pandemic regularly remind the children of the basic rules of hygiene.

 

Above, the hand-washing operation at the Zoétélé centre.

 

Translation : Katy Birge-Wilson

 

Partnership: Bistrot Régent is now supporting our charity

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Many thanks to Bistro Régent for this new partnership with the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA).

You might already know Bistro Régent: it is a chain of franchised restaurants present throughout France. Thanks to Bistro Regent, the SBA will benefit from micro-donations from their customers. They will be able to round their bill to the higher euro when paying on Electronic Payment Terminal (EPT) and thus support our nutrition program. Indeed, with 1 euro (£0,84), the SBA can prepare 3 meals for our children.

This solidarity rounding-up operation has been set up at the restaurant Bistro Régent of Castres (81) for now.

We would like to thank Bistro Régent for their support as well as all their gourmet and supportive customers!

Event: Auction Sale in Clichy in support of the Serge Betsen Academy!

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Our President, Serge Betsen has kept very strong ties with the city of Clichy-la-Garenne, where it all started for him. Serge Betsen made his rugby debut at CS CLICHY and when he returns there it is always with a lot of emotion.

During the last day of the POP TRANSVERSALE exhibition, on June 29, the town hall of Clichy organised an auction in partnership with the auction house LILADAM ENCHERES. Six physical artworks by YSY were put on sale along with their NTF (a one-of-a-kind and impossible to duplicate digital token) which you can discover below.

 

YSY, whose real name is Youssef SY, is a talented artist passionate about the iconic characters of 90’s pop culture. A few days before the sale, Serge Betsen had the chance to meet the artist and visit his exhibition. Our President was also warmly welcomed by Mr. Stéphane Cochepain, first deputy mayor of Clichy, Caroline Mercier, deputy mayor in charge of community life, children’s rights and child protection, Luc Mercier, Deputy Mayor for Culture, International Relations and Tourism, and their teams.

The town hall of Clichy had suggested, and the artist agreed, that part of the profits from the sale would be donated to the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA). On the evening of the auction, following the sale of three artworks: Petit Prince, Goldorak and Gaulois together with their NTF, the very nice sum of 6,275€ was donated to our association.As for the other artworks: Robot, Rouquin and Alien (see above) as well as their NTF, they are still for sale. If you are interested please contact the YSY representative, Vincent Astolfi (vincastolfi@gmail.com) before July 22. A portion of the profits from these sales will also be donated to our association.

The entire SBA would like to thank YSY, Mr. Rémi Muzeau, Mr. Stéphane Cochepain, Mrs. Caroline Mercier, Mr. Luc Mercier, and the entire team of the town hall of Clichy and of course, the buyers for their support toward the SBA. We congratulate YSY and the town hall of Clichy as well as the Pavillon Vendôme and the auction house of LILADAM ENCHERES for this beautiful exhibition.

Translation: Katy Birgé-Wilson

Bangui: A great second mission to the Central African Republic!

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Having barely returned to Cameroon, Idriss Tcheumkeu Ketcha left on June 1 for his second mission to the Central African Republic as part of the TRAUMA Project. This project, funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Centre is carried out by the Institut Francophone pour la Justice et la Démocratie – Institut Louis Joinet (IFJD) (Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Louis Joinet Institute) and implemented by the Serge Betsen Academy in partnership with Ovale Citoyen and the Central African Rugby Federation. The main objective of the second mission was to assess the progress and achievements one month after the first mission.

 

  
Photos © IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet 2022

 

The coaches visited as many schools as possible to assess the impact of the sessions on the rugby and social development of the young people. Indeed, the latter took advantage of the presence of international coaches to work and deepen essential notions to become great rugby players or coaches: kicking: very tactical aspect in high-level rugby, scrums: true test of strength characteristic of rugby and its collective values ​​and the rucks: essential phase of the games to ensure the continuity of the game.Idriss and the whole team were able to assess the national coaches by attending the training sessions managed by them in the different schools of Bangui:

  • Fatima School, 3 sessions
  • Boganda High School, 1 session
  • Caron high school, 3 sessions
  • School for the deaf and dumb, 2 sessions
  • Boy Rabe 2 school, 1 session
  • The Bimbo school, 1 session.

At the end of this trip, Idriss noticed a real improvement in the coaches and also how much they had gained in confidence since his last mission. According to him: they do a very good job! However, the coaches can still improve on certain areas, such as their ability to “adapt well to sessions according to the circumstances, the category, the expectation, the objectives and the purpose of their initiations”, hence the interest of this accompaniment.

This second mission was also an opportunity to talk about the famous Bangui inter-school final tournament that all the children are looking forward to.

Thank you to the IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet for this collaboration and long live rugby in Bangui.

 

 

Article written in French by Nathan Barbier

Translation: Birgé-Wilson

Bangui: A first mission in the Central African Republic as part of the “TRAUMA Project” of the Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Louis Joinet : Success!

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It was March 30, it was 11:30 a.m. in Douala when two coaches from the Serge Betsen Academy flew off to Bangui in the Central African Republic. Idriss Tcheumkeu Ketcha and Jacques Matsatsop Toresse (photo below), pure products of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) training, were going to share their expertise and their passion for rugby with young people and local coaches as part of the TRAUMA project of the Institut Francophone pour la Justice et la Démocratie (IFJD) – Institut Louis Joinet.

The main objective of the TRAUMA Project, which is sponsored by the Centre de crise et de soutien du ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères français (the Crisis and Support Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, is to understand and take into account post-conflict trauma in the Central African Republic among children and teenagers. You can find more information about the project in general here. It was the IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet Association that called upon the rugby expertise of the SBA in Africa to set up its project in Bangui in collaboration with Ovale Citoyen and the Central African Rugby Federation. The training must allow Central African coaches to have the ethical and sporting principles of rugby, as well as a clear methodology for the sessions. All this with a view to establishing rugby and its values ​​in the long term in Bangui.

The adventure of our two coaches in Bangui therefore began with the training of national coaches who were able to discover the working methods of the SBA. Our two coaches having quickly achieved unanimity as to their ease in handling the field sessions, they mainly took care of the practical training.

 

Les deux coachs de la SBA, Idriss (à gauche) et Jacques (à droite)

 

Once the national coaches were trained, the latter, still accompanied by Idriss, Jacques as well as Marine and Lucas from Ovale Citoyen, threw themselves into the deep end with the children. 5 schools for 6 training sessions benefited from the initiation to rugby.

The first training took place on April 11 at the Boganda School. Our coaches started strong with more than a hundred young people to manage in the courtyard of the establishment. Victim of its success, the rugby program had to adapt by splitting the young people according to the following set-up: 4 groups of around forty children supervised by two coaches each, an international coach with a national coach always with a view of transmission. Due to the high numbers, on the day, the children couldn’t all be introduced to rugby… But it’s only a postponement for all the observers of the day, our coaches will be back!

The SBA also had the opportunity to train in the Fatima public school, the Caron high school or even at the Ngaraba school. Not to mention the school for the deaf and dumb in which they had to adapt their session to the players. Our coaches were very impressed with their seriousness and motivation.

In order to understand the work carried out by our coaches, here is an example of a session prepared by them for the school for the deaf and dumb:

  • Workshop 1: Warming up phase

4 exercises for the warm-up, which are the following:

  1. Holding the ball at shoulder height
  2. Moving the ball around the hips
  3. Ball between the legs
  4. Throwing the ball and catching it

5 minutes were allocated to each of these exercises. Then, the coaches supervised the static stretching; this was followed by getting the children well rehydrated.

  • Workshop 2: Working the ball

Objective: hold the ball with 2 hands at shoulder height without dropping it over the entire duration of a course. Once this course is finished, the player must pass the ball to the next player who will complete the course in turn (in the form of a relay) Variables: modify the route of the course.

  • Workshop 3: Challenge

A maximum of passages on the previous workshop in 1 minute!

2:30 p.m., Wednesday April 27, Idriss and Jacques returned to Cameroon, leaving their know-how behind. Their next trip will be at the end of May for a new mission with the primary objective: to take stock of the achievements of national coaches over the period of one month since the departure of the SBA.

Finally, to add to the beautiful story, Jacques, at the end of his mission in Bangui, was able to buy a computer for himself and “enter the computer world”!

 

Jacques avec son ordinateur portable

Here are also some photos ©IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet 2022 taken during the first mission:

  

  

Report written by Nathan Barbier

 

Translation: Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

“An evening with Serge Betsen & Friends”: A successful charitable event thanks to the participants!

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Our event “An evening with Serge Betsen & Friends” was a major success on all accounts. Serge Betsen and all our team want to thank everyone who contributed to this successful charitable event on 19th May 2022 and say a massive thank you to TFA Ltd and Arun Sharma for organizing the evening!

It was a pleasure to spend the evening with 50 generous and enthusiastic, share a delicious dinner at M Restaurant Victoria in a great atmosphere thanks to Simon Shaw. The rugby legends were in top shape, the quiz by TFA Ltd was great fun and the auctions by Go Fundraising were fab. And of course, the discussions about rugby were passionate. Congrats to the Hadley Herberts team for being the 2022 SBA Quiz Champions!

We are pleased to let you know that the benefits of the event are a bit more than £14,000. This sum will be used to carry out our mission in Cameroon and Mali and will make sure a positive impact on the lives of our children.

We are so grateful to our sponsors and partners for making this event possible. Thank you to:

– our sponsors: Audio Network, Event headline sponsor and STH Group UK, Quiz round sponsor
– the organiser of the evening, TFA Ltd and Arun Sharma for offering his time and skills
– our legends, Aled Brew, Bryan Redpath, Kevin Maggs and of course Serge Betsen for hosting the quiz
– LePetitJournal.com Londres and French Morning London for helping us with promotion.
– Ed Telling for being our photographer.

Please find here the photos of the event by TELLING PHOTOGRAPHY.

See you next year for another edition!

 

  

Bangui: Signing of the agreement between the Francophone Institute for Justice and Democracy – Institut Louis Joinet and the Serge Betsen Academy

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It was an honour for our President Serge Betsen to be greeted by Laurence Fischer, Ambassador for Sport at the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEFA) on Friday 20 May 2022 to sign the agreement between the “Institut Francophone pour la Justice et la Démocratie (IFJD) – Institut Louis Joinet” and the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA).

 

At the SBA, we are proud to participate in the “TRAUMA Project” funded by the “Centre de crise et de soutien du ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires étrangères français” and therefore enable young people who have experienced conflicts in their lives to be introduced to touch-rugby in the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2022. It is a pleasure to collaborate with the IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet, Ovale Citoyen and the Central African Rugby Federation.

 

Photo ©IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet 2022

 

Here is a presentation of the TRAUMA Project by the IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet:

“The main objective is to understand and take into account, among children and teenagers, post-conflict trauma in the Central African Republic. In CAR, the notions of “trauma” and “resilience” are frequently used, while the need for clinical psychologists is frequently highlighted. Considering that the young people are the future of the Central African Republic, particular attention must be paid to children and teenagers who grow up, from an early age, in a violent and conflictual atmosphere. This is why the Trauma project is dedicated to them!

  • Understand and assess

Understand the specificities of the traumas generated by the crises in the Central African Republic and assess their impact on children and teenagers.

  • Promote appropriate care

Contribute to ensuring that professionals from the mechanisms of the penal chain on the one hand and of non-judicial mechanisms of Transitional Justice on the other hand support children and teenagers by limiting the risks of re-traumatisation.

  • Improve resilience

Contribute to children and teenagers reclaiming a framework and a living-together.”

As part of the TRAUMA Project, three undertakings around the practice of touch-rugby are planned for 2022. The Serge Betsen Academy will supervise 10 groups of 20 children, i.e. 200 children in three different levels groups: 6-8 years old, 9-11 years old and 12-14 years old. Ovale Citoyen will supervise 15 groups of 20 teenagers, i.e. 300 teenagers, also in three groups. 500 children and teenagers will thus benefit from the rugby activity.

To learn more about the TRAUMA project, please read this brochure.

A huge thank you to the IFJD – Institut Louis Joinet for the trust you place in us in carrying out this mission.

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

Donation : Thank you to the Grange Primary School in Ealing for your support!

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A big thank you to the Year 5 team and parents of students of the Grange Primary School in Ealing for donating £802,85 to our charity.

We also want to thank the Year 5 students of the school for being involved in this fundraiser. It is so nice to see UK students being actively working on this fundraising project devoted to underprivileged children in Cameroon and Mali. Your efforts enable us to give our children a better access to education, health and rugby.

This collection was made possible thanks to Jane Morato, our SBA ambassador and her Year 5 colleagues. We would like to thank them very much for their ongoing support to our charity.

Jane plans to spread the words about our actions within different schools in London. Raising awareness about the difficulties that our children are facing on a daily basis is crucial to make things change.

 

Grange Primary School

Grange Primary School

Event: An evening with Serge Betsen & Friends, Dinner, live quiz and legends Q&A, 19 May 2022, M Victoria Street London

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We are very pleased to let you know that we have set a new date and a new location for our event.
Our “Evening with Serge Betsen & Friends – Dinner, live quiz and legends Q&A” organized by TFA Ltd will take place on Thursday 19th May at 6:00pm at M Victoria Street, 74 Victoria St, London, SW1E 6SQ, UK. This event will be sponsored by Audio Network, as Event headline sponsor, along with STH (Sports Travel & Hospitality Group), as Quiz round sponsor.

 

The rugby legends will discuss, dispute and digest what’s been happening on the pitch, and we hope you will be able to join us. It should be a fantastic evening which includes a delicious 3-course meal, opportunity to mix and quiz our Rugby Legends and the chance to win the title of SBA Quiz Champions.

 

Please join us from 6pm. Upon arrival please advise the concierge you are attending the Serge Betsen Academy event and they will show you the cloakroom and the Grill room, where the event is taking place. You will be able to have drinks and pay for them at the bar. The dress code is smart casual.

 

Please register your team and book your dinner (£99), table (£500) or online quiz spot (£10) here! You can pay for your tickets via our donation page here.  We would really appreciate if you would be able to do this prior to the event. There will be an auction organized by Go Fundraising so get ready to bid! All proceeds will go to our charity.

 

Also, please note that the menu will be the following. If you can let us know in advance your preferences by email (mailys@sergebetsenacademy.org et sba-quiz@tfaltd.co.uk), by Friday 13 May 5pm, it would be great.

 

– STARTERS
1) FRIED CHICKEN BAO Fermented Chilli Glaze | Kaffir Lime
or, 2) BURRATA & RADISHES Black Curry | Honey | Walnuts (V)
– MAINS
1) BRITISH ASHDALE FARM Sirloin 300G | Black Garlic | Chips | Sauce
or, 2) CACIO E PEPE Pecorino | Butter | Pepper (V)
– DESSERT
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE Raspberry Gel | Honeycomb | Snickers Ice Cream

 

For those who cannot join us, it will be possible to take the quiz online, however, you won’t be able to join the evening from your screen.

 

We can’t wait to spend the evening with you and your friends. Please spread the word!

 

News: Serge Betsen deeply thank Maman Odile for these last 10 years!

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A word from our President, Serge Betsen about the involvement of Odile Prevot these past 10 years :

 

“The children of the SBA, all marked for life by MAMAN ODILE, join me and the whole team in thanking her from the bottom of their hearts!

I would like to thank Odile Prévot for the work accomplished as a member of the board and CEO of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA), over the past 10 years.

Ever since her arrival back in 2012, the actions of Odile – now MAMAN ODILE for all our children – have been absolutely essential to the development of our association.

I commend her volume of work, her ambition, her pugnacity, her rigour, her commitment, her sense of organisation, her meticulous and efficient follow-up of files and her ability to find solutions, at all costs, so that our children benefit from the best possible support.

Odile has given a lot to the SBA, and we will miss her energy as well as her traditional and long trips to Cameroon since 2012 and to Mali since 2020.

MAMAN ODILE has of course greatly contributed to the implementation of the education-health-rugby triptych in all of our centres. She has also led innovative projects based on the fight for women’s empowerment and gender equality, such as the SBA Coop (our agricultural cooperative created in 2016, which now brings together 20 mothers from the centre of Bangangté who grow beans, corn and recently Artemisia to fight against malaria) and the SBA Pads project (production and distribution of washable sanitary towels contributing to the well-being of girls and the fight against school drop-out). She was also at the initiative of the opening of the SBA in the USA and in Mali, and enabled the centre of Mali to pay particular attention to girls. It is also thanks to her hard work that we have been able to collaborate with various partners and institutions, in particular the French Development Agency, thus enabling us to consolidate our projects and give them greater scope.

I will keep excellent memories of this collaboration with MAMAN ODILE.

On behalf of the children and of all our volunteers and partners, and myself, I wish you, Odile, a great continuation in your future projects. You will remain in the hearts of the children of the SBA, who are also your children.

“Milesker Anitz” (thank you very much, in Basque language)”

Serge Betsen

 

 

A translation by Katy Birge-Wilson