Tag Archive for: Cameroun

2024: An Olympic and festive year for the Serge Betsen Academy!

The Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) will celebrate its 20th anniversary in March 2024 and on this occasion we will be organising various events to celebrate our actions and to introduce our plans for the future. 20 years old is a golden age when one has lots of energy, and it’s perfect because we have many plans.

 

Over 20 years, the Serge Betsen Academy has supported more than 9,000 disadvantaged children both in Cameroon and Mali, using rugby as a vector of social integration. The mission of the association created by Serge Betsen, former international rugby player, is to give them access to after-school academic support sessions, medical care, meals and rugby training. It is thanks to the generosity of our partners and donors that the SBA has been able to create six centres over the last 20 years and that it has had such a positive impact on the lives of its young people through its various programs.

 

Serge Betsen and the entire association would like to invite you to discover our events (see below) and to contact us would you wish to participate in them and to turn these events into unforgettable moments, in support of our children!

 

Match Biarritz Olympique V Rouen Normandie Rugby

Date & Venue: Friday February 16, 7:30 p.m., Parc des Sports Aguilera, Biarritz

Match dedicated to the Serge Betsen Academy association

Kick-off by Serge Betsen

 

Dinner for the 20th anniversary of the Serge Betsen Academy in Lyon

Date & Venue: Friday March 15, 7 p.m., Grand Refectory of the Grand Hôtel Dieu in Lyon

A dinner with 200 guests among sports legends, in a beautiful venue, on the eve of the France-England game of the Six Nations. Cocktail, seated dinner, auctions and musical entertainment will be on the menu!

Details here.

 

 

Rugby & Art: evening of emotions near Lille

Date & Venue: Thursday March 21, 6 p.m. in Marcq-en-Barœul France (59)

An extraordinary evening organised by Thetechicy, combining artistic expression through contemporary art and the passion for rugby, with the Serge Betsen Academy. On this occasion an auction will be organised, selling 40 works of art. Part of the sales will be donated to the association. This event will be dedicated to art lovers, sports enthusiasts and charitable spirits!

Details here.

 

 

Gala match: Football – Variétés Club de France vs Serge Betsen’s team

Date & Venue: Saturday March 23, 2024, 2 p.m., Stade Nelson Paillou – 2 Rue Jean Walter, 92110 Clichy

Program: Football match between the Variétés Club de France and Serge Betsen’s team, made up of sports legends, physiotherapists and masseurs (OKM) and football players from the Clichy club (USAC). To be followed by a cocktail-party at 4 p.m.

For the benefit of the Serge Betsen Academy

 

Gourmet dinner in a secret place in London to support the Serge Betsen Academy and to celebrate Paris 2024

Date & Venue: Thursday March 28 at 6 p.m., London

This will be a spectacular evening, during which a sumptuous 3-course dinner will be served to you in a legendary building in London, where musical entertainment will enhance your evening, where special guests will make it unforgettable and where various fundraising activities will take place for the benefit of our association.

Please email mailys@sergebetsenacademy.org for further details

 

Women’s and men’s rugby and basketball tournament, Yaoundé & Douala, Cameroon

Date & Venue: 10-13 April (TBC), Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon

A tournament to enable young people to compete against each other while playing rugby. This event organised at the initiative of the French Embassy in Cameroon will bring together different charities, including the Serge Betsen Academy and will be an opportunity to talk about important themes related to sports, health and gender equality. There will also be an initiation to rugby and basketball.

 

Dinner to celebrate the 20th anniversary of SBA Cameroon, in Yaoundé

Date & Venue: Thursday May 30, 6 p.m., Boun’s Hotel, Yaoundé, Cameroon

We will gather with the SBA team members and our faithful partners to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the charity and raise funds for our future projects. A delicious buffet will be served and there will be various entertainments.

 

We look forward to welcoming you soon to celebrate our 20th anniversary! 

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Event: Rugby on the Roof at the Boun’s in Yaoundé for the opening match of the World Cup!

The Boun’s Hotel in Yaoundé invites you to come to its rooftop and watch France – New Zealand, the opening match of the World Cup.

An introduction-video to the match will be produced by Serge Betsen for the guests and projected on the big screen on the rooftop. So, even if at that precise time, Serge Betsen will be at the Stade de France cheering on “Les Bleus”, he will also, thanks to this video, be with all the guests in Yaoundé, sharing the moment.

H.E. Thierry Marchand, Ambassador of France to Cameroon, together with his team, will honour us with his presence. Representatives of the Serge Betsen Academy Cameroon will also be present on the rooftop introducing the association and hosting a raffle; the profits will be donated to the association. The Boun’s will also provide, at low prices for the guests, a barbecue and drinks.

So come along to the Boun’s, we’ll see you around 6 p.m. (Cameroon time) on the rooftop. We’ll enjoy the activities put on by the Hotel and our association, and of course we’ll support “Les Bleus” from 8 p.m.

Raffle tickets will be on sale from 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to the rooftop. See Douglas, coordinator of the Serge Betsen Academy to buy your tickets. The prize to be won: a Biarritz Olympique jersey signed by Serge Betsen himself!

We will draw the winner and hold the prize-giving ceremony at half-time. The signed shirt will be handed over by the Ambassador of France in Cameroon to the winner.

Here is the address of Boun’s Hotel: Downtown _Rue De Narvick- Carrefour S. H.O adjacent the Bricolux store, Yaoundé, Cameroon

A big thank you to Benjamin Pion and Betty from the Boun’s Hôtel in Yaoundé for their welcome, and also to the French Embassy in Cameroon, our wonderful representatives, Philippe Poulleau and Philippe Huart, the UFE, Yaoundé Ovalie, PLAYCE Yaoundé and Beverages from Cameroon for their support.

During the evening, we will tell you more about the Corporate Rugby Tournament that we will organise in Yaoundé on Saturday 14 October, in the morning. You will have the opportunity to register in advance for this.

 

 

Translation by Katy Birge-Wilson.

SBA project: Creation of a poultry farm for the SBA COOP!

The Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) decided to create a poultry farm at the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté, in line with the SBA Coop, our agricultural cooperative of 20 mothers from the centre. This 195m2 farm (with 25m2 of storage) will accommodate around 2000 chickens.

By financing the creation of a henhouse on the land adjoining the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté, you will allow mothers from the centre to be trained in the raising of chickens and to work there. The chickens raised for their meat will be sold at low prices to the SBA for the meals of the children of the centre, or sold directly to the outside world by the mothers of the SBA Elevage cooperative. As for the droppings, they will be given to mothers of the SBA Coop to be used as fertilizer.

As a result, with the sale of these chickens, the mothers will earn an additional salary and will be able to access a certain financial autonomy. This will allow them to spend on any required necessities for the well-being of their children.

The mothers will be trained in chicken farming by the centre manager, Djibril Ngassam. This training and the operating costs will be covered by the French Development Agency (AFD) which supports our project as part of the Academies Program.

We are counting on your support to help the Bangangté centre mothers to gain autonomy.

 

Translation by Katy Birgé-Wilson

Cameroon: A visit that our children will never forget, that of Serge Betsen!

The children of the Serge Betsen Academy were overjoyed to welcome Serge Betsen and Sylvie Ledard, our Project Manager, to Cameroon in June 2022. Serge and Sylvie stayed on site for about ten days in order to go round the various centres, spending time with the children and the volunteers, distributing numerous donations, discussing in depth with the managers about the current projects and going to meet our partners to thank them and also to make new contacts. A moving reunion and beautiful moments shared!

 

Visit of the centre of Bafia

Christophe, our volunteer, was also on the trip to take pictures and lend a hand, together with Romain Magellan, a former rugby player with an incomparable sense of humour, who assisted the coaches on the playing ground and entertained our children during various rugby training. We thank them both from the bottom of our hearts!
A few days after his return, Serge wrote: “A stay at and with the Serge Betsen Academy is always unforgettable! Thank you to all the children of SBA Cameroon for your warm welcome, to the volunteers of the many sites for your dedication, to the firms that welcomed us, to the donors and partners for following us.” Many projects were worked on during Serge’s stay; you can visit our social networks to follow in detail the progress of: the “SBA Pads project” (production and distribution of washable sanitary towels), the “Victor” bags which will be distributed before the start of the school year, the “Rugby4Kids” project, the SBA Coop, the implementation of intensive computer courses, etc.

Rugby session at the Eau Claire centre

All the children of SBA Cameroon and the coaches on site would like to thank Romain Magellan, Sylvie Ledard, Christophe and Serge Betsen for the extraordinary moments spent together in recent weeks. The equipment provided by our donors is very valuable to us to continue our activities: computers, rugby equipment, sportswear, toys, etc. Many thanks to our donors and partners for their generosity, as well as to the people that we were able to meet, such as Eric Niat, the mayor of Bangangté.

Eric Niat, Mayor of Bangangté and Serge Betsen wearing a T-Shirt of the Serge Betsen X IZBAC collection, in front of the City Hall

Some of the children met “Tonton Serge” for the very first time and will be marked for life by this long-awaited encounter. As for Sylvie, it was with great emotion that she met the children and the volunteers with whom she has spent long periods of time on the phone since taking up her post as Project Manager in February 2022.

 

What happiness in this month of June at the SBA!

Translation: Katy Birgé-Wilson

Cameroon: A pleasant meeting between Ms. Marthe Félicité Zintchem, Mayor of the municipality of #Bafia and our Secretary General, Odile Prévot

On 5 July, Mrs. Marthe Félicité Zintchem, Mayor of the municipality of Bafia had a meeting with our CEO, Odile Prévot, in her offices. Both are committed to supporting young people. Thank you, Madam Mayor, for having met up with Odile Prevot and for having been attentive to the actions of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA).

“First lady Mayor of Bafia, lawyer and woman of action, the children of the SBA centre in Bafia will be delighted with your visit!”

We would like to thank the Bafia Town Hall team for having published the following text following Odile’s visit:

 

“A distinguished guest with the Mayor.

The Mayor of the municipality of #Bafia, Marthe Félicité Zintchem in Bodio, has just had a one to one meeting with the CEO of the Serge Betsen Academy association, who paid her a courtesy visit. In this context, Mrs. Odile Prévot explained to her lawyer colleague the purpose of her visit to the town hall today. In fact, Mrs. Odile Prévot came to present to her learned colleague the Abraham and Sarah Centre of the Serge Betsen Academy, located next to the “Lycée Classique et Moderne de Bafia”. This centre was created in 2004 and takes care of young people aged from 11 to 20 years old. This year, more young girls than boys are to benefit from the centre, placed under the local supervision of Mister Jean Cyrille Monthe. The centre provides academic support, medical aid through the infirmary which the students attend on Saturdays and sporting support through several sporting activities including rugby, a discipline in which the promoter, Serge Betsen, played at the highest level until becoming world champion. The centre currently has 65 children and 150 are knocking on its doors. Mrs. Odile Prévot plans to implement the project of producing washable sanitary napkins for the benefit of the young girls of this centre, most of whom are destitute, on condition that this project produces results in Bangante where it is currently under experiment. If this project gets off to a good start, the idea is that 75% of the profits go to the girls for their wheat 75%, and 25% go to the centre for its operating costs.

The Mayor expressed her full approval of this project which contributes to the development of local youth while giving a real chance to the children of the underprivileged. This project captures her attention even more so, as above all it integrates the young people who are the fundamental axis of Marthe Félicité Zintchem’s actions in Bodio, in her capacity as first magistrate of the city of #Bafia. She will then have the opportunity to visit, with eagerness, the buildings of this centre. And it was on a note of mutual appreciation that the two robed women parted ways, not without wishing each other resounding success in the conduct of their respective duties. ”

 

Translation: Katy Birge-Wilson

Cameroon: It’s back to school for the 2020-2021 school year!

Due to the health crisis, the school calendar has been severely disrupted in Cameroon. So it was only on Monday 05 October 2020 that our children and their classmates were able to return to school. We wish them a good start to the school year and are determined to give them all the support they need to make this new year a success.

Thanks to the generosity of our partners and donors, our children were able to return to school well equipped. Distributions were carried out with joy in all the centres at the start of the school year. Often, on these occasions, small parties around a snack were organised. At the Eau Claire centre of Bangangté 125 children were happy to receive their treasures and to share a good meal together. At the Zoétélé centre, a ceremony was even organised by Abaa in the presence of the second degree village chief and a few parents, in order to distribute the school supplies and to provide scholarships to support education.

Distribution at the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté Distribution at the Eau Claire centre in Bangangté

ceremony distribution in Zoetele ceremony distribution in Zoetele

Distribution school supply and school bags in Bafia  Distribution school supply and school bags in Bafia

Distribution at the Jardin Eden centre Distribution at the Jardin Eden centre Distribution at the Jardin Eden centre

All the children at the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA), whether young or old, now proudly carry a well-stocked backpack.  These pretty “Victor bags” named after our donor Victor Obadia were made by Clarisse, a seamstress from Yaoundé, close to the SBA.

Victor school bags

It is notably thanks to the BIC group, to Mr. Arnopoulos of the ARNO group, to Icrafon following the efforts of Victor Roussel, Secretary of DROP (Doualla Rugby Old Papy’s) and to the other generous donors of the Ulule campaign created by a team of students at IPAG Business School, that our children have the necessary school supplies for the school year and that our centres are equipped with books and supplies.

Icrafon Victor Icrafon Victor

The BIC group gave us 1200 pens of each colour (blue, green, red and black) as well as a few boxes of pencils and felt pens which were distributed to our various centres. And to complete this collection, we were able to purchase other supplies useful to the centres thanks to the voucher of 120,000 FCFA (= 183 euros) that Mr Arnopoulos donated, as he did the previous year.

BIC donation BIC donation

For our rugby training, we were able to renew our stock of equipment thanks to the generosity of our donors in France and in particular to Hubert and Christophe. Hubert sent boxes containing 41 jerseys and 24 shorts for our rugby players as well as children’s clothing and toys.

Rugby equipment from Hubert Rugby equipment from Hubert

As for Christophe, he took care of transporting other boxes of rugby equipment to Yaoundé.  These were packages filled with sports’ vests, rugby polo shirts but also books that Christophe left in Etoudi. He arrived during a rugby training session so that our players and Moise had the joy of meeting him and thanking him in person.

Christophe and the rugbbymen of Etoudi Christophe and the rugbbymen of Etoudi

As for our infirmaries, we also stocked up on Laborex medicines and paramedical products offered by the DROP. In September, Victor, DROP’s Secretary came to train with our Bangangté rugby team. On this occasion, he handed over the school supplies offered by Icrafon as well as the Laborex medicines offered directly by DROP. Victor went to great lengths to enable us to receive these donations and we thank him very much.

Donation of medicines from the DROP

A huge thank you to all the donors for allowing our children to return to school well equipped!

 

Translation : Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Partnership: Our Rugby project for Kids has received a “Sport & Development” grant!

It is with great pride and joy that we can announce that our project “Rugby for Kids (girls and boys)” is one of the winners of, and as such has been awarded funding by, Sport & Développement (Sport & Development), a programme of the ONG La Guilde (The European Guild), supported by AFD – Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency).

At the Jardin Eden centre, the end of 2019 saw the budding start of an initiation to rugby carried out by Moise our coach at Etoudi and this try was successfully converted. This programme will be able to take on a new dimension thanks to this “Sport & Development” grant of 20,000 € ($ 22,680). 50 kids will indeed be able to discover rugby, respect, team spirit, healthy competition, avoid the “girls-boys” stereotypes and benefit from a structured education and medical care. We are so happy for these children and their families who, thanks to this programme, will have an easier daily life and a better future.

This programme will be set up in the Jardin Eden centre of Yaoundé and the centre of Zoétélé starting from August 2020. It will benefit 26 girls and 24 boys, aged from 2 to 13, from deprived families. They have hoped to play rugby for so many years, watching their big brothers and sisters of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) and their dream will come true sooner than expected!

The  kids will play rugby once a week, in a way designed as a safe awakening activity and will discover the fundamentals of this sport and its values. They will benefit very early on from a structured education on the rugby field but also on the benches of our centres during after school tutoring classes. They will be able to participate in these classes every afternoon from Monday to Friday at the Jardin Eden centre and on Saturdays and Sundays at the Zoétélé centre, throughout the whole year.

They will also have access to basic health care. They will go through an initial medical check-up, organised in August 2020, and then will carry on having medical monitoring throughout the project. In addition, on training days the children will enjoy a snack and will be taught hygiene rules.

We would warmly like to thank the ONG La Guilde (The European Guild) and AFD – Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) for their support and their trust, as well as Michèle Quenardel, our volunteer for all the help given to our team in responding to the call for projects.

We can’t wait to get the little ones from the SBA playing! Do not forget to follow the set-up of the #Rugby4Kids project on our social networks, because this project will make happy players and maybe we’ll see the emergence of mini Serge Betsens!

Translation by Katy Birgé-Wilson

 

Tag Archive for: Cameroun