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Arrival in Sedhiou

The journey to my second home was truly an odyssey this time. Delayed in Zurich, I was already stranded in Lisbon and thus also missed the domestic flight to the south. The usual one-day trip turned into a four-day journey until I finally arrived home in Sedhiou. But already on the first day, exhaustion had given way to a thirst for action. Together with my project partner Elhadji Dieme, I visited the intended building site. The existing kindergarten currently has two classrooms, a building for the third grade, which is common here, is missing, as well as toilets. We discussed the most important points of preparation, especially the establishment of a building commission, which will support us in various works. This cooperation is very important for us. For the realization of our projects the interest and commitment of the population to the building project is very important.

A special joy for me is of course the reunion with the children. I really missed the beaming faces when I enter the kindergartens, the childrens enthusiasm during the common activities and games.

Last year we introduced a play program in different kindergartens, so that the children can enjoy a versatile development at different playgrounds, I have experienced a special commitment in the kindergarten of the "Ecole 5" in Sedhiou. The director Doukuré showed great interest right away and was able to motivate the other teachers as well. During spontaneous visits by Elhadji Dieme in the new school year 22/23, he was also able to observe that Doukuré and his colleagues now independently include the various games in their lessons. Every Friday is the "jour des jeux", i.e. on this day the children from all three classes work with the game material that has been introduced. During my stay in Switzerland, I received many photos, and generally we stayed in regular contact.

In terms of space, however, one classroom is missing in order for it to be a complete kindergarten, at the moment two classes have to be taught in the same room. With over 30 children per class, there is little room to develop. Likewise, the toilets are far away and actually only for the primary school students. Through the experience of the good cooperation in the classroom and pedagogical area in general, as well as the visible commitment of the director, we have now decided to consider the construction of a classroom, the missing toilet and the office with storage room at Ecole 5. This will bring us closer to our goal of ensuring that all kindergartens at each school and in each neighborhood in Sedhiou meet the same conditions for conducive teaching. Whether a complete kindergarten is built by us, or space is added to existing kindergartens, we want to give every child in this city the same opportunities.

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