wwith knees bent and his sword angled upward, 14-year-old Souleymane Ndiaye, lunges against his opponent. A dozen different younger Senegalese boys – who’ve been in jail or care houses – scuttle backward and forward alongside a number of enjoying strips (referred to as pistes), thrusting and parrying. Metallic clinks resonate across the fencing room at the fringe of town of Thiès, 40 miles east of the capital, Dakar.
“The physical sensation gives me a release,” says Ndiaye, taking away his mesh masks and wiping the sweat from his face. “But the most important thing is that fencing has taught me how to respect others – my opponents and the coaches.”
Since 2012, greater than 1,200 younger other folks elderly between 5 and 17 have taken phase in fencing categories, in keeping with Pour le Soure d’un Enfant (“For a Child’s Smile, the charity that organizes the program with Senegal’s prison authorities and justice ministry. Among them are more than 500 young inmates, none of whom have been rearrested since serving their time.
The classes form part of the Fencing and Restorative Justice scheme developed by Nelly Robin, who runs Pour le Sourire d’un Enfant alongside her work as a researcher with the French thinktank Institut de Recherche pour le Development (Research Institute for Development,,
Participants follow a 60-lesson program that is geared toward instilling a sense of identity, responsibility, respect and self-discipline. The fencing classes are often mixed, providing a rare opportunity for male and female inmates to socialize.
The thought got here to Robin in 2008 when she first took her younger son to a fencing membership. “There were children there who were hyperactive and had problems at home and at school. But as soon as they stepped on to the piste, they were fully focused and respected the rules,” she says.
There are no up-to-date statistics on the number of young offenders in Senegal. The latest available report dates back to 2006 and shows that there were nearly 600 youth inmates in Dakar alone – a figure that experts say is likely to have increased with population growth.
“There are children in prison for stealing phones or chickens,” says Ibrahima Sall, who runs Asred – a charity that is helping prisoners and ex-inmates reintegrate into society. “There are children in this country who know nothing other than prison.”
However, others have dedicated extra severe crimes than stealing poultry. The prospect of arming those inmates to start with raised doubts amongst one of the vital jail group of workers in Thiès.
But fencing became out to be preferably suited for rehabilitation. Participants start each and every consultation with a salute, by means of elevating their foil to one another and the referee; they elevate their arm to recognize when an opponent has scored; they shake arms after each and every bout; and they’re taught methods to referee.
“They learn how to mediate conflict,” says Jacques Faye, an trainer who has been concerned within the initiative from the start. “They become less aggressive, and the guards tell us that this has a positive effect on others in the prison – even those who don’t take part in our program.”
The scheme has been such a success that it’s now increasing. Classes will probably be introduced for the primary time within the towns of Nianing and Kaolack this week and in different places in Senegal later within the 12 months.
Prison government and NGOs in Ivory Coast, Rwanda and Morocco have additionally expressed an hobby within the scheme. Robin’s workforce has already carried out a analysis venture in Ivory Coast, the place she hopes a fencing program for inmates may just start subsequent 12 months.
“This project shows how sport can be used as a lever for development. Investing one euro in sport can save two euros in terms of health costs or in this case, law enforcement,” says Nelson Camara, director of Sport Impact, which is webhosting an inaugural convention on sports activities building in Dakar on 31 May-2 June.
“In the development field, sport is often seen as the poor relation to other sectors like health, infrastructure and energy. But we need to change that.
Fallou Diagne, 24, who participated in the program as a young offender, is taking part in a panel discussion at the summit in front of ministers from across the continent, as well as representatives of development agencies, the UN and the private sector. He served four years for violent assault after joining a gang but says the method taught him “respect, confidence and patience”.
Since his release in 2020, he has helped as a teacher on the program and harbors dreams of competing internationally. He says three others who were imprisoned with him but did not join the course have since been rearrested.
“Fencing has allowed me to build my future. I want to help others do the same,” he says.
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