Other community work in Bakoteh
Since SOS Children's Village Bakoteh opened its gates in 1981, the work has continued to expand. Today, SOS Children's Villages is not only caring for children in need, but is also providing invaluable support and offering hope to local families and communities through a number of facilities and programmes.
In 1982, an SOS Kindergarten was opened at Bakoteh. It consists of four classrooms, a room for infant day care, a classroom for Montessori teaching, and some additional rooms.
At about 15, youths from the SOS Children's Village move to one of the five SOS Youth Houses. For youngsters from the SOS Children's Villages, moving to an SOS Youth Facility is usually the first step towards an independent life. SOS mothers, educators and village directors prepare the youngsters very carefully for this important step in their lives. Young people usually stay at the SOS Youth Facility until they have finished their education or training and found a job. The SOS Youth Facility at Bakoteh also includes a small counselling centre with an office, a common room and library, a kitchen and dining hall, an administration area, and a sports field.
Due to the lack of schools in the vicinity of the SOS Children's Village, the construction of an SOS Hermann Gmeiner School (primary and secondary school) had become necessary. The school consists of twelve classrooms (six for the primary and six for the two-stream secondary school), four classrooms for practical training, an administration area and a canteen. More than 400 pupils attend the SOS Hermann Gmeiner School.
The SOS Hermann Gmeiner Technical College, which was opened in 1990, is a higher secondary school. It gives youngsters from the SOS Children's Village and from the local community the possibility to acquire higher secondary education in accordance with the national curriculum (including practical training). The college has a capacity of 600 students.
The main aim of SOS Vocational Training Centre Bakoteh is to pass on to young people knowledge and experience that will enable them to run their own businesses and lead independent lives. All sections of the training centre (carpentry/woodwork, car mechanics, metal work/tool making) receive orders from SOS co-workers and from private individuals. Since the youngsters usually do their job extremely well and finish on time, the SOS Vocational Training Centre has acquired a very good reputation all over the country. After finishing the theoretical and practical training, young people who graduate from the training centre receive a diploma and a letter of recommendation.
The SOS Medical Centre offers health care and medical services in the following areas: general health care, pre-natal health care, family planning, prevention of diseases, vaccinating children, first aid and emergency treatments. Due to its modern equipment, its well-trained co-workers and the high standard of medical treatment, the SOS Mother and Child Clinic has become one of the most important medical institutions in the country. More than 70 people from the SOS Children's Village and the local community are treated at the SOS Medical Centre each day.
The SOS Multipurpose Centre Bakoteh is a community initiative reflecting the need for a place which offers kindergarten education and training in skills for the children and youths of the community as well as functional literacy classes for women in particular. The Centre is composed of two kindergarten classrooms, two training classrooms, a multipurpose hall, kitchen, dining room, cafeteria, office, two store rooms and five toilet facilities. It also responds to the need for an adequate and central meeting place, with its multipurpose hall and its cafeteria.
The SOS Community Support Programme's (Gambian Family Strengthening Programme/Bakoteh) implementation started in July 2005, with the aim of targeting 200 children. As of today, 337 children and 137 care-givers and older siblings - a total of 129 families - are supported by the programme, which covers several areas of the Western Division (Bakoteh and surrounding areas). The programme is implemented by one coordinator, who is receiving support on the field from the communities (child welfare committee, women's groups, community based organisation, volunteers).
The local partners (communities) are involved in identifying and selecting the beneficiaries, visiting families and monitoring their progress. The programme offers support on various levels, upon the children/family needs: Monthly nutrition supplement (rice, sugar, powder milk and oil) – for a maximum of 1 year unless exceptions, health support through the provision of mosquito nets for each beds of the household; hygiene support by giving second hand cloth; living conditions improvement by giving mattresses to families really in need (when children initially slept on the floor) and other small items upon cases; educational support by paying school fees, school materials and one uniform; psycho-social counselling is made by the programme coordinator for children and parents in need; capacity building of identified care givers and communities (support the establishment of child welfare committees, build up the capacities of community based organisations and women's groups on child care issues and programme monitoring); support to develop an Income Generation Activity or stable resources for the family (started in may 2006).
The SOS Girls home in Serrekunda/Bakoteh was officially opened on 2 February 2006. The Gambian Department of Social Welfare and SOS Children’s Village The Gambia put their hands together to offer a proper answer to the problems of young girls forced into commercial sex work due to economic hardship and who are as a result outcast from the society. SOS Children’s Villages The Gambia took care of financing the construction and the basic equipment of this special home, while the Social Welfare Department proposed to manage and run the project.