Playground

Thanks to donations from the Georg Kraus Foundation…
... we have been able to build a playground for a new elementary school in Dalaba, in the sub-prefecture of Fodecariah & Balimana, in May-June 2023.

On the one hand, we have a duo of Franco-Guinean artists who, with a one-of-a-kind object, will give this elementary school playground a special identity. The project features an octopus with 8 tentacles, 4 swings, 2 armchairs and 2 pillars.

The children will give the octopus a name at the start of the new school year, to help them identify with it.

Sociac Guinée support
And on the other, we have the contractor Sociac Guinée, who built the school and installed the classic play elements to complete this play area for children.

The fencing for this play area was made from old car tires, painted and cemented, thus limiting the intrusion of domestic animals who live there in complete freedom. This colorful fence should prevent animal droppings in the playground sand.

The Franco-Guinean artist duo...
... Mamady Kanté and Fabien Borde came to build an octopus-shaped work of art with 8 tentacles to shape children's imaginations.

Mamady Kanté is a contemporary sculptor and scenographer. Since graduating with a degree in Architectural Design from the Institut Supérieur des Arts de Guinée in 2012, he has been recycling old metals to transform them into sculptures, exhibited in Kassa, Conakry and Dakar. See his portrait on TV 5 Monde

Fabien Borde is a building technician, interior decorator and artist. Specializing in events, he has performed extensively as a stilt walker and costume designer. He also puts on shows to raise awareness of ecological issues. Follow the artists on RFI

Playground equipment
The Sociac Guinee contractor who built the elementary school has undertaken to fit out the playground with a swing set, a slide, a seesaw, a turnstile and a set of 2 movable soccer nets.

What's more, our association has set aside a substantial budget for a massive tree-planting project for the playground and courtyard of the new elementary school, to provide welcome shade in a few years' time when temperatures climb above 40 degrees.

The contractor Sociac Guinee has committed to planting around fifteen trees: There will be 2 flamboyants, 2 jaquiers, 2 neems, 2 Terminalia, 2 Ficus and 5 pitals.

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World Bank visit …
... on June 4, 2023 to Fodécariah and Dalaba in the sub-prefecture of Fodécariah & Balimana to learn from our project for their Guinea-wide elementary school construction project.

Their attention was focused on the school canteen in Fodécariah and the new elementary school in Dalaba with its playground under construction.

From left to right:
Mr. M. Kanté (artist), Mr. M.Bérété (president of APEAE Dalaba), the World Bank project manager (black pants + grey t-shirt), Mr. M. Cissé (project manager for Sociac Guinée), 2 workers (Sociac Guinée), Mr. O. Traoré (our project manager for the Dalaba elementary school).

World Bank in Guinea

Thanks to the commitment of Mr. O. Traoré...
... our project manager for Dalaba elementary school, seated here on a tentacle of the octopus, this project could be coordinated quickly and without remuneration, just by involving the population and the APEAE of Dalaba to participate as volunteers.

The sand and cement for the playground was supplied by the villagers of Dalaba.

A pirate ship
The Dalaba APEAE (association des élèves et parents d'élèves) and the FASSO DEMEN youth association have undertaken to find an old boat, which they will convert into a pirate ship after the rainy season, and install it on the playground at the start of the new school year.

We hope this pirate ship, complete with benches and flags, will honor Black Caesar, a West African chief who was taken as a slave and escaped along the Florida coast to become a fearsome pirate. We hope this pirate ship will inspire children's imaginations.

Histoire de Black Cesar (French)

Black Cesar YouTube