ak benn

The children, the women, the youth… what are they doing here?
Do they realize that with “ak benn” they can lay the foundations for their future?
For they are being offered a chance to learn, to discover, to build and network relationships, and each day to go a step further.

This is what we call “ak benn".

It began at Kër Taizé, the house of the Taizé brothers living in Dakar.

The suburbs of Dakar where ak benn is implanted in four locations offer
few prospects for young people. Many become discouraged, paralysed by
inertia; others dream of leaving the continent. Most of the young people
and women who come regularly to the ak benn location at Grand Yoff have
known Kër Taizé for some fourteen years now. A huge effort of training
is made where the spirit of discovery is awakened. They in turn become
“animators” for their younger brothers and sisters.
The call to discover is made audible by means of educative games and
visits to places outside the neighbourhood.
The invitation the youth receive to help with the activities for the
younger children is like a challenge to become actors in their own
development.


From “li nga kham” to “ak benn”

The educative activities for the children begin with an idea expressed
in the local language Wolof by : “li nga kham jangal ko ko”: “what you
know, teach it”. What the young people know already they can share with
others, this brings with it appreciation and recognition which helps
them become animators. These experiences led to another expression: “ak
benn”; an invitation to go a step further, be interested in many
different things: where one lives, in one’s culture and environment, in
work well done, in technology, in art, at the same time it is an
invitation to give more.
Ak benn means “ …and one more”.


The smaller children, the youth… and the mothers

A group of women and girls received training in sewing and patchwork;
the young people work and are trained as a team, they make puzzles,
dolls, bracelets, mobiles… These handicrafts are sold at exhibitions
here in Dakar and in several places in Europe. With the profits of these
sales, money management and saving are learned.

There are exhibitions that present both the crafts made by the young
people, the mothers, and a selection of photos showing the learning
activities with the younger children. In this way what lies at the
foundation of all these activities is clearly underlined: the care of
the smallest ones, their awakening, as well as commitment in the present
circumstances, circumstances that have to be confronted with the
conviction that even in these circumstances one can find flashes of
beauty as well as the courage to create with others.

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