The Senegal Youth Consortium (Cjs) of Guédiawaye is generating enthusiasm among young people. Students, artists, project leaders, young people seeking training come together to chart a future. The Cjs was created four years ago to help young people express their potential through entrepreneurship, training and community support.
The Popular and Sports Education Center (Cedeps) in Guédiawaye revives the atmosphere. On this afternoon of Wednesday, December 11, 2024, on the exterior facade, a young dancer practices by moving on the ground, his forehead dripping with sweat. By passing through the door located just behind him, we find ourselves in the hall of the building housing the Senegal Youth Consortium (Cjs). Young people, boys and girls, sit in small groups, chatting quietly. On the other side, to their right, a duo of young people are also practicing dancing to the musical notes distilled by a small speaker. “They are in rehearsal,” informs Simon Maro, communications manager for the Cjs. The latter guides us to the space reserved for students who come to review their lessons, or simply participate in another activity on the Cjs agenda. Here, two young people sit isolated from other large groups. One of them is a transport-logistics student. His name is Moustapha Sy. He came to do research for a presentation he is preparing.
“I come here because it’s a setting that I find conducive. Every time a student has difficulties in his research, there are always others who are there to provide him with insight,” testifies this young man. He also considers that access to the wifi connection is also an opportunity available to all students who use the space. According to him, it even happens that students who attend the center benefit from training in digital marketing or personal development. However, he suggests the establishment of a library more stocked with quality books so that students can take advantage of them to improve their documentation. Indeed, at this precise moment, other students are grouped around tables as if they were in a work session. Among them, Saphiétou Lo, student at the Cheikh Hamidou Kane digital university, at Eno in Guédiawaye. “I come here sometimes to revise, other times to do practical work. It's a quiet space that's not far from my house. Then, access is free, there is the internet connection. It’s really a place where you can really concentrate,” she says. Other students are more interested in the meetings regularly organized around the theme: “citizen engagement”.
This is the case of Leïla Diakité, a third-year undergraduate student in Social Economy Administration at Cheikh Hamidou Kane Digital University. With a smile on her lips, she speaks with confidence of the interest she has in this place of frequentation. “I am especially interested in the activity relating to stress management, because it has helped me a lot to express myself in public” she confides.
Free access, free service
“The consortium has provided us, as artists, with a framework that helps us develop our talent and flourish,” says artist-comedian Mamadou Faye alias Ngouda. Community manager of Cjs, Anta Dia has just gone down the last step of the stairs. Her role is to coordinate the consortium's activities, manage the space and organize the young people who attend the center. She explains that in general, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., this space located in the Dakar suburbs is more frequented by pupils and students. On the other hand, after 4 p.m., it is the artists and rehearsal groups who take over. “26 training courses were organized by the center on visual arts, first aid, typing as well as on fun themes and on raising awareness for the benefit of children. In the same way, young people are trained in personal development. The recording studio will be ready soon. But the space reserved for shows is already in high demand. Simply submit a request addressed to the director of the Cdeps. Once it is validated, the space is made available to the applicant free of charge,” she explains.
Executive director of the Youth Hope Consortium (Cjs), Sobel Ngom explains the genesis of the Cjs. “Our demographics are increasing and the school is not able to provide education to all the young people who need it. Socio-educational activities have been drastically reduced. They are no longer able to reach a significant number of people. In addition, they are no longer able to offer entertainment services that meet the challenges of 2024,” he underlined. According to him, it is in such a context that the Cjs was born and intends to replicate itself in all departments and even in all communities to develop activities for monitoring, youth, emancipation, expression, etc. .
“With the activities that we carry out thanks to a partnership with the French Development Agency (Afd) and the Mastercard Foundation, all young people without exclusion can come to be helped to become what they wish to become” a- he added.
In other words, a talented young person, but whose talent is not valued or is even rejected, can have the chance to develop his talent by attending the Cjs. In the same way, he continues, the student who has difficulty revising at home will find in this space a framework in which to concentrate. But also, regarding associations that want to get involved, the center is there to support associative commitment. Young people who are looking for training can also have opportunities with the Cjs. “Clearly, it is the young person who is at the heart of our action. Any young person can access the center. All it takes is for it to register.
Abdou Diop
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