Liverpool YMCA

MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE

PROJECT PROPOSAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION

GENERAL

Goals for the extension project to the SOS Children’s Village Bakoteh facility and explanation of the educational concept.

SOS Children’s Village Bakoteh was established in 1982, initially with six family houses and gradually increased to ten family houses with a capacity of 10 children per house, a transit home for babies with a capacity of 10 babies, two girls youth homes, a mini clinic/sick-bay and a Kindergarten.  The village currently has a population of 74 children in the family houses, 9 babies in the transit home, 13 girls in the Girls Youth homes, and 15 boys in the Youth Village (which is part and parcel of the Children’s Village community), for a total of 111 children and youth.  With the current village population, it is important and necessary and urgent to have a multi-purpose centre where there will be a library, a study room, a TV/Video room and an activity/Montessori room.  The growth in the Kindergarten with a roll call of 224 pupils, coupled with the introduction of the two toddlers’ class and the double shifts, calls for the need to have an activity/Montessori class room which will be incorporated in the multipurpose centre activities structure.

JUSTIFICATION

The multi-purpose centre will be used for the following.

I.  Library / Study room

a.         This will help children and youth to develop a reading habit and have private

            studies.

b.         It will also help in maintaining educational materials with storage facilities

            (i.e. cupboards, lockers etc.).

c.         The village mothers who are on the literacy programme will conduct their classes

            in the centre instead of in the open village hut, and also use the library.

II. TV/Video Hall

a.         This will be for watching the news, and other special children’s programme

on TV, video and also audio.

b.         This will be used for village meetings, cultural activities and other activities that are

geared towards the welfare of the children and youth

III. Computer Room

a.                   For the children and youth to have a first hand on IT knowledge and experience

b.                  For the mothers to also have IT experience

IV. Activity room / Montessori

a.         This will be used for indoor activities and games for the small village children and the

Kindergarten children.

b.         The Kindergarten will conduct its Montessori lessons in this room

V. Other

Overall and also more importantly, this multi-purpose centre will efficiently serve the collective of SOS children, youth and mothers and aunties to be in a very safe and educative environment during the rainy season, where their time can be used to build their educational growth as they would not be able to move around the village most of the time.

December 2009