Photograph — qz Africa

Fencing, just like every other sport, isn’t solely for entertainment. Learning of the ethics of life like following rules, confidence boosting, and strategic thinking are also encompassed in this sport. Kids in Senegal will have the opportunity to learn these ethics as the sports of fencing has been introduced for street kids and kids locked up in juvenile correction centres mostly for miscellaneous crimes and violence. This is a new form of restorative justice that Senegal has come up with.

Senegal has started to experiment with a new form of rehabilitation for children in prison who will be taught fencing twice a week to enable them learn to follow rules and regulations and gain self-confidence. The intention of the introduction of fencing sports, according to prison guard, Fatoumata Sy, is to show them that there are rules and laws in all aspects of life  which must be adhered to while living amongst their communities.

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Hawa Ba, the program manager, explains that the idea of teaching these kids fencing was not welcomed at first due to the unconventionality of the game, as fencing isn’t a popular sport in Africa. According to her, “There are a lot of rules in fencing, [but] it’s a sport that is helping you regain your self- esteem. They were like, ‘This fencing, what is it?’ Because it was really unconventional, and the first time we were doing something like it.”

The fencing classes will be done outside of the prison facility. Which is simply fantastic as these kids, who have been subdued to the view of the same cracked walls every day, will have the opportunity to see the outside of the prison wall. Fallou, an inmate at the prison, expresses this sentiment which doesn’t just come with just the prospects of seeing outside the prison wall but also comes with the prospects of gaining happiness even though it will be for a little while: “To stay every day in the same place, and to watch always the same people… If we go out to the centre or the fencing studio, we are so happy to see the street.”

Fencing doesn’t only instill discipline in these kids but changes the narrative surrounding prison guards who also learn fencing to become instructors, from upholders of the prison laws who are there to punish inmates to something synonymous with social workers and an emotional support system.

“The prison workers have been able to gain the trust of the minors, creating a space that allows them to open up and tell them their personal stories… It also teaches the youth about honesty and can play a huge role in calming kids and teaching them how to accept defeat,” Ba said.

The opportunity to learn fencing and see outside of the prison walls isn’t just solely for these juvenile inmates but child beggars who are arguably in their own kind of cell. Senegal has a huge problem with child labour with thousands of kids between 5 and 15 being forced to beg and roam the streets. These kids are exploited by religious instructors, known as marabouts and immigrants from neighbouring countries like Guinea, Mali and Guinea Bissau. But these vulnerable kids, wherever they have found themselves, will have the opportunity to relearn the capacity of their innate strength and to be easily integrated back into the society and without a doubt, be oblivious to the harsh reality of life for a few hours by immersing themselves in the sport.

Nelly Robinson, who was a proponent and the originator of this idea reiterated this new discovery of character: “Within the classes themselves, girls have discovered their capacity to command respect… And boys have learned to respect them.”

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