Côte d'Ivoire: a game-changing assist

Olympe Konan de Simon. We mainly work with incarcerated minors who are sent to juvenile observation centres (Centres d’Observations des Mineurs, COM), but we also develop activities with women being held in Abidjan prison (MACA). We are active in all three COM facilities: Abidjan, Bouaké and Man. We help about 400 to 430 prisoners a year.

The main sport that we offer is football. It’s a very popular sport, prisoners generally know the basics rules, and it can be played just about anywhere. We also teach other disciplines. We try to give prisoners taster sessions and introductory classes to encourage them to take up new sports like basketball, karate, volleyball, taekwondo and many more. We hope that through these different sports we can pass on messages of tolerance and discipline.

For the past two years, we have been partnering with Play International to train our teams to teach sports. Our teams visit prisons twice a week to lead sessions lasting for a maximum of 2 and a half hours. We also have professionals who volunteer for us.

OKS. Sport is beneficial for prisoners and improves their living conditions in detention. These young people lead sedentary lives and are prone to health issues, since they live in enclosed quarters. As such, it is essential that they be given the opportunity to develop their motor skills. Before we started our sessions, many of the young people we work with were suffering from illnesses related to inactivity, such as diabetes and obesity. This is no longer an issue, which is already a positive step. Along with teaching sports, we also offer education and socialisation programmes: we try to communicate with these young people who have been in trouble with the law and give them guidance.

We also work on maintaining the social ties between prisoners and prison staff, by organising matches. These events are an opportunity for us to diffuse any tension between the two groups. Prisoners and staff begin to communicate more easily after having played together.

We also invite people from outside to come and play matches with the prisoners. The goal is to change people’s perceptions of prison. In Africa, prisoners are discarded. They have no value. When people from outside visit prison, they realise that prisoners are people just like them.

Prisoners are allowed to chat with visiting players once the match is over, and visitors leave this experience with a completely different outlook on prison. Very often, those who have been once want to come again. They realise that these are people who need help and that they can play a part in supporting them. Their view of prisoners changes and this breaks down prejudices.

These matches also enable prisoners to remain connected to society, therefore making their reintegration easier. Prisoners who participate in our activities learn to follow rules and respect discipline. We measure discipline by looking at teamwork and personal performance. It’s our way of rewarding them and facilitating their reintegration. In addition to sports, prisoners can also participate in our workshops which teach skills that generate income, such as: baking, farming, beekeeping, sewing and beauty therapy. We do more than just sport, that is merely a pretext. Our ultimate goal is to help prisoners reintegrate into society.

OKS. The challenges we face are mainly to do with infrastructure. MACA is the only prison that has sports facilities. None of the other Ivorian prisons or COMs have a dedicated sports pitch. As such, we have to make do with what we have, and take what the prison administration offers. Our programme is in keeping with the activities planned by the establishments that host us, so we have all the authorisation we need.

Generally, our activities are limited due to a lack of funding. Our mission ends once the prisoner is released. Eventually, we will need to be able to offer post-release support to prisoners.