Overview of BCS

History

BCS was originally located in the Casamance, southern Sénégal, and it is from there that BCS actually got its name, as it was located in a place called Bourofaye. Evacuated in 1997 due to political instability in that region, BCS temporarily stayed in Keur Massar, until 2001, when they found a new place in Kiniabour. The compound was bought, and by October 2002, the place was inhabitable for the school, and the school has been there ever since.

BCS is situated about 9 km from the nearest sea-side town Popenguine, though the closest village is called Kiniabour. Both children and staff from BCS have been actively interacting with the people of Kiniabour, doing things with them and learning their ways and their language. For more information concerning BCS's ministry in Kiniabour please go to the Activities section.

Kiniabour is roughly 30 km away from the nearest major city, Thiès, which is a thirty minute drive. It is also approximately 80 km away from the capital of Sénégal, Dakar. From the image to the right, the outline of Sénégal can be seen, with Gambia sandwiched in between, and the location of BCS.

The Compound

Currently, there are fourteen buildings that accommodate the staff and students of BCS, and their uses range from dining room, dormitories, staff accommodation to school block. The buildings have endearingly been given bird names to facilitate referencing. While the dining room is called Swallow, you would also hear staff accommodation being referred to as anything between Osprey, Perroquet, Dove, Penguin, Flamingo, Kookaburra, Egret, Uhu, Kiwi or Robin.

An ongoing effort at BCS to beautify the school with plants has resulted in 1000 trees being planted already. Because of this, BCS stays green throughout the year (greenish at times, but still green). This is important, because BCS is in the Sahara Belt, a desert-like climate, which is searing hot in the day, and yet pleasantly cool at night (during the dry season).

BCS may be a small school, but that does not limit its facilities. Thanks to the help of many volunteers, there is a large sports hall, donated and built by Irishmen and decorated by people from the school. The building includes stands where people can sit and also a large wall painting. Many games are played in the sports hall, including football (which was actually played in the sports hall before it even had walls!), basketball, volleyball, tennis and badminton.

Outside there is a large 300m gravel running track, with a medium-sized football pitch in the middle. Both are frequently used, although runners often run outside the school as it is much more interesting and provides a longer one lap course.

The chapel at BCS is possibly the second or third largest building on the compound, and here all church services, assemblies and play productions are held. The three main school blocks are inter-connected through the chapel, with Juniors generally in one section, and Seniors in the other, the third shared by all.

Four special rooms in the classblocks are the Computer room, the Library, the Science lab and the DT classroom. The Computer room has 7 networked computers, and both it and the library are air-conditioned.

Staff live in separate buildings from children. Families who stay at BCS also have their own houses, complete with kitchens and the other necessities. A small Korean dorm also exists where some Korean children can stay separately to keep to the Korean way of living and schooling, which is different to the West.

Most of the furniture and many of the buildings were made using the workshop at BCS. The workshop lets experienced people do work ranging from woodworking to welding. Occasionally, students use some of the tools for their school projects or other organised activities.

All the water that BCS uses comes from a well that is on the compound. A pump brings the water up into a small tower, and from there it is piped everywhere else. A backup generator also exists at BCS, which is used to supply the school with power when the frequent power-cuts occur. In general, the power situation in Sénégal is stabilized, and there are far less problems than there were previously.