Focus on Entraide Populaire Familiale
Developing job-integration workshops.
Dominique Colliat, Senior Vice-President Operations Sofitel Europe, Middle-East, Africa.
Julien Cartigny, Management Assistant of Dominique Colliat.
Jean-Pierre Bonnet, General Manager Sofitel Algiers Hamma Garden.
Patrick Martial, General Manager Mercure Algiers Airport.
Dominique Delahousse, General Manager ibis Algiers Airport.
Entraide Populaire Familiale is an association that works on a variety of individual and collective mutual-aid opportunities to promote and develop social and professional integration and education for people with mental disabilities.
Employees from the Sofitel, ibis and Mercure hotels in Algiers have been working with Entraide Populaire Familiale, an association, for six years now. The Centre Psychopédagogique d’Alger (Algiers educational psychology centre), the first centre that this association opened for people with mental deficiencies (back in 1970), is in a popular neighbourhood that has suffered from the events over the past few years.
The centre refurbishing work in 2009 was the first step: it provided decent, needs-specific facilities for boarders, enabling them to gradually learn to live self-reliantly, socialise and work. It also provided more suitable facilities for the professionals working with them.
Phase 2 in 2010 involved upgrading the job-integration workshop by purchasing suitable equipment (sewing machines, cutting machines…). The boarders make typically local paintings, mosaics, rugs and other crafts, and present them for sale at two large gatherings a year. Hotel directors visit the workshop on a regular basis to check the project is rolling out smoothly. In 2011, these workshops allowed 30 disabled young people to be trained in new skills and make 2,000 products (mosaics, joinery, ceramics, sewing and embroidery).
The Accor Foundation continues its support by helping the association develop 2 professional workshops.
The laundry workshop, which has been operational since 2008, currently welcomes only 12 disabled young people who worked for Michelin Algeria. After the workshop is expanded through the procurement of 4 professional machines, 30 additional youngsters will be trained over a 6-month period by a trainer-linenkeeper.
The pastry workshop, which currently welcomes 12 young people, will be modernised through the acquisition of more efficient machines and tools in order to meet the growing demand of individuals.
