SALARY/HOURS:
This is a part-time 7 hours/week volunteer position.
WHEN/WHERE: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:35pm to 5:00pm with DIMMIT MIDDLE SCHOOL (12320 80th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98178).
Contact: For more information, contact WAWAC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Pa Ousman Joof via Email: pajoof@wawac.org, Tel : (253)-235-2132 .
BIDEWW AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM SUMMARY
After several parents engaged us to create a program that will support West African kids with their academic, life and social skills needs, in February of 2022, WAWAC finally created what we call our "BIDEWW" (STAR) After School Program. WAWAC's BIDEWW/star after-school program and homework club seeks to create a culturally appropriate fun and new learning environment that fosters social skills, and provides learning opportunities for our kids through exciting semi-structured activities such as science experiments, cooking classes, arts projects, singing, dancing, music, cinematography, storytelling and more at a culturally appropriate setting for free of charge.
Since the kids spend a lot of time at school where they learn in a structured and formal environment, the BIDEWW After School program is done in a loose environment where they still learn fun stuff that they create themselves. Additional recreational activities also take place to encourage them to stay active, healthy, and connected with each other.
This is also a platform for West African kids to interact, learn from each other and build their own community. It is available to school-aged children 5 to 17 years old in Snohomish and King Counties twice a week. Through this platform, the kids of our community explore their artistic instincts through collaborative art projects. It holds significant value for our kids because it inspires them to be creatively driven at an early age. An opportunity that they don't ordinarily receive from their parents because a lot of West African parents deem art as a "waste of time" -This grossly deprives kids the possibility to explore their creativity. We pride ourselves in opening our program to a wide range of African kids tailored to their unique needs, identity and values.
Take a look at what a week can look like in the afterschool program: here or here.
JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
REQUIREMENTS
Candidates are required to fill out this job application form and do a criminal background check. WAWAC carries a background check through Checkr and will need your full name and email address to process this. It can take up to 72 hours to get the results back.
19203 36th Ave W, Suite 210, Lynnwood, WA 98036, US
The Washington West African Center (WAWAC) is a By and For organization, founded and managed within the communities we work. It was created with the community in mind, who are front and center to the work we do. WAWAC is a statewide agency and operates predominantly in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Clark counties, with particular focus in Snohomish county in cities such as Everett, Lynnwood, MountLake Terrace, Edmonds, Bothell, Mill Creek, and Mukilteo, Marysville, Lake Stevens, Shoreline, Kent, Renton, Burien, Federal way. Our mission is to connect West Africans in Washington with local resources, bridge the gap between us and the wider community and culturally socialize West African children in a value driven way. Our mission aims to establish a pedestal to enable West Africans discover their full potential and facilitate communication through the use of modern information technologies and works of art for the discovery and realization of their talents.
We are the 911 and the 211 for West Africans who are living with their families and working in Washington which is home to thousands of West Africans. The population we serve is mostly West African immigrants with their families - including children and seniors. This community tends to suffer more from disinformation and coupled with a deep mistrust of the systems. This perhaps is a consequence of trauma emanating from suffering (discrimination and deprivation) endured through the ages. We are a predominantly immigrant community, mostly from West Africa (The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, Benin), and a good number of people in our community are undocumented and have no formal education. This often leads us to live in unsafe neighborhoods, exposed to crime, domestic violence, unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors, vulnerability, and other conditions that negatively impact our health and wellbeing. Most of the members of our community work in the hotel, food and hospitality industries, hair salons, and rideshare. Others work at home health care facilities and support adults and children with disability, and people with underlying medical conditions.
12320 80th Avenue SouthSeattle, WA 98178
August 22, 2024
