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Dominique Savio Association

Dominique Savio Association is a centre dedicated to the well-being and personal growth of children and adults with intellectual disabilities (starting from age 15). Our mission is to enhance their lives by helping them develop their potential at their own pace, providing a supportive environment that fosters their unique abilities and encourages personal development.

 

Accreditation Number with the National Social Inclusion: N/1243

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Services offered

The centre is open from 9:00 AM to 2:15 PM, Monday to Friday. Activities available include computer skills, swimming, yoga, athletics, woodworking, crafts, physical activities, sewing, cooking, glass painting, and gardening.

 

Beneficiaries: The centre serves 30 beneficiaries. Some members require much more individual attention than others to make progress despite their disabilities. The majority of these young people come from modest families where parents work and are unable to provide basic education for their children.

History

In 1999, Marlène Mineur, a resident of Stanley, Rose Hill, noticed that local families kept their children with intellectual disabilities at home due to a lack of resources. With the help of her parish priest, she opened the Dominique Savio centre with 7 students and 3 volunteers at St. Anne's parish in January 2000. In 2002, Désiré Flore, who has an intellectual disability himself, offered his home to the association. The centre now operates with 4 full-time facilitators, a cook, a cleaner, a director, and a secretary.

Objectives
  • To ensure the operational capacity of a centre that can regularly accommodate young people with disabilities, helping them in their development.
  • To teach the basic rules of social behaviour to the centre's beneficiaries to help them achieve a certain level of autonomy.
  • To train parents to continue the work initiated at the centre.
  • To organise activities and fundraisers to achieve these objectives.

 

Priorities:

  • To work towards destigmatizing mental disabilities in Mauritius.
  • To continuously adapt the services offered to meet the needs of the beneficiaries.
  • To seek support, human resources, and financial backing to sustain the association's efforts.
  • To develop communication skills through the use of computer technology.
Main achievements
  • A multipurpose room has been added to the existing building for therapeutic exercises.
  • A daily breakfast and a weekly hot meal (every Friday) are provided to the members.

 

Projects:

  • Find a suitable building for the Dominique Savio centre.
  • Obtain support from specialists for better guidance of the beneficiaries.
  • Train and retrain the centre's staff.

Develop the centre's activities.

Sources of funding
  • National Social Inclusion Foundation (NSIF)
  • School fees
  • Annual fundraising
  • Donations