Mount Semmama in Kasserine governorate hosted on October 20, 2018, the inauguration ceremony of the Cultural Center for Arts and crafts funded by the Rambourg Foundation with an investment worth one million dinars.
The Cultural Center which is meant to be a lever for cultural and economic development in the region of Mount Semmama includes cultural workshops and training in local crafts, as well as sports activities.
The Center in fact was built in this region to be a place of hope for locals and young people in Kasserine, Shiran Ben Abderrazak Executive Director of the Rambourg Foundation told TunisianMonitoronline.
The Center not only represents for the people of the region a place of life, culture and economic development that provides alternatives and economic and cultural hope to the people of this governorate but also an example in the fight against violent extremism and radicalization, Shiran Abderrazak said. 
He indicated that the objective of this project, which is conceived and designed in close consultation with the local people, will help open up the city of Kasserine to the outside world and enhance the economic potential of the region through the development of its various activities.
The Executive Director of the Rambourg foundation revealed that the center will also house workshops of cinema, theater, circus, music, and dance in addition to sports activities as a sport field was established for this purpose. There will also be a space for trades component that will value natural resources in order to develop local skills in handicrafts and train them in professional apprenticeship.
The Rambourg Foundation has also created a brand of artisanal production and will put a range of products of this brand at the disposal of the cultural center of arts and trades of the mountain so that the center gains its autonomy and its financial durability, Shiran said.
He said that after the inauguration of the Mount Sammama cultural Center, the Rambourg foundation will be accompanying the local people to help them take advantage of the project.
“The foundation will guarantee the funding for the next three years, in a way to provide assistance to the locals so as to be able to achieve their objectives. After that period they have to rely on themselves to manage the project, and supervise it in such a manner as to guarantee its sustainability, he pointed out.
Shiran Ben Abderrazak underlined, in this respect, that the project of Rambourg foundation is a prototype. Once it is achieved successfully it is the role of the state to continue this process of creating centers in the inland regions for the good of the regions and the people.
The objective of the project is to provide a solution for combating unemployment in the interior regions to improve the social, economic and cultural life of the people of the city which is a great challenge in a region that faces terrorism and extremism, he underlined
Speaking about the future activities of the Rambourg Foundation, Shiran Ben Abderrazak said that in the coming year, the foundation will work with the National Tourism Office (ONAT) after signing an agreement last July.
The aim is to work on Tunisian handicrafts by providing professional training to the people in the inland regions, to help them achieve their financial autonomy and combat unemployment, he said, indicating “we will go through a new experience and new approach to see how by handicrafts we can promote employment and help improve the living conditions of the local people through training which is a way to promote Tunisian handicrafts.
In another connection, Shiran Ben Abderrazak said that the foundation will take part in the China International Import Expo, which is a 6-day event from 5th November to 10th November 2018 in Shanghai,
He noted that that the foundation will take Tunisian craftsmen and craftswomen to the Shanghai Expo to display their handicrafts products and showcase their arts.
Aware of the importance of education, art and culture as a support and shield against violence, marginalization and extremism, especially among young people in Tunisia, the Rambourg Foundation endeavours to promote art and culture and enhance education, the only true weapon that will allow Tunisia to triumph culture against barbarism and to build a better future for Tunisia, Shiran Ben Abderrazak Executive Director of the Rambourg Foundation concluded.
TunisianMonitorOnline (MNHN)
