World Cup Special: Five Orgs Working with Sport for Social Causes
In no particular order:
Girls Kick It
girlskickit.org
An organization empowering and rehabilitating young women and girls in Northern Uganda – who have been disproportionately effected by the civil war – through football. Building self-confidence, and other skills, the organization hopes to help more women become leaders and feel that they can take charge of their own destinies. Equally important it allows them
Fugees Family
Coach Luma and players
Also using the power of football, Fugees Family works with child survivors of war. It provides year-round soccer, after-school tutoring, a private academy and an academic enrichment camp. Kids learn to cooperate and work as a team. Participants sign and adhere to the contract which stipulates, among other things, that he will not play in games if they have missed tutoring or practice and that they will be good role models in their communities. The organization and its founder, Coach Luma Mufleh, were honored with a Common Ground award in 2009.
Homeless World Cup
from guardian.co.uk
The cup was born out of a desire to find a universal language to unite homeless people around the world. That language was football. Empowering disenfranchised men and women through soccer, the homeless world cup has been hosted annually since 2003. They beat the FIFA WC to S. Africa, which hosted the cu p in 2006 in Cape Town. That tournament was the setting for Kicking It, an excellent documentary on the cup! The 2010 tournament will be in Rio de Janiero this September. Many players have stopped using drugs and alcohol after participating and others have enrolled in job or educational training and are no longer homeless.
Alive and Kicking
Barack Obama talks Alive & Kicking with A&K Kenya's director Martin Barnard (left). (from aliveandkicking.org.uk)
Alive & Kicking is an innovative charity that hand stitches leather balls in Africa to provide balls for children, create jobs for adults and promote health awareness through sport. They currently work in Kenya and Zambia but their balls are distributed to children in schools, orphanages, refugee camps, and youth groups across Africa.
Right to Play
Players with the right to play ball (from zoomandgo.com)
Right to Play is the leading international organization using sport for development. They work in 23 countries affected by war, poverty and disease. Founded by Norwegian speedskater and four-time Olympic champion Johann Olav Koss, the organization uses sports to teach children about a myriad issues including fair play, self-esteem and conflict resolution. They’ve seen reductions in aggressive behavior and increased community capacity as a result of their programs.
From the team's stop in Addis Ababa (from thekickabout.org)
Also check out Kickabout: where a team of five has been traveling overland from the UK to South Africa, footballs in hand, to celebrate African football and spotlight humanitarian projects and heroes who are making a difference, especially in the field of sport and development. It’s a great story with fabulous photos to go along with it.
