:: Coaching for Hope ::

Coaching for Hope team from Mali joins Festival Fun

On 3rd July 2010, the Coaching for Hope team from Mali arrived in South Africa for the FIFA Football for Hope festival. The team of young players from Bamako and surrounding areas won a competition to represent us at the festival, and it is the first time that they have travelled to another country. The Football for Hope festival is a great opportunity for them to celebrate their own culture, make new friends and learn about the power of football to unite for good. Mali's Ministry of Sport funded the costs for the nine players, all aged 15-19 years, to travel to South Africa for the event.

FA coaches run training in Mali

In November 2009, FA coaches Laura Harvey and Tracy Kevins travelled to Mali to work with us. We took them to visit three of our partner organisations around the country where we ran workshops with local coaches. The first of the three visits meant a two and a half hour drive out of the capital city of Bamako to reach Niagendina School. Once there, Laura and Tracy were met by Fousseyni, a local coach who completed our level three course in 2008. This was the first time that FA coaches had been on a visit to see our local coaches running sessions for young people in their own communities. Fousseyni delivered an HIV crossover session to a group of girls he works with on a weekly basis and was extremely proud to have Tracey and Laura there to see him putting his skills in to practice. The session was delivered with incredible energy and enthusiasm - even in 38 degree heat!

Our next stop was Segou, north-east of Bamako, where we visited the Ligue de Segou and met Issa Traore who has taken part in several Coaching for Hope courses. Working with Tracey and Laura, Issa set up a three-hour coaching session for 79 young people in the stadium of Segou. The large group was divided in to two smaller groups according to age, with each group spending 90 minutes on coaching practices and game based drills delivered by Tracey and Laura and 90 minutes in game coaching by their team managers. This meant that each of the young participants had the opportunity to receive 90 minutes of top-class coaching from one of The FA coaches.

Back in Bamako we made our third and final visit with the coaches from The FA, to Amassord School for deaf and mute young people. Local coach Nouhoum Keita ran an HIV crossover session to build awareness and share key messages with the young participants about how to protect themselves; this was communicated in sign language and demonstrations. His session was a perfect example of how football can be used to break down barriers such as language, disability, nationality and gender. When the games began, communication became very clear; the rules were easily picked up through active participation and by making mistakes that weren't punished. People used different forms of communication to pass messages on, from eye contact to pointing and sign language. The fact that no form of verbal language was used in this game was an absolute testament to Nouhom's skills and outstanding coaching ability. Laura and Tracy agreed that this was one of the most inspiring football practices ever.

Partnership with Peace Corps continues to 2010

Following the success of our first training course in partnership with the U.S. Peace Corps of Burkina Faso, we're delighted to announce that Peace Corps have now secured funding from USAID to continue the partnership for a second year. We ran our first joint training course in July 2009 with 20 Burkinabé football coaches and 10 Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) from rural areas completing our level 1 football and sexual health awareness course. As a result, the Burkinabé coaches are now using sport to deliver sexual health workshops to vulnerable young people in their home villages, and the PCVs are able to support these coaches and involve them in other community programmes.

Our partnership with Peace Corps has enabled us to roll out our sexual health and football workshops for young people in a very sustainable way. Many of the participants live in rural areas where there is often little access to clear information about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. The partnership has also allowed Peace Corps to intertwine sports into its social activities and enhance the experience of its PCVs.

“It was great working with Coaching for Hope because it allowed us to experience and participate in new methods of educating youth in HIV/AIDS and healthy living practices and to take those methods back to our villages. I think that the collaboration between Peace Corps and Coaching for Hope will achieve a widespread effect because so many parts of the country were represented at the training and the Volunteers will be able to act as facilitations at the village level.”
Casey Kean, Peace Corps Volunteer.

Flash floods leave thousands homeless

On September 1st 2009, flash floods claimed 187 lives and affected 635,273 people in West Africa. On that day in Burkina Faso, an estimated 100,000 people, including two of our own employees, lost their homes and possessions when 264 millimetres of rain fell in 12 hours - the biggest deluge since records began 90 years ago.

It was the poorest who suffered the brunt of the floods and there are now approximately 63,000 people living in camps around Ouagadougou, facing six months or more in incredibly difficult conditions. There is little for the young people to do and many cannot afford to go to school. HIV awareness campaigns are often run through schools, so the children who are not lucky enough to attend school are now left in a very vulnerable position.