Africa
Africa
Sports Gift has distributed tens of thousands of items of sports equipment to over 16 countries in Africa. The poverty in Africa is extreme and widespread. The children face severe life challenges including wars and violence, lack of clean water, food and safe housing, diseases such as HIV/Aids. There are millions of orphans in Africa having lost their parents to violence or disease. In some cases children are forced to live on the streets as their family does not have the resources to care for them. Below are some of the stories from Africa during 2010 and 2009:
2010
Botswana
Partner Organization: Campus Crusade for Christ
Items Donated: 234
Children Impacted: 100+
This gift of soccer equipment
included balls, uniforms, goalie jerseys, cleats and related soccer equipment.
This soccer equipment is used with orphans in Gabarone, Botswana. Gabarone is
the capital of Botswana and 2001 census put population at 186,000, with many
orphans due to the high aids death rate. The program worked with a feeding
station for two weeks and feeding hundreds of various youth daily as well as
playing sports with them and giving them attention. When they leave the church,
they left the sports equipment for the church to continue to use.
Ethiopia
Partner Organization: Coast Hills Community Church
Items Donated: 394
Children Impacted: 4,000+
This gift of soccer equipment
included uniforms, balls, cones, goals and other related equipment was given to
the community of Bahar Dar, which is located in the northern part of Ethiopia.
Bahar Dar is a community of 225,000. A group of 1.3 million impoverished people
(The Awi) is in Ethiopia. The Awi are primarily subsistence farmers and
herders, and rely on themselves to survive. Very few children actually finish
school beyond 3rd grade, as the kids actively participate in farming
and herding of the few sheep they may have. Because this program has donated
sports equipment, medical supplies and other to the local communities, it has
been granted wonderful opportunities to share its faith and reach out to the communities
to help.
Ethiopia
Partner Organization: International Medical Health Organization
Items Donated: 140
Children Impacted: 500+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, goalie jerseys, soccer balls and other sports
equipment. This program serves to develop and improve health care services and
infrastructure in under-served regions worldwide. One of its medical mission
volunteer trips was to Northwest Ethiopia. The program worked with primary and
secondary schools in rural and remote communities of mostly agricultural,
impoverished region. It is a very underdeveloped area, meaning basic living
accommodations for its residents. Therefore, the sports equipment will benefit
the children to spend fun time.
Ghana
Partner Organization: Youth Soccer Exchange
Items Donated: 358
Children Impacted: 150+
This gift of soccer equipment
included balls, uniforms, cleats, running shoes and other sports equipment. The
mission of this program is to assist youth soccer teams in Ghana acquire the
necessary equipment to participate in Youth Leagues in the country. The sports
equipment was donated to the Dansoman community, which is made up of young
families most of whom are unable to afford school fees for their children.
After school, children are expected to help in running a small family business
such as selling food or charcoal at a roadside stand. If they are lucky, they
get an hour for homework and once a week play sports with friends.
Kenya
Partner Organization: Mt. Elgon Social and Health Initiative
Items Donated: 80
Children Impacted: 300+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer jerseys, jump rope and other sports equipment.
The equipment was donated to Tuikut Village, which is located in the rural
region of Mt. Elgon where there is neither running water nor electricity. The
size of the community is about 1,500 people after the Kenyan Civil War in 2006.
Because of the relatively recent catastrophes, roughly one-third of the
children are orphans. Outside of school, the children have a number of family
chores. By playing sports and learning teamwork, the past pain caused by the
Civil War will be healed, and the children will learn how to work together.
Kenya
Partner Organization: Made In The Streets
Items Donated: 528
Children Impacted: 300+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, basketballs, volleyballs, soccer uniforms, running shoes
and other sports equipment. The mission of this organization is to give street
children in Nairobi, Kenya opportunity for a new life. The organization has a
Center in the Eastleigh area. All of their young people are initially sleeping
on the streets. They go through garbage for food, they beg, they steal, they
collect recyclables to sell, they do menial work to get a little money, they
use drugs primarily glue, they live in rags and sleep against walls. They use
some equipment with youth to play soccer and basketball games.
Kenya
Partner Organization: Biola University
Items Donated: 97
Children Impacted: 50+
This gift of soccer equipment was
provided to a youth program in Kenya by Biola University students.
Liberia
Partner Organization: Hands of Mercy
Items Donated: 193
Children Impacted: 60+
This gift of soccer equipment
included uniforms, goalie jerseys, balls and other related soccer equipment.
This equipment was distributed to help children play in soccer league. Children
are too poor to have uniforms and also to play in league. Community is
Paynesville, Liberia, which is suburb of capital Monrovia. Liberia is
recovering from thirteen years of devastating war. Area has no electricity or
running water, and unemployment rate is over 70%.
Liberia
Partner Organization: Healey Foundation
Items Donated: 1,572
Children Impacted: 3,500
This gift of soccer equipment
included balls, uniforms, cleats, shin guards and coaching supplies. The
equipment is for the Friendly Youth playground recreation center in Caritas
Freetown – Bo in Liberia. Hundreds of young people laze about the
sidewalks aimlessly with no place to go and no idea on how to utilize their
youthful energies. Many children sit indoors with the parents in fear of the
many dangers they would be exposed to should they let their children out around
the streets. The youth center will provide a safe haven to the youth.
Malawi
Partner Organization: Y-Malawi
Items Donated: 198
Children Impacted: 3,000+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer uniforms, cones, pennies, playground balls and
other sports equipment. In Nkhoma region of Malawi, there are approximately 25,000
people with high illiteracy rates, lack of farming skills and tools, and
significant health issues including an HIV-AIDS epidemic resulting in thousands
of orphans. In addition, there are approximately 1 million children in Malawi
with one or no parents, as well as children caring for ill parents. The mission
of this program is to provide community-wide sustainable development and
transformation in the areas of water and food security, health care, education,
evangelism and discipleship, youth programs and economic development.
Rwanda
Partner Organization: All God's Children International
Items Donated: 757
Children Impacted: 500+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer jerseys and t-shirts. This program has been doing orphan care
for over 18 years, and the jerseys and t-shirts were brought to the children at
orphanages. The program worked to build a soccer field at the Home of
Innocence, in Kilgali, Rwanda. This is a home for boys who have been living on
the streets. It also worked with the children of the Noel Orphanage in Gisenyi.
The children at the Noel Orphanage have very few living comforts. Multiple
children share each bunk, and the living conditions are extremely rustic.
Rwanda
Partner Organization: Kids Play International
Items Donated: 738
Children Impacted: 100+
This gift of sports equipment
included baseballs, mitts, bats, basketballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, soccer
uniforms, footballs, tennis racquets, tennis balls and other sports equipment.
Kids Play Int'l Program provided short term service trips to promote
interactive and educational sports programs and clinics for kids in orphanages
and schools in Rwanda. After having lived through the horrific genocide of
1994, Rwanda has taken great strides to move forward and recover in the years
since. Children learning through sports can be a very powerful tool that is
engaging and instrumental in improving self-esteem, discipline, fair play and
respect toward one another.
Rwanda
Partner Organization: Saddleback Church
Items Donated: 2,117
Children Impacted: 1,000+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, soccer balls, cleats, shin guards and other equipment
was donated to Rwanda. Saddleback Church established a soccer league and Bible
study for orphans and children in the community.
Rwanda
Partner Organization: Saddleback Church
Items Donated: 275
Children Impacted: 250+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, soccer balls, basketball, playground balls and other
sports equipment was donated to orphanages in Rwanda. The local church
initiates and takes action to bring lasting change to the communities. In
Rwanda, there are hundreds of children whose living conditions are very poor.
Here, soccer is a vehicle used by the church to connect street children to
families.
South Africa
Partner Organization: Rolling Hills Covenant Church
Items Donated: 244
Children Impacted: 50+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer uniforms, basketballs, basketball uniforms and
other sports equipment went to Bridges Academy in South Africa. Bridges Academy
is an orphanage/boarding school, which was founded after seeing the need for
better education and safety for the communities' children. An estimated
10million people are presently living with HIV/AIDS in the country.
Consequently, the number of children orphaned is devastating. In addition to
the AIDS pandemic, the black South African townships are plagued by poverty,
hunger, violence and unemployment. Brides Academy runs sports programs that
allow all the students to participate.
Tanzania
Partner Organization: Grace Outreach
Items Donated: 1,667
Children Impacted: 370+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer uniforms, shin guards, running shoes,
basketballs, playground balls and other sports equipment. This program
conducted soccer outreach in Kigoma, Tanzania. This is a small fishing town
with numerous villages along Lake Tanyanika. The living conditions are well
below the poverty line for most children and most of the outlying villages do
not have electricity, and water is on a limited basis. Children go to school if
their parents can afford the fees. Children have limited resources with regards
to equipment, but love the game of football (soccer).
Tanzania
Partner Organization: Peace Corp
Items Donated: 194
Children Impacted: 300+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, balls, cleats, basketballs, running shoes, playground
items. Kicheba is a village of approximately 3,340 people living about 40 miles
outside the Tanga Town in Tanzania. The village is very poor with limited
resources. The children work very hard going to school, then doing chores and
farm work after school. The school soccer team was able to successfully
compete in a local soccer tournament finishing first place. As winners of the
tournament, they received a male goat, while the second place team received a
duck.
Uganda
Partner Organization: African Youth Ministries
Items Donated: 1,874
Children Impacted: 8,800+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, soccer balls, volleyballs, basketballs, running shoes
and other sports equipment. The equipments were used to serve vulnerable and
orphaned young persons both in rural and urban areas without forgetting
children and youth on the street. This program's project beneficiaries included
children and youth affected by the 20 years of armed conflict in Northern
Uganda and those orphaned as a result of the AIDS epidemic in Uganda.
Uganda and Kenya
Partner Organization: Sports Outreach Institute
Items Donated: 987
Children Impacted: 2,000+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, soccer uniforms, basketballs, basketball uniforms and
other sports equipment. This organization has trained and equipped over 100
Ugandan and Kenyan men and women in the use of sports as a means to build
community, further education, provide leadership training, promote vocational
training and education, and evangelism. They serve slum communities and
children who face extreme poverty, displacement or have been victimized by war.
Many of the children are orphans or street children.
Uganda
Partner Organization: U-Touch
Items Donated: 80
Children Impacted: 40+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer balls, uniforms, frisbees, and other sports equipment was given
to children in northern Uganda; Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. The living conditions
are some of the worst found in the world, including extreme poverty, no running
water, no indoor plumbing and no electricity in the huts. The way of life
represents basic survival, including walking for water, gardening if the family
has land, making bricks and etc. The sponsored students attend school. This
program opened community resource centers for, students, teachers, health
practitioners, all community members to access resources through technology as
well as on site. The sports equipment was provided for members and sponsored
students.
Zambia
Partner Organization: OM SportsLink
Items Donated: 2,556
Children Impacted: 700+
This gift of sports equipment
included soccer uniforms, soccer balls, running shoes, volleyball jerseys,
basketball uniforms and other sports equipment was given to six villages in
Zambia, which are located near the port city of Mpulungu. There are
approximately 40,000 children. Many children/youth have no access to school.
80% of the population is illiterate. AIDS/HIV is common and 60% of the children
have lost one or both parents to the disease. The schools that do operate in
this area do not offer extra-curricular activities. According to Melvin Chiombe
(field leader in Zambia), "Africa is a young continent, with the average age
being about 17. If we think of transforming Africa, we must speak the language
of the 17 year old person and that language is sport."
2009
Djibouti
Items Donated: 556
Children Impacted: 200+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, shin guards
and coaching supplies. This is a small, developing country with a
population of 500,000 people. There is high unemployment, poor health
care, lack of education opportunities, and an absence of natural
resources. The children here are usually over weight due to a
sedentary lifestyle and lack of sport activities and healthy diets.
The athletic activities outside of school ban girls and there is
often fighting between boys. This program is trying to start a
football (soccer) club with the donated sports equipment. Soccer is
the most popular program in Djibouti but the communities struggle to
find the funds to support local sport programs.
Ethiopia
Items Donated: 26
Children Impacted: 20+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls and uniforms. This program in
Mekedle, Ethiopia serves impoverished children. The goal of this
program is to build houses and support the children. This sports
equipment is for a team of 20 teenage boys who play soccer.
Ghana
Items Donated: 878
Children Impacted: 2,000+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, shin guards
and coaching supplies. This village in Ghana is the poorest tribe in
the nation (the Mo tribe) and people live in huts, they only have two
wells for their village of 100,000 people. They are working on
getting clean water and just received electricity in the village.
There is no sewer, running water or garbage dump. It is a privilege
to go to school because not many families can afford it. They have 1
torn apart soccer ball for the entire village and the schools lack
supplies too.
Kenya
Items Donated: 253
Children Impacted: 100+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, basketballs
and volleyballs for two orphanages. The Nyeri community in Kenya
suffers from severe poverty. These children were abandoned and live
and play at this orphanage / school. Their living conditions are very
bad, but the orphanage does have a basketball court to play on and
the children love to play soccer and basketball.
Kenya
Items Donated: 971
Children Impacted: 500+
This gift of sports equipment included soccer balls,
uniforms, cleats, shin guards, basketballs and coaching supplies for
two orphanages. The mission of this program is to improve the living
standards of some vulnerable children from the streets and improve
them through different activities like sports to promote a sense of
unity amongst them. Most people of the community are surrounded by
poverty and starvation so the children end up roaming the streets
searching for things such as a meal, a blanket, shelter and medical
care. This program provides for the basic necessities and education
for these children. The sports equipment is being used to help the
kids play in local tournaments and events to experience a structured
sports program.
Kenya
Items Donated: 380
Children Impacted: 100
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, shin
guards, basketballs and coaching supplies. This program is located
in Accra, Kenya and deals with protection, development rights and
welfare of children. Soccer is their mechanism of achieving these
goals since children love to play sports. There are two locations in
Kenya, both are inhabited by people living below minimum income level
and as a result become deprived due to poverty.
Malawi
Items Donated: 300
Children Impacted: 800+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, volleyballs
and other sports equipment. A United Nations report named Malawi as
the second poorest nation of the world. The sports equipment was
provided to youth programs in small villages. When the soccer
equipment is provided the entire village comes out to play.
Malawi
Items Donated: 125
Children Impacted: 1000+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats,
volleyballs, footballs and coaching supplies. This program provides
assistance to build schools, clean water wells and other support for
families in the community.
Malawi
Items Donated: 363
Children Impacted: 150
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats and other
sports equipment. This sports equipment will be used to provide
equipment and educational materials to instruct and introduce
children at several orphanages to new sports. There are multiple
orphanages benefiting from this gift where the kids will be taught
sports as well as responsibility and other life lessons. Malawi is
one of the least developed and most densely populated areas and life
expectancy is very low but birth rates are still very high. There is
also a high portion of the population with AIDS and the literacy rate
is also low. Sports can drastically help improve the quality of life
and education for the children of this country.
Malawi
Items Donated: 382
Children Impacted: 200+
This gift of
soccer equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, volleyballs,
basketballs, jerseys and running shoes. This gift was made to the
communities of Lilongwe and Blantyre in Malawi. This program works
in orphanages, prisons, child based and other similar groups through
the common theme of sports. The majority of the much needed sports
equipment will be used to get the children involved in organized
sports.
Rwanda
Items Donated: 105
Children Impacted: 300+
This gift of
soccer equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, volleyballs,
basketballs, jerseys and shoes. The program attempts to affect people
by assisting them in spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership,
extreme poverty, pandemic diseases and rampant illiteracy. This
sports equipment will go to children at refugee camps and hospitals
in Rwanda.
Uganda
Items Donated: 574
Children Impacted: 300+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, basketballs,
volleyballs and coaching supplies. The Otinowaa children’s
village is located in Northern Uganda. The village is small and
rural and growing rapidly.
Uganda
Items Donated: 24
Children Impacted: 600+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer ball and other sports equipment.
This community is located in the Iganga District of Uganda. Children
often play with balls made from strips of cloth or plastic. The
communities of interest are in the rural areas with a lot of young
and adolescent children. The sports equipment will be used in
organized soccer tournaments at schools. The goal is to gather adults
and children under a fun atmosphere to raise awareness about
important issues including safe water, sanitation and malaria
awareness.
Uganda
Items Donated: 712
Children Impacted: 500+
This gift of
sports equipment included soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, shin
guards, coaching supplies and playground equipment. The sports
equipment will go to an orphanage called New Hope. This is where
children without homes and families attend school and church and
live.
Zambia
Items Donated: 338
Children Impacted: 100+
This gift of
sports equipment included basketballs, volleyballs, uniforms and
coaching supplies. This program is located in Mufuiia, Zambia, a
community build around a copper mine. Fairview Falcons provides an
integrated approach to sports for youths from marginalized and
resource poor families. They also offer knowledge and awareness
against HIV/AIDS infectious diseases through educational
opportunities for the youths through a comprehensive mentorship
program. The city where the sports equipment is going has a
population of 122,336. This city has a large youth population with
the majority unemployed. Therefore, drug abuse and exploitation of
young girls is rampant. This organization is trying to address the
needs of the youth while at the same time to encourage them towards
the game of basketball.