PROJECT-SUPPORT SOUTH AFRICA

Country / Place

South Africa, Cape Town

South Africa is a country at the southern tip of Africa, known for its breathtaking landscapes and wildlife. The country borders six neighbouring states: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini, and the Kingdom of Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa. South Africa covers an area of around 1.22 million square kilometres and has a population of around 60 million. The population is ethnically and culturally diverse, with eleven official national languages. The largest cities are Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria.

Cape Town is located on the south-west coast and is the capital of the Western Cape province. With around 4.7 million inhabitants, it is the second largest city in the country after Johannesburg. Its multicultural population is made up of various ethnic groups - including descendants of European colonists, indigenous peoples, Malays, as well as people of African and Asian origin. Cape Town plays a central role in the country, both economically and culturally. As an important metropolis in the Cape, it plays a prominent role in tourism and education.

General

Young Bafana is a non-profit organisation that has been dedicated to the holistic development of children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa since 2010. With the help of a comprehensive football and education programme, the organisation aims to break the vicious cycle of poverty through sport, education, and healthy eating.

In hardly any other country is the social gap between rich and poor as wide as in South Africa. Therefore many children from difficult backgrounds have few prospects. In the region around Cape Town, over three million people live in poverty-stricken neighbourhoods (townships). Almost 50% of the adult population are not employed but have to provide for their families.  

This is where the work of the Young Bafana Soccer Academy comes in. Through education, sport, healthy eating, and respectful interaction, the organisation improves the life prospects of children from the townships in the long term. The young participants receive individualised support on their personal journey through life, which significantly increases their chances of a future beyond poverty and crime. Young Bafana aims to improve the living conditions of the children and adolescents in four programme areas: adequate and healthy nutrition, education and the promotion of media skills, targeted support for girls, and the expansion and improvement of infrastructure.

Beneficiaries

Every week, 250 children and young people between the ages of 6 and 18 come to the academy after school for football training. The football training sessions for the ten teams are run by coaches and volunteers. After each training session, the children receive a nutritious, healthy meal. Supplementary schooling, maths, and English lessons increase their chances of choosing a career or attending university later on. The children from unsafe or remote neighbourhoods are then taken home by bus.

Project-support

Project: Promotion of girls

The Young Bafana Soccer Academy aims to maintain the quality of its programmes at the highest level while enabling more children to participate. Over the next two to three years, the number of children attending the programme each week will be increased from the current 250 to 400. This will require an expansion of the existing infrastructure - both on and off the pitch. Plans include new classrooms with modern IT equipment, sufficient changing rooms and sanitary facilities, a new kitchen, and an expansion of the educational programme.

A particular focus is on expanding the facilities for the growing girls' team. At present, the changing rooms are too small and there is a lack of privacy and suitable sanitary facilities. Improving these conditions is crucial; it not only increases comfort but also encourages more girls to take part in the educational programmes. The aim is to give as many of them as possible access to IT training, and English and maths lessons. This strengthens the self-confidence of girls and young women - and sustainably improves their chances of leading a self-determined life with equal rights.