At the end of July I am going to Mwanza/Tanzania to help to build up and volunteer in a football academy and orphanage. The “Tanzanian Street Children Sports Academy” is a unique project. The idea is that most talented children from Mwanza, a city with more than a million people, raise media awareness through newspapers, radio and TV to point at the high number of street children and the need to support them in getting them off the streets. Beside getting the first professionals to Europe the goal is that in the long run the transfer sums will be used to fight against this social injustice which street children suffer. Also players are supposed to help with parts of their future wages. Beside the academy, the organization also runs a centre where former street children find a shelter and get supported. The goal of the center is to reintegrate the children into Society.
The academy has more than 120 children in six teams (U20, U17, U15, U13, Girls Team and Street Children Team). All players come from a poor environment and train 3-6 times a week. To give you an idea, some players have to pay about 12 pounds every month for daily travelling to the training by bus while the average wage of their parents is about 55 pounds. Also a proper nutrition cannot be guaranteed, good football shoes are too expensive and many families struggle to pay the yearly school fees of about 40 pounds. In stage two of the set up process of the academy (2011-2014) all these aspects shall be paid for by the academy. This demands structural and financial supporting by donators.
Stage one (2009-2010) had the goal of founding and establishing the academy and was very successful even though the budget was very low and players could not be supported as much as explained above. The academy has already two youth national players, a team participated in the Deloitte Street Children World Cup in South Africa and the academy is already one of the top youth teams in the country and probably the only one that does not lie with the age of its players. Stage 2 needs now high investments to reach the next goals. On the one hand the infrastructure has to be improved (a small club house is supposed to be build where players get food after every training, a second football pitch is needed and goals should be bought).
I want to get involved in this project and therefore it would be great if you could help me by donating. Every pound is worth soo much in Tanzania and helps us in changing the lives of the children. You can find some impressions on Jürgens Homepage (http://www.tsc-academy.org/) under impressions..
