Tribune News Network
Bugesera (Rwanda)
Generation Amazing Foundation (GA) kicked-off its Sport for Development programme and unveiled the Generation Amazing Community Club (GACC), a community hub and safe space, in Rwanda, marking its inaugural initiative in Africa.
In partnership with Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports and Rwanda’s National Rehabilitation Service (NRS), GA rebuilt new sports infrastructure including football, volleyball and basketball facilities at the Gitagata Rehabilitation Centre in Bugesera.
The GACC is designed to inspire, empower, and uplift young individuals undergoing a rehabilitation process at the Gitagata Rehabilitation Centre, which includes psychosocial adjustment and vocational training. The Centre provides training and support to over 1200 underprivileged children and 350 young women. The integration of GA’s unique Sports for Development programme within this process aims to reinforce their rehabilitation objectives through sports-based activities.
The successful launch of the GACC programme at the Gitagata Rehabilitation Centre in Rwanda, is a significant step in fostering youth empowerment globally and leveraging sports for development to promote international cooperation and further strengthen ties between the Middle East and Africa.
The launch event was held on the side-lines of the Qatar Africa Business Forum (QABF) and was attended by esteemed guests from the Ministry of Sports Rwanda, the Mayor of Bugesera District and joined by a delegation from Qatar as well leadership from GA and on the ground-partners, including NRS, Esperance, and Vision Group.
Twenty local coaches, who underwent rigorous training by Generation Amazing Foundation team, led the various sporting activities during the launch. They engaged with 60 participants from the Centre in basketball, volleyball and football activities, designed specifically to impart essential social skills such as teamwork, problem-solving and leadership. These activities utilised GA’s methodologies that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals focusing on health and well-being, quality education, inclusion and gender equality.
Rwego Ngarambe, Director General of Sports Development at Rwanda’s Ministry of Sports, emphasised the pivotal role of facilities like the GACC in advancing the ministry’s mission, “Facilities such as these are very key to the mission of the ministry in developing sports for high-level athleticism and competition. But we also have to ensure that there are sports for development, nurturing individuals from a young age into adulthood, so facilities like the GACC are crucial in contributing to that mission.”
Bugesera District Mayor, Richard Mutabazi, stated, “Having facilities such as the ones that we built here, including a football pitch, basketball and volleyball courts, is a huge support towards sports development. Sports is used as therapy for the kids we support here in the rehabilitation centre and as a tool to teach them important values.”
Nasser Al Khori, GA Executive Director, said “Our GACC at Gitagata Rehabilitation Centre demonstrates GA’s dedication to taking the Qatar 2022 social legacy of leveraging the power of sports towards community and youth development and expanding it from regional focus to global impact. We thank the ministries and our partners for coming together to ensure the continued success of this endeavour that will leave a lasting positive impact for the local community in Bugesera. Aside from the centre serving as a haven to over 1200 underprivileged children and 350 young women undergoing rehabilitation, with the addition of the GACC, it is now a wider community safe space that provides a conducive environment for learning and social enterprise, empowering educators and coaches to cultivate life-long and transformative essential skills for the youth of the community.”
GA has built over 41 football pitches and community clubs in under-privileged communities around the world to date.
