Kwahu Tafo Village Football Academy

Introduction

Due to poverty, many parents in rural areas of Ghana are unable to pay for their children to go to school for very long. They end up dropping out and going onto the streets. Unemployment is rife, and so the children get involved in drugs and other vices leading to further social problems.

To enable these children to get out of this mess and to return to school, an initiative was introduced called Operation Catch them Young. It was realized that most of the kids liked soccer and were very talented in the game. A Soccer Academy was therefore established to train these boys how to play better soccer and also give them an education.

Director

The on-site director of Kwahu Tafo Village Football Academy is Eric Djane. He is a professional teacher and a social worker. Eric loves working with children and volunteers together. He supports the project with his time, money, and expertise. He has been working with the project for the past three years as of June 2007. His commitment for the project has caused him to move from his personal apartment to stay with the boys at their hostel. He lives day in and day out with the boys. He is a constant teacher. He enjoys reading and telling jokes. He is also skilled in African music, dance, and drumming. His interactions with other volunteers has given him extensive knowledge about volunteers and as such knows how to handle their enquiries and problems.

Volunteer Coordinator: Ulises Huerta.

Ulises spent several months in Ghana in 2007.

Activities you will be involved in:

There are three major areas in which volunteers can offer their services:

• teaching at local area schools during the day in addition to teaching after-school-classes in basic mathematics, English, and science.

• coaching soccer after school activity.

• assisting the local soccer instructors to provide counselling to help the children to resist drugs and other social vices, and educating the children on how to avoid HIV and AIDS infection.

Volunteers can decide to do any or all of the above activities. Before coming, if you can collect footballs, jerseys, and soccer boots to support us, it will be greatly appreciated.

Volunteers during their free time can also learn the local Ghanaian music (Drumming and Dancing) if interested. You can also play soccer with the local teams, visit historic sites, climb the Bruku rock (the tallest volcanic plug in Africa) and go canoeing on the Volta Lake, which is the largest man-made lake in the world.

The Project

The project is very young, having eight academies in different villages with twenty-two children in each academy. The academy pays for the childrens school fees, provides them with clothes for school and pocket money. It also provides football kits (i.e. jerseys, footballs and soccer boots) for them. On the evenings in which the children do not attend soccer training, they attend after-school-classes in areas such as basic mathematics, English and science, to complement what they are taught in school.

Who do we need?

The project would like to receive volunteers, both males and females, who love to work with kids between the ages of 7 and 15. No special skills are required, but placements will suit volunteers who like outdoors activities and sports.

The Environment

This project is located in the Eastern Region of Ghana in an area called Kwahu Ridge. Kwahu is a mountainous area with 15 towns and a population of 200,000 people, situated a couple of hours north of Accra. The majority of people living here are peasant farmers and, as a result, very poor.

Accommodation & food costs:

Volunteers in both the football and drama projects live together in a beautiful compound with several separate rooms. There is electricity and running water available. If you are a couple coming to either project together and it is important for you to share a room, please let your volunteer coordinator, know in advance so the necessary arrangements can be made.

Both Ghanaian and exotic food are prepared for volunteers including a variety of vegetables and fruits.