Back to Football for Hope program overview

About the Campaign:
“20 Centres for 2010” is the Official Campaign of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. Its aim is to raise funds to create twenty Football for Hope Centres for public health, education and football across Africa. The centres will address local social challenges in disadvantaged areas and improve education and health services for young people. The Football for Hope Centre in Khayelitsha is the first of the 20 Football for Hope Centres in Africa. Read more about The Football for Hope Campaign

Center Host:
Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF)

About the Center Host:

History:
Founded in 2007 by Congolese Cypriot Noella Coursaris Musunka, GMF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization registered in the DRC and NY, which is comprised of a diverse team of non-profit and private industry professionals with a vocation for empowering African girls through education.
GMF’s Vision/Mission:
The Georges Malaika Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of African communities by providing educational opportunities to young girls, aged 5 to 18. Its vision is to mobilize the resources necessary to overcome the insurmountable obstacles a young girl faces to obtain an education in the Democratic Republic of Congo. GMF provides assistance that paves the way for opportunity, generates greater choice and empowers girls to make informed decisions. GMF endeavors to permanently alter the cycle of illiteracy and poverty within the D.R. Congo. The GMF Girls School project is located in the village of Kalebuka in the Munama quarter positioned in the southeastern part of Congo and outside of Congo’s second largest city, Lubumbashi. The majority of the areas inhabitants live in extreme poverty, have little access to education, health services and job opportunities and are supported primarily by subsistence farming. The all-inclusive tuition free school is the first of its kind in a very underserved area in the DRC.
Program focus:
The primary purpose of GMF is to provide education to young women and girls in the DRC, but its influence in stimulating positive change has already extended far beyond the scope of education. The connection between development and health as well as proper sanitation is undeniable and the focus on access to clean water, medical supplies & equipment has been a valuable focus of GMF projects. The organization served as a liaison to bring two wells that provide fresh drinking water to the school’s pupils and the community of Kalebuka leading to an improvement in quality of life. The organizations contribution to facilitating the shipping of 5 containers of essential medical supplies and equipment worth over 2.5 million dollars to various hospitals in Katanga province has made a measurable impact on decreasing the mortality rate in the region.
Approach:
One of the great strengths of the Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF) is the partners operating on the ground that have offered invaluable support both financially and programmatically through the building of the girls school. Partnerships and teamwork are the secret ingredients to the success at GMF. From local community participation to forging public-private partnerships both locally and internationally to reaching out to one on one individual supporters, they thrive on building collaborations to achieve a deeper level of sustainable development that is built from the ground up.

Site Description:

The terrain is 3 ha large and the new FFH Centre will occupy only part of it. The Centre will be connected to Route Munama through a roughly 130 meter long access road. It is desirable that this section will be double lined with trees to create a shaded and attractive entrance. The Centre shall be placed in the North corner next to the access road. This way the access road can be minimized and the rest of the land be left untouched and undisturbed for future expansions. The site is flat and site work will be minimal except clearing and planting of new vegetation. After entering through the tree lined road visitors will arrive on a plaza next to the new centre building and the football pitch. The plaza will function as arrival, gathering and parking area.

Design Principles:

Simplicity of the building: Dictated by the limited construction budget
Ecology, Sustainability: Hydraform Bricks are a very green building material: local soil, local labor, minimum amount of cement and no need for burning bricks, which fosters deforestation. Use of local materials where ever possible
Geographic Factors: Appropriate building style: large roof overhangs provide shelter from sun and rain and create outdoor spaces for social interaction. Planting rows of Jack Fruit trees along the access road are an inexpensive and fast way for creating shade, site recognition and food
Connectivity to GMF School: It makes sense to use similar materials, construction methods and formal language as the existing school

Design:

- Linear, economical building parallel to site border and Route Munama, at corner of site near to Route Munama and access road
- Simple, single pitched roof
- Large roof overhangs provide shelter from sun and rain and create outdoor spaces for social interaction and activities such as classes, workshops, socializing, playing, viewing of football games and waiting for health services provided in the center
- Football pitch parallel to new building and near North-South orientation for sun-path consideration
- Space between building and football field: used for festivities, games, match viewing …