Last Friday, on July 20th, the Football for Hope Ramotswa centre project had its ground breaking ceremony.

SEDYEA members, Ramotswa city council members, teachers from local schools, the local police and of course the community all gathered around the contractor and a council representative to celebrate the start of construction.

The event was covered by Botswana TV (it made it to the national news, just after Nelson Mandela's birthday) and was published in Boidus, a magazine focusing on architecture in Botswana.

The project should be completed after 4 months of construction and is really awaited for by all the kids of the community.

Building footprint marked out on site using string and chairs - Mr Richard Mpofu from Rimu Enterprises ( the contractor)

SEDYEA's center opened five years ago in an effort to fight HIV/AIDS among young people, especially in the South East. SEDYEA operates across the South East District of Botswana. The existing SEDYEA Youth Centre on the site in Ramotswa serves as the hub for all their programs that are currently implemented in five villages across the South East District, Ramotswa, Taung, Tlonkweng, Mogobane and Otse,referred to as zones. The new center completes the facilities and comes as a link organizing the site between the existing building, the cooking facilities and the garden.

The L-shaped building forms a small arrival courtyard welcoming visitors and creating a sheltered social outdoor area. This courtyard is connected visually to the football pitches via the outdoor seminar room. The multi-purpose room, computer room and offices are all accessible directly off the courtyard via a covered circulation area. The outdoor seminar space is located facing both pitches to serve as a match planning area during practice sessions and a cover for the stage and spectator rest area during league days.

More news coming soon. To learn about the Football for Hope campaign.