SOKA FOR GOMA – BUILDING FOOTBALL FIELDS IN GOMA FOR CHILDREN

This wonderful adventure began in 2015 when Charles and Tassilo, two childhood friends and great football fans, decided to go to Goma in Congo to give football training and internships to the children of HAD. HAD is part of En Avant les enfants, KISANY’s partner ASBL, and is one of the eight projects that deal with the integration of the elderly in Goma, with the help of vegetable gardens. The trainings were intended for the grandchildren of these elderly people.

This first experience was a real success with the young people there and our two friends have only one idea in mind: to return to the area with a more concrete project.

They left in 2017 with three other friends, Thibault, Alexandre and Tanguy, who were very enthusiastic about the project and also football fans and young workers. The five of them raised €15,000 through activities organised with their families and friends, but also with the help of their companies, which were seduced by the project and their motivation.

This money will be used to build a small football filed on a concrete slab on a plot of land belonging to En Avant les enfants, which will also serve as a basketball court, much appreciated by the girls of Goma.

The project was a success and it is therefore only natural that our 5 companions decide to go back in 2021 with an even bigger project: to build a real football field in compacted earth that will be used for teenagers.

This project requires finding 30,000 € which they will manage to collect thanks to their professional network. By showing concretely what had already been done during their previous trips to Goma and by displaying their professionalism, they will succeed in convincing companies to sponsor them. Not forgetting of course their friends and families for whom they have organised small events throughout the year (football tournament, previews, dinners, etc.) which have attracted many people.

This football field was built by paid workers, but also with the participation of the young people so that they would be proud and understand the merit of having this beautiful field. With the remaining budget, they decided to renovate the old pitch, build 3 new sanitary facilities and provide maintenance for the pitches and sanitary facilities for the next 3 years to ensure that the efforts put in place would be sustainable.

Today, more than 1,500 young people from En avant les enfants and the surrounding area take advantage of these two fields to fill their days.

But this success is also possible thanks to the help and follow-up of the maintenance of the fields by Jean-Philippe who lives on the spot and who believes in the project.

In view of the growing success and the happiness that this project brings to the area, they would like to return to Goma to transform the existing field with synthetic turf that they would glean from Belgian football clubs. A great example of the circular economy!

We wish them good luck with this project and if you want to participate, you can contact them via their Instagram account sokaforgoma.

Good luck to them!