Location: Manica, Mozambique

Centre Host: Grupo Desportivo de Manica

Status: in pre-design phase

Apr 24, 2010: Grupo Desportivo de Manica named Centre Host number 12

The Manica Football for Hope Centre will be located in Vumba, a suburb of Manica, a market town in western Mozambique near the border to Zimbabwe. The majority of the town’s 40,000 inhabitants live in extreme poverty, with the legacy of colonialism and war still very much seen and felt in this disadvantaged area.

Despite socio-economic difficulties, Manicans are committed to fighting for a better future with dignity, hope and pride.

Grupo Desportivo de Manica (GDM) is a sport and recreation club that uses football and other sports to facilitate social change. It was founded in 1980 by the community of Manica, when, in a time of brutal civil war, ordinary people expressed their need for social cohesion, their hope, and their belief that life under the Mozambican sun can be good.

GDM believes that everything happens through relationships. The organisation pursues all activities and programmes through friendships that explore sustainable solutions, and it allows growth to occur organically. Its holistic approach focuses on enabling Manicans to lead lives that reflect their own value systems.

The Manica Football for Hope Centre will offer a wide range of activities alongside its football-based life skills programmes for its target group of young people aged 10-24. The More Than A Player programme, just one initiative run by peer educators, sees young A-Team players not only act as coaches, but also as role models off the pitch, building trust-based relationships and helping young people develop their life skills in various settings.

GDM will continue its strong computer literacy training programme in the Football for Hope Centre, further addressing a key need of young people in the community. It will also provide English lessons, with visitors from abroad providing a special opportunity for practice.

Health interventions covering nutrition, malaria and HIV/AIDS, including a programme that uses art to teach HIV/AIDS awareness to young people, will also find their home in the centre.

Located in GDM’s beautiful Futeco Park, the Manica Football for Hope Centre will provide the perfect setting for environmental awareness programmes. The centre will also address the needs of individuals outside the main target group, with a crèche for children aged 2-10 and activities such as veterans’ football, computer skills and chess geared toward individuals aged 25-65.

Municipality of Manica
University of Johannesburg

Chot Chikwandinga
Manica Football for Hope Centre Manager
Grupo Desportivo de Manica

tel: +258 84 573 1909
email: cchikwa@gmail.com
 
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