streetfootballworld network member Association Malienne Pour la Promotion de la Jeune Fille et de la Femme (AMPJF) welcomed the world to Baguinéda, Mali on September 24th for the groundbreaking ceremony of the organisation’s Football for Hope Centre.

As Centre Host, AMPJF will implement peer education, reproductive health sessions, capacity building, school catch-up courses for struggling in-school young people, education and literacy for out-of-school young people and football for girls at the centre, which is one of the first six Football for Hope Centres under development.

A centre celebration
The groundbreaking was celebrated in style, with a cultural performance from a local elder women’s council, a football demonstration from AMPJF’s own girls’ football teams, and several speeches and presentations from stakeholders including Football for Hope, the Malian Football Federation, the Malian Ministry of Youth and Child, and AMPJF.

World-renowned Malian musician Toumani Diabaté provided yet another reason to celebrate, publicly announcing his new role as Ambassador of the Baguinéda Football for Hope Centre.

The groundbreaking was also marked by the chief of Baguinéda laying the cement for the placement of a football sculpture on the first bricks of the Football for Hope Centre.  This monument will stand at the entrance of the centre.