streetfootballworld network member Kick4Life will be the seventh Centre Host in Football for Hope’s 20 Centres for 2010 campaign.

The centre in Maseru, Lesotho will be located in the Police Training Grounds of Old Europa in Maseru and will help young people address social challenges such as HIV/AIDS awareness, education and testing; essential life skills; personal development and work training.

Kick4Life cofounder Pete Fleming is thrilled to be able to offer a new resource to local young people: “Being selected as a Centre Host as part of the official World Cup campaign is a fantastic development for Kick4Life that will provide a first-class sports, health and education facility right in the heart of Maseru, Lesotho’s capital. It will enable us to deliver activities to thousands of orphans and vulnerable children in an aspirational setting, and become, we hope, a centre of excellence for the use of football as a tool for social development.”

For the community, with the community
Kick4Life will be responsible for running educational, public health and football programmes in the centre, as well as for ensuring community involvement and ownership.

The community is already firmly behind the project. Mbulelo Mochochoko, Maseru District Co-ordinator, says, “The centre will bring positive change for Basotho youth and especially Kick4Life volunteers now and in the future. It also provides an excellent facility for youth to gather and discuss HIV/AIDS and showcases Lesotho’s talent in football.”

Construction is due to begin in September 2010, with completion set for March 2011.

20 Centres for 2010
The aim of the 20 Centres for 2010 campaign is to create twenty Football for Hope Centres in disadvantaged communities across Africa as a legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Each centre provides underprivileged communities with public health, education and football facilities.

Construction is already underway in Namibia, Ghana, Mali, Rwanda and Kenya; the first centre in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa was officially opened in December 2009.