Location
Rwanda
Key achievement
By gaining life skills, 40 young Esperance participants now play professional football
Espérance
Network Member
The ethnic groups of Rwanda today still struggle with the legacy of the genocide in 1994. In the search for justice and peaceful coexistence, Espérance bridges the ethnic divides of Rwanda through education and social programmes such as Football for Peace and Anti-AIDS.
The organisation uses football not only to reconcile differences within the population, but also to raise awareness of dire issues that young people and their communities face. Football tournaments are run in conjunction with AIDS awareness activities. Thousands of young people are trained on the football field each year and many more partake in other Espérance activities. Participants are not just educated; they are trained to be educators themselves.
