Empower Girls Through Soccer

20 join in Girls Leadership Initiative Launch

Our team in Cameroon recently hosted a group of 20 young women from around the Kumba municipality who were selected as leaders and influencers among their peers to participate in a series of leadership training workshops and experiences throughout the year. After this initial training, they'll continue with peer educator training to become team captains, referees, and match delegates in the upcoming PLAY4PURPOSE Girls League. 

Mrs. Clarise Ngwane presented on topics related to leadership styles and skill sets, including finding your voice to be a leader among peers. Ms. Christy Anang facilitated the conversation around violence against women, an issue identified by our Director of Programs, Nenne Ekoi, as one of the most pressing issues affecting girls and young women in Cameroon. Two brave girls who have suffered as victims of sexual violence shared their stories with participants. While some participants were timid at first, by the end of the session many felt comfortable to engage in the dialogue about this important topic. The second half of the workshop opened up the conversation to be led by participants.

After separating into small working groups to dive deeper into related topics and issues, representatives from each one gave a report out and answered questions from the whole group.

Girls in Kumba are now eligible to register for the PLAY4PURPOSE Girls League that kicks off next month. While we will be watching the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France this summer, as Cameroon has qualified as one of the African teams, our real focus will be on the educational games happening on the ground in K-town! We hope to increase the number of participants in Kumba to more than 50 who participated last year and we're counting on our Girls Leadership Initiative participants to recruit their peers to make this our best PLAY4PURPOSE Girls League ever!!

Links:

• Flashback to Super Cup to Empower Women