This project will fund Flame Cambodia's football program for the entire year of 2019 for 65 slum living children. It will provide football uniforms, training equipment, transportation for the kids, a coach, clean filtered water and more. The purpose of Flame's football program is to help transform slum living kids into educated leaders by building character and life skills, helping them overcome or avoid social issues rampant among the poor, and keeps them motivated in their school learning.
Currently 511 urban slums exist in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. With 65% of the country's population under the age of 30, thousands of kids reside in these slums trapped in the poverty cycle. On average, a child attends school for just over 4 years and even less for a slum living kid. They are most at risk of labour and sexual exploitation, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and serious illnesses. Flame has supported over 280 kids to attend school, of which 65 are part of this football program.
Flame helps the poorest kids in urban Phnom Penh climb their way out of poverty through education. But what about the kids who love sport more than spelling and football more than maths? Our mandate is "To do WHAT IT TAKES to identify, grow and launch leaders." Education is a non negotiable, but for kids who struggle to keep up in the school pressure cooker environment, football is a hugely encouraging and motivating tool to aid their studies and keep them in school.
This project will fund Flame's football program for the whole year of 2019, allowing 65 kids to train and play football every week. This program not only reduces the drop-out rate of high school aged boys, but teaches valuable lessons in teamwork, communication and character. It addresses issues of isolation, identity, anger and hopelessness. In the long term, it helps transform kids into leaders who inspire and lift their families and potentially whole communities out of poverty.
