Changing the life of the young boys and girls through Sports and Education in the village

Watching young boys and girls dropping out of school and indulge in alcohol and drug abuse due to poverty is a very painful thing I have seen growing up in the community. This increases number of crimes and teenage pregnancy to the youths. And this reason led to the formation of a football academy called Metsimotlhabe Football Academy (MEFA) where the young boys and girls are kept busy through sports and also helped with their studies.

The main mandate of the academy is to help the youth of Metsimotlhabe and the members of the academy to reduce consumption of alcohol and rehabilitate those of who have been under the influence, capacitate them on the dangers of alcohol and substance abuse. Alcohol abuse is a great public health concern worldwide, and it is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally.

The project will provide a sustainable livelihood to the youth of Metsimotlhabe and other youth on the surrounding area by;

- Training of the rehabilitated youths on enterprise creation and development
- Help bridge a gap that is between a boy child and a girl child, raise them on the same level as sports is for everyone.
- Take school drop outs, failed, less privileged children back to school.
- Create a platform where boys and girls build their character and confidence to become good future leaders.
- Facilitate access to grants/loans for the rehabilitated youths to develop their enterprises
- Creation of sustainable enterprises and jobs for the rehabilitated youths
- Help the youth to develop their passion in playing soccer

In order to ensure that, the intervention has long term and sustained impacts, Metsimotlhabe Football Academy will gear to do the following;

• Ensuring quality training on technical aspects of various innovations or business ideas
• Establishing linkages for the rehabilitated youths and connect them for continued support
• Ensuring that, the entrepreneurship modules are embedded in the rehabilitation training curriculum in order to reach a wider audience.

Through the incomes earned from the enterprises run by the rehabilitated youths, they will be financially sustainable hence able to meet their basic needs as well as that of their families.