The problem we are trying to solve: Rwanda has a large youth population of under 30’s who are unemployed or under-employed. They are still recovering from the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide that tore apart the fabric of the society in 1994.

Our goal is to teach these young people to use sports as an empowerment tool and teach them how to create jobs and earn a living from sports as coaches across various fields, such as personal training, coaches in schools and coaches at grassroots levels across all the community.

Why do we care about this: During the genocide I lost 35 members of my own family, including my youngest brother, aged just 7 years old at the time. I owe my survival and that of my family to the protection we received from fellow members of the Rayon Sports Team.

Football literally saved my life due to the strength of the bond that we developed during our sporting days. It transcended all ethnic differences and ultimately gave me hope for the future.

It is this faith in the beautiful game of football that led me to establish FHPU  – Football for Hope, Peace and Unity – a charity that teaches about the value of sports in society.

How will the money be spent? The funds will be used to initiate a  3-month training programme, which will:

• Train 100 youth coaches on sport and life skills impacting over 10,000 people.
• Buying training equipments such as 100 footballs and others.
• Cover medical insurance for the duration of the 3 months programme.
• Accommodation for 3 months for 100 coaches and 10 instructors.
• Connecting at least 25 coaches with schools and local youth communities.

When will supporters see the difference? The launch of FHPU Sports Coaching Academy is scheduled to take place in September 2016 and the first graduates will be announced at the end of December 2016.

The whole project programme is planned to run until 2020, with a total of 5,000 sport for social impact coaches graduating from the programme.