UGANDA 

1. Basketball:

Many young individuals are not using their free time in a positive and constructive manner, and have as such fallen prey to several vices. We therefore felt it befitting to find a way of helping them use their time in a fun filled way. Hence the formation of the following teams under which they receive instruction and training in basketball for at least two hours a week.

JUNIOR TEAM (13 – 16) years

SENIOR TEAM (13 years and above but still in school, either primary or secondary)

COMMUNITY TEAM (Open to all regardless of age or academic background)

GIRS’ TEAM (Open to all girls)

We are currently reaching out to over 180 youths and children. On average we have between 20 – 30 youth on court each day.

We encourage them to have personal training jerseys however we do lend training jerseys for free to those that do not have any.

GHANA

1. Basketball:

Basketball is our main tool to positively affect the lives of our youths. Therefore we set up four different teams:

U14

U17

COMMUNITY TEAM

ALL GIRLS TEAM

Through basketball, we are reaching approximately 160 children aging from 6 to 17 years old. A free shoe rental system gives us the opportunity to reach out to an increased number of children, due to the fact that several kids were not playing because they couldn’t afford the equipment!

 

 

 

 

 

2. Life skills training:

I)        Leadership:

We encourage our members to strive to be leaders as opposed to followers and many of them have the potential to be just that. We therefore ask them to choose their leaders whom we nurture, teach and advise on the aspect of leadership as well as giving them hands-on experience by stepping back and letting them take the lead and conduct some training sessions and team talks.

 II)       Teamwork:

In any collective sport, players have to work hand in hand to achieve a common goal. The victory depends on the effort of all.

 III)      Commitment and perseverance:

Players have to commit themselves to train on specific days and make sacrifices for the benefit of the team.

 IV)     Respect:

Coming from different backgrounds, we learn how to respect individual differences as well as respect the rules established by the team.

 V)      Self-esteem:

We are teaching the kids to trust in themselves, to stand up for what they believe and resist peer pressure.

 

 

3. TERMLY follow up on school performance:

We initiated a system where each school going member is given an academic file. At the end of every term each one presents a copy of one’s report for review and record keeping. The students and ABaCoDe staff then evaluate their performance one to one, and build goals to enable progress in the next term.

This evaluation system involves students, teachers and parents as well as ABaCoDe staff.

 

4. Community outreach program:

ABaCoDe Uganda is based in an urban area and more so almost in a business district. Thus we are unable to get as many youth and children as we would like to have involved in our programs at our centre. We are therefor expanding into other areas through an outreach program, which requires the ABaCoDe team of basketball ambassadors and volunteers. The outreach program visits several schools and communities with basketball infrastructure in place. The ambassadors and volunteers give a training session and an instruction in basketball basics. At the end of these sessions, the ABaCoDe staff initiates interactive talks on several issues affecting the youth.  

 

3. Homework club and monthly follow-up on school performance and behaviour:

It is mandatory for children involved in the program to attend the homework club and extra classes. Students, teachers, parents and ABaCoDe also sign an agreement to be able to monitor the players’ performance and behavior at school.

 

4. Community clean-ups:

A community clean up is great way to show that we care about our local environment, while actively encouraging people not to litter and take pride in where they live. Each of us holds an obligation to preserve and protect our environment. Since one of the objectives is for the kids to change the community, they are invited to participate in any community effort that would require their help.

 

5. ‘Voices of the voiceless’ Photography:

Through our various activities, we identified numerous disparities between the girls and the boys in Ghana. For instance, girls have more chores to do than boys, resulting in less free time to play. Education is also a issue: In a poor community where some parents cannot afford to send all their children to school, they will invest in the boy’s education rather than the girls’. Consequently, girls are less educated, feel shyer and are less confident. In order for more girls to take an active role in their community, we initiated a Photographing project called ‘Voices of the voiceless’. In this project, photography is a form of art, a form of expression but also an educational activity. We often hear that a picture is worth a thousand words. Through this project, we want the world to hear the voices of young marginalized girls empowered to make a change.