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World Cup spirit lives on in Youth Zones

2 August 2010

The energy and spirit of South Africa's 2010 Fifa World Cup is being harnessed for sustainable social development in Africa through the Youth Zones initiative, which combines football, computer literacy and life-skills training to create an enabling environment for young people in disadvantaged communities.

Youth Zones is a joint initiative of the Foundation for a Safe South Africa (FSSA), the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the Embassy of the Netherlands and the Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa).

In South Africa, the programme is already running in sites where the LOC built high-level synthetic football pitches, in Mamelodi, Evaton North and Cosmo City in Gauteng province; Upington in the Northern Cape; Somerset West and East in the Western Cape; Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga; Jane Furse in Limpopo province; and Mogwase in Rustenburg, North West province.

It is also running in Umzimkhulu and Mutare in neighbouring Zimbabwe, and in Manica in Mozambique.

Grass-roots capacity building

The programme aims to build the capacity of grass-root football teams by supporting them with football equipment, coaching and organisational growth.

At the same time, the computer literacy component teaches youngsters how to use computers and provides them with internet, while the life-skills component teaches communication, conflict resolution, teamwork, responsibility, health and leadership.

Overall, the programme aims to create enabling environments in which young people develop self-belief and the confidence they need to take risks and be creative.

Each community is encouraged to launch three small "organic" projects of their own initiative. Projects already off the ground revolve around netball, gymnastics, culture, English literacy, entrepreneurship, and combating HIV/Aids.

"The challenge is to prevent those who are born into victim circumstances from becoming offenders," says project leader Roelf Meyer of the Foundation for a Safe South Africa. "Making choice available in these circumstances can transform lives away from crime to real and legitimate opportunity. We promote safety by proactively investing in society, by stopping crime before it happens."

Friendships form the foundation

Project coordinator Schalk van Heerden says Youth Zones is "not about just kicking a ball. It's about the social relations inherent in a team, the family dynamic that provides energy, support and accountability. That's why we use football and even netball teams to learn and become change agents in their communities."

The approach, says Van Heerden, is built on a relational model, in which friendships form the foundation for sustainable actions and programmes.

Once real-life friendships have been established and computer literacy is in place, the focus shifts to a virtual community, where besides Skype, Facebook and e-mail, participants interact on the www.youthzones.co.za website.

One of the members of the youth website, Nelson Veremo, says they are encouraged to blog, upload photos, chat and to share stories of hope as well as failure.

"Any person can join – boys, girls from any place," says Veremo. "It's very interesting knowing we are not alone in our struggles and dreams."

Doctor Mabila, of the Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa), says participants learn practical things from one another, and that the youngsters are proud to share their stories.

Mabila says they are hoping that by the time the 2014 Fifa World Cup kicks off in Brazil, the Youth Zones network will be able to showcase South Africa's shared humanity, mutual learning and care.

Other organisations and companies backing the Youth Zones initiative include Torque IT, the Kelly Group, Microsoft, Convergence Partners, SAB, ABI, Khulisa, Fevertree and Heartlines.

BuaNews