24 Mar 2014

The Ramotswa-based, South East District Youth Empowerment Association (SEDYEA) will attend this year’s FIFA sanctioned Football for Hope festival.

The event, which will be held in Rio De Jenairo, Brazil during the last two weeks of the FIFA 2014 World Cup, will attract 32 teams from various grassroots development organisations.

The SEDYEA Director, Kitso Masi, said in an interview that the event will run from July 2 to July 10. He said his organisation would send six young participants comprising three boys and three girls aged between 15 and 18. Masi said the participants were students.

Therefore, SEDYEA would have to liaise with stakeholders to enable the students to go. He said this will be of great benefit to the students as they would gain leadership skills through cultural exchange with other football delegations.

He added that the event would be to celebrate the power of football for social development, adding that this would be the first time that Botswana would be represented.

The six youths will have to compete with their counterparts for the championship. A similar competition during the 2010 Football for Hope was won by Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) of Kenya.

“But the most important will be the cultural exchange programme,” he said. Masi said his organisation would need some extra money to augment what it received from FIFA, which covers accommodation and flights only. SEDYEA will have to provide money for food, clothing during the tournament and other necessary expenses, and is asking companies for sponsorship. Ends