The virtuous circle of Inter Campus Congo

Lubumbashi - Bakanja, Jama’a Yetu, Cawama, Bumi, Gokongo, Malajka. These are all names of the hubs of Congolese boys and girls across the project, exotic-sounding names that provoke the thoughts of a faraway Africa, of remote locations removed from the trials and tribulations of globalised civilisation. However, this splendid green and prosperous area of Katanga in central Africa is sadly far from trouble, and we must make our best efforts in helping education, gender equality, and the fight to keep children away from illegal activities on the streets. This is why Inter Campus has been working with ALBA for years, supporting the various educational initiatives run by this secular association for African children both in the city of Lubumbashi and in the surrounding rural areas through our sporting projects. To date, 180 boys and girls across six different locations have been taking part in the project’s activities with the coaches and educators trained by our Inter Campus coaches. This time around it was Lorenzo and Davide, veterans of the Congo, who held a theoretical and practical training course across all of the project centres, from the Cité des jeunes for children on the streets of Bakanja, to the village of Cawama under a scorching sun (but isn’t it the rainy season?), all the way to Gokongo, where a poisonous snake was killed right next to the training pitch, a reminder of how careful we all need to be when going to fetch a ball. In the end, we delivered new kits to all of the children, and after individual interviews, issued certificates of participation to the six local coaches. We were especially pleased to discover that three of the boys from Inter Campus have now become assistant coaches, one of the strongest points of our project. Children fall in love with the initiative with which they grow up having fun, and then, once they are old enough to take charge themselves, they decide to give back by helping out the younger children and protecting their right to play: a virtuous circle of which we couldn’t be prouder. Allez Congo!