African Design Magazine December 2014 | Page 48

FOR The Besongabang Football for Hope Centre embraces the region’s vernacular to create a meeting and athletic centre for the entire community. Host Organization: United Action for Children. Football-based programmes since 2002. Mission: To use football as a tool to promote cooperation, unity, peace, responsibility and tolerance among young people. About the Centre Host: United Action for Children (UAC) has been working with orphans, street and other vulnerable children for the last five years. UAC uses football’s popularity to get young people off the streets and into classrooms and training centres. Through inter-quarterly and holiday football tournaments, the project provides HIV/AIDS awareness while trying to tackle poverty, youth unemployment/child labour and intertribal conflicts in the respective region. The participating youths have the opportunity to take part in innovative programs including the provision of basic education and vocational training in woodwork, painting and IT as well as workshops on HIV/AIDS education, sports and disability issues. Through these programs, the street football world network member (since 2005) strives to create a caring society and environment for children and young people in Cameroon. Design: Nathan Jones. As noted in UAC’s Mission Statement, football will be used as a tool for promoting peace, the proposed FFH centre is orientated to provide optimal viewing for young people to witness the benefits of co-operation and the many lessons in team sports. Additionally, there is a close-relationship between the pitch and the 85m2 classroom, so theoretic ideas are never far from team games and team games are never far from the theory. The centre will act as a forum in terms of being a public meeting place, a place where people meet to share ideas to facilitate the centre host’s vision of health and education development. The meeting place concept was 48 africandesignmagazine.com