WINDHOEK (Namibia) - While the last FIBA World Cup Qualifiers were taking place and teams were battling for the last spots for the FIBA World Cup next summer, a major game of the FIBA Foundation that will change the lives of many youths was being played in Windhoek, Namibia, with one goal in mind: promote change and create social impact through basketball. 

The Youth Leadership program -an opportunity for young, engaged people to gain additional leadership skills and to develop their own Basketball For Good projects, using basketball to create social change in their communities-, celebrated a workshop in the Basketball Artists School. 

In this unique program, 24 participants from 11 different countries were taught leadership skills and supported to create social impact through basketball within their respective community. The Youth Leaders work to identify a social issue in their community and how they can develop a solution using basketball to address the problem. 

During the workshop held in Namibia, the Youth Leaders had the chance to apply their leadership skills and Basketball For Good learning outcomes in practical sessions.

“I love the ideas we are getting to share as Youth Leaders from different African countries, it’s really empowering and enlightening. We see that we are not alone in this journey. Now it’s about fine tuning about our projects, to make them even better for our beneficiaries and all stakeholders that will be affected by what we’re doing”, says Rwego Ngarambe, from Rwanda.

The most precious moment occurred at the Basketball For Good Festival when the Youth Leaders were running the Basketball For Good games they created with more than 140 children - aged between 5 and 12 years old - including some of whom played basketball for the very first time. The festival was a success as it brought tons of smiles to the kids' faces thanks to the contribution of FIBA Foundation's long-time partners Molten and PEAK, who respectively donated basketballs and t-shirts. 

This wholesome experience was hosted at the Basketball Artists School Foundation, an after school program that focuses on education, life skills, and basketball to equip underprivileged children from Katutura with the necessary tools to become socially responsible individuals. Mantius Amukoshi and Petrina Aron who graduated from the FIBA Foundation Youth Leadership program last year are also involved in BAS which further cemented the ties between the 2 foundations.  Not only the Namibian entity offered its facilities, but it also highly contributed to the delivery of the seminar.

The workshop was great, it’s good to see the youth coming together for one common goal, using basketball as a tool to develop communities. FIBA Foundation is doing a great job at supporting this movement. Thank you”.
Ramah Mumba, BAS director

 
Impact Tank, Namibia's first social impact venture builder, took part in the seminar to assist with the facilitation of the program. This opportunity allowed the organization to explore the versatility of its ideation process in the development of social entrepreneurs and social impact as said Elzine Gawaxab, the funder of Impact Tank:

 Collaborating on initiatives such as the Youth Leadership program allows us to develop the social entrepreneurs of the future, build robust ventures and create impact in Africa.

However, the game doesn’t end here. The program continues aiming to provide leadership and management training to help develop projects in their countries and address social problems in their communities: inactive lifestyles, violence, lack of access to education, inequality… 

Now the Youth Leaders will return to their countries to implement their own Basketball For Good projects in their respective communities, using the knowledge and tools they gained during the program. There will be three virtual mentoring sessions during March to follow up on the in-person workshop. And finally, they will join the global community of the FIBA Foundation Youth Leaders community with additional opportunities for exchange and engagement. 

It’s good to see that there are young African people with the same agenda as me, people that see a problem that could be changed by basketball while also having a lot of fun. We have been given a lot of tools and now it’s on us to use these tools and make it happen in our countries. 
Nothando MacDonald

“I want to go back to my organization PeacePlayers South Africa and structure all the knowledge and ideas that I got here”, said Sizwe Blose, Youth Leader from South Africa.  “I had an idea when coming here, but then you’re challenged and you have to be creative to find ways of finding an even better solution for your community”, highlighted Lawrencia Adjei, Youth Leader from Ghana.

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About Youth Leadership:

The FIBA Foundation’s Youth Leadership program is a global Basketball For Good initiative giving youths the skills and opportunities to create a brighter future for themselves and their communities. This program teaches leadership and life skills through basketball. The Youth Leaders are supported to create their own community impact project, growing the Basketball For Good family worldwide.