Four Sports Organizations that are Changing the World

Sports provide unique opportunities in a child’s life; sometimes, they are the only opportunity some children have to escape poverty. The following is a list of four sports organizations that are changing the world by using sports and sport-driven programs to help youth and communities across the globe enact social change and improve their impoverished situations.

Lengo Football Academy

Lengo Football Academy offers impoverished children and orphans in Tanzania opportunities through football. Emanuel Saakai started the first Lengo (Swahili for ‘goal’) Academy in the northern town of Arusha to give new opportunities to disadvantaged and street kids (both boys and girls). Saakai believes that the hard work necessary to excel in sports helps youths instill a sense of teamwork, respect and passion that will then translate to successes in other avenues of their lives. He has since created an eight-week program in Australia — where he acts as a qualified Football Federation Australia coach — whose proceeds go toward the program in Tanzania.

Lengo Football Academy helps its youth off the field as well. All of its participants are financially aided through primary and secondary education by Lengo. More importantly, enrollment in school is a requirement to participate in Lengo, ensuring its young footballers will go to class.

Lengo is also developing a 12-month employment program for graduating students to combat the rampant unemployment in Tanzania. The graduating students will be able to take jobs as coaches, referees, drivers, administrators and operators. They are also provided money management skills to ensure they are on their way to developing stable, successful lifestyles after the program ends.

Love.fútbol

The task of love.fútbol is to create durable, low-maintenance fútbol pitches in impoverished communities around the world. It is a community-driven endeavor. It provides the raw materials and support, but it insists that the local community helps with the building projects. For its inaugural build in Guatemala, love.fútbol saw a 90 percent participation rate in the rural village of Villa Nueva.

Love.fútbol is about more than sport. During the building process, it works with each community using asset mapping exercises to help the communities identify and use their strengths to their full potential. It also develops social capital networks, engaging the community to “connect with shared resources, building collective goodwill and strengthening relationships across numerous local individuals and organizations.” Love.fútbol and its 5,800 volunteers have had an impact on 29 communities in 8 different countries since its inception, using sports and play to bring about social change in poor communities across the globe.

Street Football World

Street Football World is like Love.fútbol in that it uses football and the model of community-driven football projects to enact social change. It even joined forces with love.fútbol in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Street Football World strives to use football-driven programs to enact social change around the world in eight key areas, ranging from employability and education to health and the environment. Street Football World even creates ‘pop-up’ stadiums and arenas for communities to use for special events and programs, providing theatres of play for impoverished youths in underprivileged areas.

The organization has a multitude of programs that span all seven continents, aiding and enabling millions of people all across the world by using football as a catalyst. Street Football World partners with a number of football institutions, companies, governments and foundations, ranging from FIFA to The U.S. Department of State. It was recently chosen as Berlin’s ambassador for Germany’s bid to host the UEFA Euro 2024 games. In 2015, founder and CEO Jürgen Griesbeck was featured alongside Nelson Mandela and Michelle Obama in Beyond Sport’s ‘Inspirational 50,’ a list celebrating those using sport to “push boundaries, inspire generations and ultimately, make the world a better place.”

Beyond Sport

Beyond Sport, based in The U.K., differs from the rest of these four sports organizations that are changing the world in that it is an advocacy group. Beyond Sport is a global organization that advocates and celebrates the use of sports to address social issues with the ultimate goal of making the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals a reality. It works with sports organizations directly, along with governments and businesses alike, on how sports can help achieve both social and business goals and successes.

Over the last decade, it has provided more than $1.5 million in funds and distributed $7 million toward long-term strategic goals. Beyond Sport has a vast network of partners, including the major U.S. sports leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL and WNBA) that boast a whopping 2,822 projects with 2,690 organizations in 154 countries across 56 sports.

These four sports organizations that are changing the world are great examples of how engaging kids in sports activities can not only change the individual lives of those playing but also those in the communities involved. Through sports and community building activities, these organizations are improving lives around the world.

– Nick Hodges

Photo: Flickr

Solutions For Nigeria’s Water Quality Challenges

Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene is a core necessity for human survival that a large portion of the world, especially developing countries, still struggle to meet.

In Nigeria, UNICEF reported that close to 70 million people, out of the total population of 171 million, lacked access to clean water, while 110 million lacked access to sanitation in 2013. The impact of this shortage is dire as 124,000 children under the age of five die because of diarrhea that is mainly caused by unsafe water, bad sanitation and bad hygiene. Moreover, it decreases school enrollment and disproportionately affects girls who bare the responsibility of carrying water. Finding the solution for Nigeria’s water quality is, therefore, a pressing issue that requires all responsible parties to participate.

Obstacles In Meeting Water Quality Standards

Gbenga Ashiru, the producer of Question Time, a Nigerian news program that profiles the activities and accountability portfolio of office holders, discussed the reasons behind Africa’s largest economy reaching a peak in a shortage of potable water. He dissected what he states is the “mystery” behind the Nigerian government’s, led by the Minister of Water Resources, inability to meet water demands. Ashiru highlighted the extreme water shortage and listed the shocking statistics of potable water and sanitation coverage at 7 percent and 29 percent, respectively. 

Four months ago, the Nigerian government launched the Nigerian Standard for Drinking Water Quality to revitalize the access to safe drinking water throughout the nation to achieve goal number six of the Sustainable Development Goals. At the launching ceremony, Suleiman Adamu, the Minister of Water Resources, asserted that finding the solution for Nigeria’s water quality issue is the current focus of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. 

Nigeria’s Water Act

According to UNICEF, Nigeria has indeed taken the steps to improve this pertinent issue through the development of various policies and strategies. However, a deterioration in water quality and access portrayed by a 25 percent drop of pipe borne water supply since 1990, reveals the difficulty of translating the solution to Nigeria’s water quality issues into action. 

Nigeria’s Water Act states that the Federal government of Nigeria funds 30 percent, local government funds 10 percent, while state government covers 60 percent of the funding of water projects along with the full responsibility of operation. Suleiman Adamu, in his interview with Ashiru, argues that the Water Act is neither feasible nor effective policy in meeting water and sanitation demands and calls for an amendment of this legislation as well as the gradual privatization of this sector. 

Fostering Synergy and Collaboration

Suleiman Adamu holds the state government responsible for not meeting their end of the bargain. He explains that even in cases where the federal government went beyond the 30 percent of the funding and invested in water treatment facilities, the states failed to carry out the operations. He argues that this happens due to state government officials neglecting pressing water demands that require long periods of gestation and focus on short-term projects to show results during re-election. Therefore, the solution for Nigeria’s water quality issues lies in finding the amendment of this policy that has created obstacles for the synergy in the federal, regional and local governments. 

Since water projects are a primary responsibility of state government, bringing progress at a national scale requires synergy in state and federal government. The Minister explains that the federal government will work on achieving this collaboration through advocacy and offering supervision rather than simply giving funding without aligned priorities. 

–Bilen Kassie 

Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Quotes about Advocacy

Advocacy is when an individual or group supports and influences political, economic and social decisions. The goal of an advocate is to gain support in a certain environment to create change for the better. According to Culture & Creativity, it only takes 10 percent of a population holding a strong belief to persuade the remaining population to adopt that same belief. This means that with the right amount of support, help and a common goal to better the world, people all around the world can eventually live freely and equally.

Advocates have been contributing to the world’s success for centuries. While all of these advocates come from different backgrounds and places from all around the world, they all have one thing in common- a passion to change the world for the better. Below are the top 10 quotes about advocacy from powerful people and the short biographies of these people.

Top 10 Quotes about Advocacy

1. “When the world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”- Malala Yousafzai. Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani advocate and activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. In 2013, Malala and her father Ziauddin founded a campaign called the Malala Fund to win every girl’s right for 12 years of a free and safe education. Malala’s main focus is helping Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, countries in which most of the girls miss out on secondary education.
2. “I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.”- Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was an African-American singer, poet, memoirist and civil rights advocate and activist. Angelou won three Grammy Awards for her spoken-word poetry. These accomplishments are a few of the many reasons she was nicknamed “people’s poet” and “the black woman’s poet laureate.” Angelou is most notable for her activism through her poetry and music that were mostly about the themes such as women, love, loss, struggle, discrimination and racism.
3. “Millions of people in the world’s poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free.”- Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 and was a South African anti-apartheid political leader and philanthropist. Throughout his lifetime, Mandela remained a devoted advocate and activist for social justice and peace until his death in 2013.
4. “No voice is too soft when that voice speaks for others.”- Janna Cachola. Janna Cachola is an actress and singer from New Zealand. Cachola made her debut in cult horror film Bella Bandida (2012) and Bad Romance (2014).
5. “Advocacy groups and voters are not wrong to push candidates to declare their position clearly on policy issues. That is good citizenship. Hard questions should be asked of every candidate, every politician. And those public servants should be prepared to answer, but in their own words.”- Mark McKinnon. Mark McKinnon is an American political advisor, a reform advocate, media columnist and television producer. McKinnon is currently working on his show “The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth”, which shows the daily chaos of the White House with behind-the-scenes access.
6. “All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy.”- Samantha Power. Samantha Power served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017. From 2009 to 2013, Power was a Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights on the National Security Council. During her time in office, Power’s team focused on issues regarding refugees, human rights and democracy in the U.S., Middle East, North Africa, Sudan and Myanmar. In 2016, Forbes listed her as the 41st most powerful woman in the world.
7. “Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscious, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”- Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. dedicated his life to advancing civil rights and bringing people of different backgrounds together through his advocacy and activism. King is known as one of the most significant people of the American civil rights movement.
8. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”- Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi was an Indian activist and leader of the Indian independence movement. Mahatma Gandhi advocated for the freedom and civil rights of the Indian people. Throughout his lifetime, he constantly addressed issues such as poverty and discrimination through protests and meetings with officials. He also built a lot of schools and hospitals.
9. “Every important change in our society, for the good, at least, has taken place because of popular pressure-pressure from below, from the great mass of people.”- Edward Abbey. Edward Abbey was an American author and essayist remarkably known for his advocacy of environmental issues, public land policies and anarchist political views. Abbey was known for writing about the world and the effects of civilization on American land.
10. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”- Harriet Tubman. Harriet Tubman was a conductor on the Underground Railroad and he led slaves to freedom before the Civil War. Harriet Tubman, who was born into slavery, is one of the most notable women in American history for her courage and advocacy of women’s rights.

To be an advocate is to have courage, independence and passion for the things that matter. These top 10 quotes about advocacy provide a glance at the passion these people had and have for their society and the future of the people. As the good saying goes: “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

– Kristen Uedoi

Photo: Flickr

Top 10 Non-Profit Human Rights Organizations

Human rights are universal moral values that should protect individuals and allow them to live free and safe lives. Certain human rights include the right to life, freedom from torture, right to education, etc. These rights, however, are not always protected by regulations and laws, which can lead to ethical concerns. Non-profit human rights organizations focus on getting individuals the rights they deserve. Here are 10 non-profit human rights organizations.

10 Non-Profit Human Rights Organization

1. Human Rights Watch
   The Human Rights Watch was created in 1987 in order to shine a light on the human rights violations that were happening in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The non-partisan, non-governmental organization has gained recognition from citizen movements and other humanitarian causes. It now has 400 staff members working around the globe. Human Rights Watch investigates abuse and effectively spreads this information, increasing public awareness and working with government officials and corporations to make a change.
2. Human Rights First: Based in America, Human Rights First puts pressure on those in power, whether government or private companies, to combat social injustice. Like the Borgen Project, Human Rights First creates campaigns that not only inform the public on issues but also encourage them to email and call Congress in favor or against certain legislative laws. Examples of their campaigns include ending modern-day slavery, stopping Trump’s Refugee Ban, and closing Guantameno Bay.
3. Human Rights Foundation: Unlike other non-profit organizations, the Human Rights Foundation focuses on closed societies. Closed societies are authoritative regimes and dictatorships that restrict individual freedom and expression. Established in 2005, the Human Rights Foundation promotes freedom and democracy by supporting activists and exposing political and social corruption in totalitarian governments.
4. Ella Baker Center for Human Rights: Ella Baker was an activist and a leading figure during the Civil Rights Movement. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights works with people of color to attack racial injustice in the U.S, specifically the prison system. People of color are disproportionately targeted by the police, so it isn’t surprising that they make up more than ½ of prisoners in correctional facilities. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights breaks the cycle of incarceration by organizing campaigns around the country to protest in support of their freedom. Their recent victories include closing five out of the eight youth prisons in California, creating Books Not Bars, starting community safety plans and more.
5. Refugees International: Refugee International was created in 1979 to protect Indochinese refugees. Since then, this independently funded, non-profit human rights organization has provided hands-on assistance to displaced refugee families. Advocates travel to areas in need to assess the situation and compile crucial resources for refugees.
6. FINCA International: By giving small loans to the poor, entire communities can grow. FINCA International addresses poverty through microfinancing and social enterprise. There are 20 community-based microfinance banks placed across low-income neighborhoods throughout the world. These services help build small businesses that, in turn, improve economic development and sustainability.
7. Mending Kids: Mending Kids is a life-saving, non-profit human rights organization that sends surgical teams to over 60 countries to mend children in need of surgical procedures. The surgical staff trains local doctors in developing countries to effectively provide more complex surgical procedures. For children who are facing serious, life-threatening problems, host-families are set up around the U.S. to care for them while they undergo medical procedures
8. War Child: War Child is comprised of three major offices in the U.K, Holland and Canada. The organization protects children who have been and who are still being affected by armed conflict. War Child’s approach includes improving access to education, helping children understand their legal rights through training and programs and offering support to children who endured mental trauma during acts of armed conflict. In fact, many of the staff have also been survivors of armed conflict.
9. Habitat for Humanity: Families around the world are struggling to find affordable, decent housing. Habitat for Humanity works in the U.S. and 70 other countries helping low-income families apply for homeownership. In the case of natural disasters, Habitat for Humanity works with local communities to supply resources for those whose homes were damaged.
10. Polaris: Polaris is named after the North Star, which was used during slavery as a guide to freedom. Today, Polaris serves as an assistance hotline to victims and survivors of human trafficking. As one of many non-profit human rights organizations focused on human trafficking victims, Polaris builds public data sets to better understand human trafficking. With this information, Polaris designs strategies to target the system and engages law officials to enforce plans that will stop trafficking both nationwide and internationally.

This list is only a fraction of the organizations in the world trying to make a difference. There are many groups fighting for important causes like ending world hunger and poverty, providing clean drinking water and providing medical aid. If you are looking to donate or volunteer, one of these top 10 non-profit human rights organizations would definitely be a good place to start.

– Lilly Hershey-Webb
Photo: Flickr

An Inside Look at Child Poverty Around the World

Half of the world’s children live in poverty and face the constant risk of conflict, discrimination and abuse. Here are five countries with the highest levels of child poverty around the world and the current state of these countries.

Five Countries With the Highest Levels of Child Poverty

1. Romania – Roughly half of Romania’s children are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Romania’s child poverty rate increased from 50 to 51 percent after Romania entered the European Union. Child labor in Romania is at one percent; although this is encouraging, it is still an issue in the case of child development. Along with a poor economy, healthcare in Romania is minimal for children. It is estimated that 12 percent of children in Romania die before the age of five.
2. Israel – The child poverty rate in Israel showed a decrease from 2006 to 2015, but from 2015 to 2016 there was a slight rise in the poverty levels from 30 percent to 31.2 percent. The poverty levels for ultra-Orthodox families and single-parent families in Israel increased in 2016. One out of three children in Israel live in poor conditions and suffer from malnutrition. One cause to the poor state of children in Israel is due to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. This conflict has injured and killed many children in Israel, and Israeli school buses have been the target of many attacks.
3. Turkey – 17 percent of Turkey’s population lives in poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is becoming wider and wider. Babies born in Turkey are suffering as soon as they are born; 11 percent of babies are born with dietary deficiencies and 20 percent of children die before the age of five. Education in Turkey is progressing, but five percent of children still do not attend school. The majority of those children are girls.
4. Bulgaria – Children under the age of 18 in Bulgaria have reached the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion. It is estimated that 52 percent of these children are at risk. Disabled people, ethnic minority groups and children are some of the most vulnerable groups in Bulgaria and are ill-equipped to be deprived of their basic rights of clean water, food and security.
5. Mexico – The majority of the poor in Mexico are children. It is estimated that 53.8 percent of children in Mexico live in poverty. In addition, 14 percent of children in Mexico have suffered from slow development and are malnourished. Many of the problems regarding child poverty in Mexico can be linked to the lack of trust in the government and decreases in income; this often prohibits children from attending school, forcing them instead into the workforce to help provide for their family.

There are many ways to help the millions of children living in poverty around the world. Here are five ways that one person can change the future of child poverty.

Five Ways to Make an Impact on Child Poverty

1. Contact your representatives in Congress – One of the easiest ways to make a difference is by simply sending an email or making a quick phone call to support bills that can greatly affect the lives of those suffering in extreme poverty. If support is shown for a bill, members of Congress are more likely to push the bill forward.
2. Support The Hunger Project – The Hunger Project is a non-governmental organization that is fighting to end global hunger. The Hunger Project builds confidence in those who are suffering from social suppression and hunger and helps them find a voice to take charge of their own development. As an example, an outcome evaluation in Ghana and Malawi showed significant improvements in gender equality after The Hunger Project stepped in to help.
3. Promote proper water quality – Women and girls spend roughly six hours a day going out and collecting water. This keeps young girls from educational opportunities and emphasizes the limited access to clean water for children in developing countries. Access to clean water can unlock significant potential for millions of children. Reduced time spent collecting water has shown an increase in school attendance for children.
4. Empower Women – By empowering women, closing gender gaps and eliminating gender discrimination, the wellbeing and progress of children will increase. When girls are discriminated against, they are less likely to attend school. There is a correlation between educated women and child survival and development; a lack of proper education decreases the child survival rate. One study suggested that if men and women had the same influence in decision-making, it could allow 13.4 million fewer children in South Asia to be undernourished.
5. Sponsor a child – Sponsoring a child can provide the child with opportunities for success that they might never have. It also shows the child that there is someone who cares enough to encourage them and provide them with the basic necessities. When children know that they are supported, it pushes them to try their hardest and reach their full potential.

Children are the future, and each person around the world has the responsibility to help the future grow. It is important to be aware of child poverty around the world and take steps to reduce it.

– Victoria Fowler
Photo: Flickr