These teenage girls live in Dassilami Soce, a village of 1,000 people near Toubacouta, in central Senegal. They were members of the first team Ball For All sponsored in Senegal. They continue to practice and play, and their families have grown to see how beneficial a sport like soccer can be in shaping their children into responsible members of the community. They have brought the teamwork, cooperation, and confidence they learned on the playing field into their homes and community.
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Using old cans to teach math skills at the Massarinko village school in Senegal.
This scene is repeated in countless village schools across Africa. Many schools have little more than a chalkboard - no textbooks, no teaching resources, no visual aids, no student supplies, and certainly no money for school sports. You can help change this by working with us to level the playing field!
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When I lived in southeastern Senegal, these boys came to my family's compound every single day to play soccer after they had finished their daily chores. Usually they played with a "ball" made of tattered plastic bags wrapped with knotted strips of fabric, grass, and reeds. One day I bought them a cheap rubber ball for about $2 in the local market. That one ball - such a small gift - gave dozens of children many hours of joy. Kids played with that ball for over 2 years, until it literally split in half from overuse.
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