Gomoa Soccer for Change Project is a soccer project initiated in 2013 by Hon. Ernest Quarm, Assemblyman for Gomoa Akropong /Ekroful Electoral Area in the Gomoa East District in the Central Region to use soccer as a means of transforming lives of kids and youth in and around Gomoa District.
I set up the project because, I realized some Ghanaian kids and youth after school hours are lured into bad peer groups and these youth are engaged in a lot social vices like drug addiction, stealing etc, which goes a long way to affecting the future and also they are a lot of soccer talent but due to lack of opportunities and exposure, they are not able to achieve their aim of playing professional football.
Gomoa Soccer for Change Project has taken it upon itself to bring these young children who have the talent and passion for football or soccer and groom them to take up football as a profession or any soccer or football related work. We strongly believe that, once they are successful in their football careers and knowing and remembering where they from, it’s possible to turn to the needy/vulnerable youth in our society.
Soccer for change could be further analyzed as the impact of football in changing the social environment. Football has created a lot of opportunities and benefits in different angles such as employment, entertainment, unity and friendship etc which virtually helps to do away with a lot of social vices such as robbery, stealing, hatred, discrimination etc.
The project site is Gomoa Benso which is about two (2) hour’s drive from Accra, the capital city of Ghana. We currently have about 80 players under the project ranging from under 13 to under 20 (that is children from the age of 7 to 20).We train after school hours from Mondays to Fridays and engage in friendly matches on Saturdays or Sundays. We also do engage in clean-up exercise every three month in the communities that we have our players from, that is Gomoa Aboso, Gomoa Ekroful, Gomoa Benso and Gomoa Akropong. Most of the kids or players under the project are from deprived homes or are needy and attend public schools which they do not pay school fee but uniforms, shoes, books and other learning materials are provided by the parents and only a few attend private schools. We do train after school hours from Monday -Friday and engages in friendly matches on either Saturdays or Sundays.
MISSION
To use soccer as a means of transforming the children and youth in our society to develop their psychomotor skills e.g. speed, co-ordination, reaction time, stamina etc, psychosocial skills e.g. teamwork, confidence, excitement/enjoyment etc which will have a positive impact on their lives and adhering to social accepted values globally.
VISION
1) Developing the potentials of the children and youth in enhancing their capacity to apply the learning to solving practical situations that will signify movement towards sustainable behavior change
2) We also focus on the early development of fundamentals soccer skills upon which all remaining elements of the game rest. We assess each player’s strength and weakness through training and matches; help each player maximize his potentials in all areas of the game.
3) Prepare individual for higher levels of competitions, Regional, National, International and Professional teams.
The health centre is small under resourced government owned. This will need your initiative as well as passion to learn. Your enthusiasm and dedication will make you feel lovely and also gel well with the community.
You will help out with many jobs at the Health centre. One of the main jobs is to conduct malaria tests on patients with malaria symptoms, collect their blood use a specialised kit to get results. On each day of the week the health centre has specific clinics like school health, where they go to the various schools to educate the pupils about health issues and ante-natal clinics, Taking pressure and changing bandages for patients, learning about different healthcare practices among other cultures and giving basic education on prevention of diseases, helping in basic first aid and care.
A health volunteer could be placed at the District Health Centre which few minutes away from the host family or at Swedru Government Hospital which few minutes’ drive from the community. You also got the opportunity to be present during a few deliveries. Colleagues in the health centre are amazing. They would always make sure there is something for you to do to keep you busy. Throughout the period they will all become really good friends. They are always there for a chat and always making you laugh. All of them are so friendly and will teach you so much that you will definitely use in the future after Ghana.
This placement is a great way to meet the local people as the centre is always very busy. You become famous throughout the village and immediately become a respected member of their community which is such a great feeling.
