Kokoro: United for One Goal
This project's parent organization is Fundacion Futbol Con Corazon
It operates in Colombia
It uses Football (Soccer)
Entered the Sport for Education Award
More about Kokoro: United for One Goal
The main issues present in the communities the project intervenes are: poverty, intra-familiar and gender based violence, prostitution, delinquency and sexual abuse. These issues make children vulnerable to having low self-esteem, teenage pregnancy, school dropouts, child labor, alcoholism, drug addiction and gang recruitment. The Public Educational System in Colombia has very limited resources; therefore, children go to school only during half a day.
During the other half of the day children have “free time”, because there are no public educational or recreational services offered and the infrastructure of parks is deficient or non-existing. During this free time, thousands of children become vulnerable to the social issues and the consequences described above.
The project involves 1.800 children and adolescents from public schools in the city of Barranquilla and the towns Malambo and Galapa. The project provides an educational alternative for the after school time, by taking advantage of the convening power of soccer to teach values and life skills to beneficiaries and to prevent school dropouts. They also receive a nutritional support and are provided assistance to improve their academic studies. The education delivered is designed in alliance with the children?s schools and their parents.