Bayer 04 train coaches in refugee camps in Rwanda

The participants are refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi who have fled war or political instability in their home countries. Up to the spring of 2018 a total of 100 coaches from six refugee camps will be trained to offer refugee children a safe environment and sense of community through sport.

Due to continuing political instability and numerous conflicts in central Africa, Rwanda has for many years been a destination for refugees, above all from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The majority of the approximately 160,000 refugees live in six refugee camps run by the UNHCR. Nearly 80% are women and children. Children and teenagers are particularly susceptible to risks like violence and rape. Many react with negative coping mechanisms such as drug and alcohol consumption or with aggression and violence.

 Bayer 04 and three other partner clubs in the Football Club Social Alliance have decided to offer coach training for a total of 100 young women and men from six refugee camps. The participants were selected by the UN refugee agency and are working in two training modules how they can create safe and meaningful recreation opportunities in their particular environment. Regular football training sessions will give the Young Coaches the opportunity to support the children in the refugee camps in processing their dreams and provide social values as role models. Important preconditions for living together in peace and in communities.

Peter Quast, an instructor from Bayer 04, comments on his tenth project with Scort: "I've been impressed how happy the people are here and how much commitment they have to joining in. We've brought a lot of pleasure to everybody and I hope they get off to a good start in the future in their new role as Young Coaches. We thought there would be 150 children at the festival and in the end there were over 400. That exceeds everything I've seen before. The Young Coaches did a great job and that makes me very proud."

 As support for the instructors, the FCSA-trained Young Coach Brian Kasasa also travelled from neighbouring Uganda to help out. He took part in the Young Coach training five years ago and since then has coached boys and girls in his community. "It was incredible for me to work with the instructors from Bayer 04. I was a Young Coach a few years ago and now I can pass on my knowledge to other Young Coaches. It feels great."

Bayer 04 have been a member of the Football Club Social Alliance (FCSA) since the end of January 2009. This association brings together different professional football clubs to work in crisis and development regions. Here, the positive effects of football are used to support children and young people in difficult circumstances. Centre stage is a training programme for young and adults where the participants learn how to communicate current issues to children through football such as working for peace and preventing violence. Projects have already taken place in Colombia, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Palestine, Sudan, Kosovo, Jordan and Ukraine. Up to now, over 1,400 Young Coaches have been trained and they, in turn, have looked after well over 30,000 children.