International Volunteers Day Forum

On the 8^th of December, BYC took part in a Youth forum on Volunteerism, Youth Engagements with the theme “Volunteers Action Count” organised by UNV Tanzania, VSO and Ministry of Information, Youth,  Culture and Sports to commemorate International Day of Volunteers. The event took place at Karimjee hall, Dar es Salaam.

The aim of the forum was to discuss the different youth volunteer engagements in their different fields of work.  It brought together different youth organisations and youth, a platform to interact with each other and learn what they do as volunteers. Different topics were discussed and these included Volunteerism and its importance and challenges, Volunteerism and Entrepreneurship, Volunteerism and Environment (Climate Change) and Youth and HIV/AIDS. These topics provided the basis for youth to discuss and learn what they can do as volunteers in these areas.

The main facilitators of the event came from different organisations including Young Partnership Worldwide (YPC) and Young Tanzania for Community and Prosperity (YTCP), plus UNV Tanzania.

There were also highlighting success stories from volunteers on entrepreneurship, and also in other fields, and this inspired many of the youth at the forum.

What a way to celebrate International Volunteers Day!

Picture Highlights: International Day of the Girl

Here are some of the highlights that took place on the International Day of the Girl at Mwembe Yanga field. An event organised by Chidren Dignity Forum on the 11th of October 2012. Many organisations showed up to participate in the event, showing support for the Girl Child.


The poster shows different organisations that have come together to form Tanzania Ending Child Marriage Network (TECMN) launched by Chidren Dignity Forum. The aim of the network is to raise awareness on the harmful impact of child marriages.



Dr. Hellen Kijo Bisimba,Director of Legal and Human Rights Centre graced the occasion as the guest of Honor .

 

Dance troop entertaining the audience

 

Acrobatics group showing some moves




More entertainment

Then came the highlight of the event, the football match between BYC and Evergreen girls team.

The Evergreen girls football team

 BYC's girls football team

Dr. Hellen addressing the teams before the match

The hand shaking ritual for both teams before the match began

Dr. Hellen giving a hand to BYC's team

Half time

The match was a very competitive one. BYC and Evergreen drew 0-0.

 



Both teams recieved t-shirts after the match



The girls taking a rest after the match

Zakia form BYC enjoying her rest with the other team members



Sakina, one of team players at BYC

T-shirt with International Peace day theme and TECMN theme

 

Leaflets and books on different topics such as HIV/AIDS, Reproductive health which were on display

Up-Coming event: International Day of the Girl

Its the International Day of the Girl tomorrow. A day to reflect on what girls all over the world go through and the challenges they face everyday. It is with no doubt that there are different types and discriminations that girls around the world suffer from. Thus there is a constant need for people and organisations to raise public awareness for the importance of respecting and adhering to girls rights and freedom.

BYC will mark the International Day of the Girl by taking part in a Bonanza organized by Children Dignity Forum (CDF). Children Dignity Forum is a child rights based organisationthat promotes rights of the children. This bonanza will take place on the 11th October 2012 at Temeke District, Mwembe Yanga grounds and will begin at 9.00 a.m and is expected to end at 12.40 p.m.

BYC's football girls team has been invited to a friendly match session against Evergreen football team that will take place from 11.30 a.m. to 12.20 p.m. Apart from the football match, there will be other events such as Dance, drama and acrobatics.

Thus as we celebrate International Day of the Girl tomorrow, let us put in mind girls all over the world and how we can contribute to creating an environment where they will feel safe and explore their dreams and reach their goals.

Picture Highlights- International Peace Day

 

Some of the Photos highlighting International Peace Day!!


Marching parade with some of the students carrying peace day banners.

Primary school pupils making thier way to Karimjee Hall for the peace day celebrations.

 

 

 

The dove symbolising Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More participants including some of BYC's youth leaders and children

 

 

 

BYC commemorating International Peace Day!

BYC is taking part in commemorating the International Peace Day, also known as Peace Day tomorrow, the 21st of September. The celebrations of Peace Day are organised by UNIC- United Nations Information Centre in partnership with the Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the Global Network of Religions for Children-GNRC, and RightToPlay Tanzania. BYC has been part of the orgaisations participating in the preparations for this event.

Activities that  BYC has participated leading to this event include; participating in preparation meetings, and also writing essays for the Essay Writing Competition whose topic was“sustainable peace for sustainable development”/ “Amani endelevu kwa Maendeleo endelevu”. At least 25 primary school children took part in this competition. BYC also participated in a symposium and trainings organised during this period.

Tomorrow, BYC will take at least 50 children who will participate in the event at Karimjee Hall Dar es Salaam for 10.00 hrs. For more information on this check out UNIC's link http://daressalaam.unic.org/2012/09/19/media-advisory-for-international-day-of-peace-sept-21/.

Thus BYC is happy to be part of the initiative of marking this event of Peace Day.

BYC football Bonanza for Children in the Community

According to BYC’s August work plan, BYC organized a Bonanza for the Community to celebrate Ramadhan and welcome Idd ul fitr holiday.

The children that took part in the Bonanza: they were at least 90 kids who showed up!!

The bonanza took place on the 15^th August at Buguruni Primary School and targeted children in Buguruni community and youth from Dar Heroes. A total of 91 female and male children participated. The bonanza included seminars on HIV/AIDS and the 17 rules of soccer.



Omary Mbweze the Ass. Manager andsenior coach of BYC with the children



Rehema Chuka, Girls empowerment program manager talking to the children

The aim of the bonanza was to create awareness to the community outside BYC which usually lacks knowledge on HIV/AIDS and play soccer just for enjoyment. In addition it was to create friends with other football/soccer groups around Buguruni such as Dar Heroes.

Linda Shila- Peer leader BYC addressing the children

During the bonanza, there were Under 13 and Under 16 boy matches between BYC and Dar heroes.

Dar Heroes Under 13 football team getting a word from their coach before the match

Dar Heroes Under 13 football team with their coaches

In the Under 13 match BYC and Dar heroes drew 0-0 while in the Under 16 match they also drew 1-1.


BYC's Under 13 football team

Hand shaking before the Under 13 match

Rehema Chuka and Iddi Lila giving the boys a hand before they begin the match

More  hand shaking before the match

A silent prayer before the match



BYC's Under 16 boys football team

Dar heroes Under 16 football team

There were so many children and they seemed so excited to be part of the bonanza. They asked lots of questions on HIV/AIDS and took part in the different movement games conducted by KAO leaders at the centre. Rehema Chuka-Girls Empowerment Manager at BYC and Linda Shila-Peer leader conducted the trainings on HIV/AIDS while Iddi Lila-Organisation's Health Program Manager taught the 17 rules of soccer.

Linda Shila with some of the children at the centre



Some of BYC's children posing for the camera

BYC Going Beyond Boundaries: Kisaki

On the 24^th of July, Buguruni Youth Centre’s Assistant Program Manager /Training program manager Omary Mbweze and Girls Empowerment Program Manager Rehema Chuka travelled to Kisaki Village-Morogoro region by train. Kisaki is a village in Ngomero disrict, Morogoro region, approximately 4 hours from Dar es Salaam. The main socio-economic activity is agriculture including crops such as maize, watermelons, and sesame.

Rehema Chuka:Girls Empowernment Program Manager

The aim of the travel was to visit a centre in Kisaki which has youth and children that promotes Sports Activities to conduct sports training activities and HIV/AIDS messages.

Kisaki Centre has at least 60 youth and Children. The centre promotes sports training to the youth daily.

Some of the youth and children at Kisaki Centre

This centre is run by Ramadhani Mape, who started his sports career at Buguruni , Dar es Salaam before moving to Kisaki Morogoro to stay with a relative. Due to his passion for sports activities, he was selected by the Local authority to be a youth leader for Kisaki Village. Given this opportunity, he decided to promote sports in the village. Though lacking in the sports trainings was  HIV/AIDS education among the youth. He then visited Buguruni Youth Centre and learnt of their KAO activities. This prompted him to invite BYC’s leadership in order to train the young children on HIV/AIDS.


Ramadhani Mape-Kisaki leader

The training began officially on the 25^th of July in the evenings where the children were taught HIV/AIDS using the Kicking Aids Out (KAO) –Movement games. In addition they also did football exercises.



Rehema Chuka addressing the youth at the centre



On 27^th July there was a seminar for the children where the children were taught the 17 rules of soccer. In addition Rehema Chuka  a Leader  Level 2 (LL2) taught the youth on HIV/AIDS: What is HIV/AIDS, how it is transmitted. Almost all of these kids were unaware of this important topic.



Omary Mbweze, BYC's Ass. Prog Manager



It was clear that the kids lacked HIV/AIDS education and this was good oppotunity for them to learn. In addition to the challenges, there was limited sports equipment such as jerseys, footballs, shoes, that prevented the kids from taking part in sports activities. Girls in particular did not have any training sports wear and some came with Khangas. Tradition was also another factor that prevents the girls from taking part in sports since thus they do not feel confident to put on sports shorts, but this perception changed when they saw Rehema Chuka-BYC's girls' empowerment leader wearing shorts and they decided that they will not be intimidated and wear comfortable clothes for taking part in sports.

Girls at Kisaki Centre

Saturday was a farewell day where the BYC team and the kids plus their parents came to hear the final words. It was such a sad time for the children and it was clear that they wanted to continue with the trainings that were taking place. On Sunday before the BYC team left for Dar es Salaam in the evening, the Under 17 team from Kisaki Centre played a match with Muungano team from the next village. When leaving the Secretary of the local village requested for BYC's contacts and we hope that there will be further collaborations in the future. 

BYC winners and Football Bonanza

BYC- Kiwalani, Kitunda Cup Winners!!

The Kitunda Family Cup finally came to an end on the 8^th of July and B.Y.C clinched the top position!! BYC Kiwalani were awarded with a set of football jerseys, a football and a goat.  Just after BYC's Under 16 boys team came from the EAC, they prepped themselves up for the match and their efforts beared good results.



Tanzania's SuperStar Sports Magazine.

The awards were given by the Chairman for sports in Kitunda ward, Ernest Komba and the Chairman of the local government, Selemani Mtema. Komba congratulated BYC Kiwalani for their efforts and encouraged them to work hard in order to be able to participate in the leagues organised by the Ilala District Football Association. 

Before BYC begin their matches, there are usually movement games done by KAO peer leaders, thus an HIV/AIDS message is always passed before a ball is kicked. 

Well it seems that they are going to enjoy 'Nyama Choma" after all.



The goat that was won.



Ongoing tournaments and leagues

BYC's Under 16 is participating in the Ujirani Mwema Cup at Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam. They played against West Zone of Kigamboni and won 3-0 on the 9th of July. Thus training and preparations are still going on for the coming matches. 

Football Bonanza- Friendly Match for the Young and Old

BYC Kiwalani and Buguruni together prepared a football Bonanza- friendly match between elders who are parents for the youth and the youth at the Kiwalani grounds. This bonanza took place on the 15^th of July starting at 8.00 a.m. up to 12 midday.

The aim of the match was to familiarize the elders/parents for children in both centres, exchange ideas and also provide health education.

The results for the match were as follows:

Team	Time	Team that Won	Goals	Goals
Elders/Parents of BYC Kiwalani Vs BYC Buguruni	8.30-9.15 a.m.	Elders/Parents of Kiwalani	2	0
Youth of BYC Kiwalani Vs BYC Buguruni	9.30-11.00 a.m.	Youth of Kiwalani	3	2

In the end it was the BYC Kiwalani youth who won the match.

The elders/parents on both sides were very glad with the arrangement since they had the opportunity to meet and familiarizes with each other and they proposed that such an activity should be done on a regular basis.

In future, BYC aims to target more elderly community members to reach most people in the wider community. This will also include health education such as on HIV/AIDS issues. 

East Africa Cup: The Highlights

In participating in the East Africa Cup in Moshi Kilimanjaro this year, BYC was able to send 6 participants before the East Africa Cup games apart from the football teams and these were 2 field managers, Hamadi Rashidi and Mwinyi Ali, 1 participant for the journalism training, Zuberi Ally and 1 KAO participant, Rehema Chuka plus two Under 16 referees, Sudi Lila and Gabriel Charles. The training sessions were very educative and our youth learnt alot in the different fields from the different roles assigned to them.

Hamadi Rashidi confessed, ''I was very excited to participate as a field manager since there are things that I did not know such as roles as a field manager, and I have gained alot from my experience".

The two referees chosen from BYC got an opportunity to referee the Under 16 boys football matches till the end of the EAC tournament!

Omari, the assistant program manager and head coach of BYC said that " As a leader I was very thrilled that BYC got this opportunity to participate in the East Africa Tournament, our children were very well behaved and we have been able to meet different people from different organisations".

BYC's Under 16 girls team

BYC's teams played really well in the EAC and they managed to take the Under 16 football team upto the semi finals and this secured the team to third place after being beaten by MYSA.


BYC's Under 16 boys team

The Under 16 boys team after winning one of their matches

However BYC were not so lucky with the other teams though they have promised that come next year, they will win at least one of the matches.

BYC's Under 13 boys before a match

For almost all children, this tournament gave them an opportunity to travel out of dar es salaam and to Moshi and most of them ascertained that they had learnt alot during this period in the different seminars they attended. They also got an opportunity to meet with other children from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and all the other countries that participated in the tournament.Back home, parents of the children that participated in the EAC were very grateful especially after seeing their children with certificates of participation. Thus we thank the EAC organisers for making a most memorable event for BYC!!