En Avant Les Enfants

Education Through Basketball - P.J.B, Goma, DRC Congo

Created in 2006, PJB's purpose is to promote the development of youth and good citizenship through sport and academic achievement at school. More than 1,250 children aged 3-24 years old are enrolled in an integrated life-skills program that encourages them to focus on the future and prevent risks surrounding them in the city of Goma, located in North-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Young people in Goma live in an environment of relative insecurity, and in precarious socioeconomic conditions, following years of civil war and the devastation that followed the eruption of the nearby Nyiragongo volcano. Training daily, the boys and girls, including a group of handicapped children training with wheelchairs, use basketball to learn the values of a dignified life based on respect, solidarity, effort, discipline and responsible citizenship. Apart from the center's court, PJB has built 6 courts across Goma's neighborhoods and is managed by a passionate staff operating under strict governance rules. The most dedicated players enjoy the benefit of receiving local school scholarships. Public schools are not free in the DRC and the annual cost of proves a barrier to many families. PJB offers therefore a tremendous incentive to pursue education that is otherwise inaccessible. More than 200 players are supported by scholarships of an average of $150 per person per year, which are offered not only on talent, but also on attitude and effort. PJB is today recognized as a basketball academy of excellence beyond Goma. It receives regular visits by Congolese NBA player Bismack Biyombo, who supported the creation of the first indoor basketball court in D.R. Congo in Goma, in a school established by the same founder of PJB. Other NBA players of Congolese origin like Emmanuel Mudiay and Serge Ibaka have visited PJB. The organization Giants of Africa, led by Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri, came to visit the academy in 2018. PJB players have also been offered opportunities for education scholarships in American high schools. To date this has been arranged through private contacts, and a recent partnership with GLOBAL SQUAD, an academy bringing children from all continents to attend an intensive summer training camp in the US and exposing them to hundreds of recruiting coaches from boarding high schools. The first full scholarships have been offered in 2018. GLOBAL SQUAD head coach John Alexander has also conducted a first coaching camp in Goma in February 2019. PJB needs to consolidate its fund raising capacity in order to support their education and life skills mission in Goma, and provide for a few select players to gain access to recruiting camps in the US. Founder: Dario Merlo Kasuku Coordinator: Sakinah Musafiri Head Coach: Kipere Mulolwa Contact: In DRC Congo: Sakinah Musafiri, Coordinator sakinah_musafiri@yahoo.fr In the USA: Daniel Arnould, Board Advisor daniel.arnould10@gmail.com Tel +1 (203) 979-1586 http://www.promojeunebasket.org