Transform a Girl's Life Through Soccer

For International Women’s Day (March 8), we are excited to tell you about our most recent initiative- Jigeen Foot (Girl’s Soccer in Wolof): Sports Equality for Girls in Elementary Schools. Currently, elementary schools in Dakar, Senegal’s capital city, and in most of Senegal don’t offer sports for girls although they have sports programs for boys. We believe this needs to change. So we are changing it.

We are organizing soccer for girls in six elementary schools in the Yoff neighborhood of Dakar. 300 girls are now playing soccer at their local school. We’ve also trained teachers at the schools on how to teach and coach beginning girls’ soccer. We are hoping that we can spur the school system to adapt soccer and sports more widely for girls by highlighting the injustice and showing how girls can and want to participate in sports. 

This initiative is fully financed through your donations via GlobalGiving. You’ve have allowed us to implement a program we’ve been dreaming about for the last several years! And now girls are playing soccer in elementary schools where it all should start!

While we are very grateful to our other funders, your donations via GlobalGiving allow us to have full control to set the priorities and strategy that makes the most sense on the ground. We decide- which just leads to more empowerment of women.

In honor of International Women’s Day, consider donating if you haven’t recently. We moved our fundraising from the end of the year to March 8. We’re hoping to keep this initiative running and add more schools as we pressure the public school system to adopt sports for girls in schools!

Thank you so much for your continued support! It encourages us and allows us to try new things and push even more for girls’ to get to play!

Nio Far, In Solidarity,

Jennifer and the Ladies’ Turn Team