Support teen refugee sports & academics

Who we are and what we do

Our names are Jenny Kremer and Jorge Villafuerte and we are teachers at Cairo American College (CAC), an international school in Cairo, Egypt. We manage a non profit organization called Pamoja Sports. Pamoja means ‘together’ in Swahili and our goal is to enable sports and academic opportunities for teenagers who lack access to coaching and facilities.

We believe in the transformational power of sports – to build self-confidence, encourage collaboration, and enhance leadership skills. Here in Cairo, we work with African Hope Learning Centre , a school for refugee children fleeing violence and war from other countries in Africa. For the past two years, we have offered a range of STEAM academic experiences plus weekly soccer, volleyball, and basketball training sessions. We also supported a summer sports program for 60 teenage boys and girls.

Partnership with African Hope Learning Centre and CAC

The facilities of African Hope Learning Centre are limited. The school building is extremely crowded as it was originally a single-family home and now has more than 450 students attending it. There are no courts or fields for playing sports. They lack science labs and design tech/maker space facilities. Cairo American College has been generous with their facilities and helped make it so that once a week African Hope students use the classrooms, fields and courts and receive training with coaches and lessons from teachers. We pay for the buses to bring them back and forth as well as equipment, tournament fees, and uniforms. Arranging matches with other clubs and schools is also part of our support.

Understanding the refugee situation in Cairo

Egypt is home to many refugees and they are not always treated well. Racist and unfair treatment is pervasive. African Hope students' families have fled their homes due to violence, war, or political persecution and are not able to return. Some of these students will end up being sent to third countries as a part of UNHCR's efforts to provide asylum to refugees. But many of them will languish in this process for years and Cairo will be their temporary/long term home for the foreseeable future.

How your donation impacts lives

Enabling refugee students to have opportunities to experience diverse academics and join sports teams has had a dramatic impact on their lives. The director of African Hope Learning Centre, Emeka Nwokobia, tells us, “Being a part of this program is shaping their behavior in school and beyond. They are learning that if you don’t behave well in the game, you will lose, as controlling emotions is a part of sports. To be a part of this program the students must take academics seriously. They don’t skip homework, they must attend classes. It’s helping to build discipline. It is becoming part of them. It’s rubbing off on the others — they are asking me, what can we do to be part of this? It’s also helping to build the leadership of many of the older boys and parents are very happy about the opportunities to play. They are caring more about others as they see their fellow students as teammates.”

Read on for quotes from a few of the soccer players.

Tito -- “Coach is always telling us to do our best, and when we play, we enjoy competing and winning! I want to do my best. I’m growing as a leader with the younger ones. I’m learning how to get them to listen to me. I just try to follow the instructions and advice from Coach and then the boys are doing it and they are listening to me. So I’m growing as a leader. I’m seeing the boys starting to understand that if they study well they get to be part of the team. All of us are taking school more seriously because we want to play.”

Feysal -- “I love it because I love this sport. I’m studying more because I want to play. It’s my first time to be on a team and I’m very happy because I get to play with my friends. The coach is helping to tell me how to play and I’m learning new things from him.”

Abdallah -- “It’s been a good opportunity for me to be trained by Coach and also be able to represent my school. I feel proud. I feel I’m doing something for my school. Coach always says training is not an excuse to not study so it’s helping me to organize my schedule.”

Faisal -- “I feel good with this team especially with the coach. I used to get angry sometimes when I would lose but now I’m learning to control my emotions. The coach (I had) before was not professional like Coach and we didn’t learn techniques and strategies. Now I’m beginning to understand the basics and soon I will know it all. It’s helping me focus on school.”

Joshua -- "The best part is being with my friends playing and enjoying together. Coach is giving us good skills and telling us things to motivate us. Most importantly, we have to focus on school first and then soccer.”

Thank you

Your donation offers access to outstanding facilities and coaches, and most importantly, the chance to build the life skills that come through exposure to STEAM academics and sports. Thank you in advance for your support.

Links

Please follow us on Instagram to see the kids in action! -- @pamojasports

Watch our video summarizing the 2024 academic and sports program