CAMEROON

Founded in 2006, PLAY SOCCER Cameroon (PSC) has 1,734 children registered at 11 community sites, with numbers increasing despite limited funds and resources.

Almost a third of the children registered are girls, and almost half of the 49 volunteer youth instructors at PSC are young women. Volunteer and community participation are important strengths of PSC's program. The presence of a mobile library has enhanced literacy and numeracy skills for children who participate in PSC's core sport-for-development program. The Rural Women's Environmental Protection Association (RWEPA) continues to be an important local partner, providing enthusiastic community support and healthy fruit snacks for the children.

GHANA

PLAY SOCCER Ghana (PSG) – launched in 2001 as the Network's first pilot program – has expanded from a single site with 100 children to 896 children currently registered at 12 sites in several regions across the country.

A sign of the growing recognition and support within Ghana for PSG's core program is the support of renowned former captain of Ghana's National Team, Tony Baffoe, who recently agreed to become a "Goodwill Ambassador" for PLAY SOCCER Ghana.

FIFA's social responsibility initiative "Football for Hope" also selected Ghana as the site for one of 20 "Football for Hope" Centers that will be built as part of the 2010 World Cup Campaign. The purpose of the Center is to function on both a national and international basis as a model hub for health and social development through football. PLAY SOCCER Ghana and PSNI will develop and manage the FFH Center, which will include a Community Computer Learning Center and a "Coaching The Whole Child" curriculum.

MALAWI

PLAY SOCCER Malawi (PSM) is the fastest-growing and most populous program in the Network, with 4,560 children registered at just three sites.

An impressive 1,724 of PLAY SOCCER Malawi's registered children are young girls – giving PSM the largest female participation level in the Network. The program, launched in 2006 with 1,700 children, has grown rapidly in response to huge demand coming from the Blantyre and other regions. Since 2008, UNICEF has supported some of Malawi's program activities. The Scotland-based partner, Friends of PLAY SOCCER Malawi (www.friendsofpsm.org.uk) also provides generous and critical support to PSM, most recently through donations of nutritious snacks for the large numbers of participating children.

SENEGAL

Founded in 2006, PLAY SOCCER Senegal (PSS) has 600 children registered at six sites. PSS's program has pioneered a focus on helping bring the PLAY SOCCER program to transient children, who live without their parents, often work on the streets to support themselves, and come from different locations across Senegal. PSS is working closely with Koranic schools and other community organizations to make this possible. A sign of broad community support for PSS's leadership and contribution to vulnerable children and youth was the recent election of Mamadou Mbaye, one of PSS's exceptional site supervisors, as Mayor of the Grand Yoff community on the outskirts of Dakar.

SOUTH AFRICA

Established in 2003 with just one site, PLAY SOCCER South Africa (PSSA) now has nine sites in the Gauteng province with 1,074 children registered. Some 430 of these children are girls and more than half of PSSA's volunteer instructors are young women, giving PSSA the Network's highest level of female participation after Malawi. In addition to its core program, PSSA partners with UNICEF and the South Africa Ministry of Education to run a sports-based program that aims to engage children in schools and communities, reduce violence and enhance educational benefits. Community participation is a driving force at PSSA's sites in Gauteng where local groups including the South African Dental Association, Tembisa Social, and the Johannesburg Traffic Department lead programs on health and social topics, substance abuse, and road safety. PSSA currently benefits from the media spotlight and stimulus of the 2010 World Cup.

PSSA will be highly visible with a host team during the 2010 World Cup at its new program site in Alexandra, the venue for the "Football For Hope Festival For Youth," one of the World Cup's key official events for children and youth. GTZ/Youth Development Through Football is providing the funding for the new program site.

ZAMBIA

The PLAY SOCCER Zambia (PSZ) program, founded in 2003, has 2157 children registered. PSZ recently expanded from the Lusaka region to a new site in the Copperbelt region through a partnership with the Q-Fund, a non-profit organization which shares PLAY SOCCER's mission to empower vulnerable children and underserved communities. With Q-Fund support at an Ndola site, PSZ recently trained 24 new volunteer youth instructors and registered more than 150 new children in the core program. Zambian corporate partners include MTN, a telecommunications company which donated T-shirts for the children. PSZ has also launched a "backyard" social enterprise project in partnership with Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural African Plant Products (ASNAPP). ASNAPP and PSZ have joined forces to teach 20 PS youth how to cultivate the "miracle" Moringa tree, prized for its nutritional and medicinal value. PSZ has been selected as the Network's pilot program for a new partnership with the Moremi Initiative, an organization that engages, inspires and equips girls and young women to be Africa's next generation of leaders.