Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s mission to use the beautiful game to impact underprivileged children continued recently in Nepal, where 400 excited boys and girls from one of its most remote provinces participated in football clinics and daily educational sessions.
Organised by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and supported by the AFC Dream Asia Foundation (ADAF), the first phase of the ANFA Football Clinic for Underprivileged Children in Madhesh province kicked off this January in five sites simultaneously over two days. The clinics will continue in seven more provincial sites, taking the number up to 12 for this initial phase.
The overall programme aims to reach 1,440 children in Madhesh and Karnali, the two most multifaceted poverty-stricken provinces in Nepal, where they face various challenges that adversely affect their overall health and wellbeing, such as malnutrition, a lack of quality healthcare and limited educational facilities.
The initiative’s breadth underscores both the ADAF’s and ANFA’s commitment to benefit underprivileged children by providing them with sporting and learning opportunities, promoting gender equality and social development, and instilling a passion for football.
Aside from serving as a platform for children to learn and develop their skills, the clinics focused on imparting the long-term benefits of an active and healthy lifestyle as well as the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and integrity.
Daily educational sessions were also conducted by volunteers and educators, covering topics such as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), health and hygiene, communication, leadership, self-confidence and other essential life skills.
The clinics, facilitated by locally licenced ANFA coaches and met with overwhelming demand, were held with the enthusiastic support of local governments, schools and regional football associations to ensure participants received a holistic programme contributing to mental and physical development.
The second phase of the ANFA Football Clinic for Underprivileged Children is scheduled to be held in Karnali in late February, as the programme strives to maximise its footprint on the lives of these beneficiaries.
