Spotlight on Girls in the Game

Since 1995, Girls in the Game have been doing amazing work helping girls in Chicago. Every year, 2,500 girls participate in one of their sports programmes, receiving health and fitness education. This education empowers the girls to make smarter and healthier lifestyle choices. Plus, their leadership skills, both on and off the field, are developed.

And there are loads of sports to choose from: soccer, basketball, swimming and yoga- there really is something for everyone!

Girls in the Game realise that nowadays girls face all kinds of problems and pressures like obesity, violence, poor nutrition and health, peer pressure and low self-esteem. Girls in the Game help by using sports and fitness to address all these issues.

The results speak for themselves! The girls who complete the programmes end up having better self-esteem, better body image and are more likely to achieve higher grades.

Like Goal, Girls in the Game empower girls through sports so that they discover new levels of self-belief and confidence!

Amy Skeen, Executive Director of Girls in the Game has this to say about her organisation: "I think one of the unique things about Girls in the Game is that we take sports and fitness opportunities and combine that with health education for girls- nutrition, body image and leadership development- and bring it together to make programmes that address the whole girl."

If you want to learn more about this organisation, go to www.girlsinthegame.org

Goal launches in Jordan!

Our devoted readers will know that Goal Jordan has been on our agenda, but we're thrilled to announce that the programme has now officially launched for all the world to see!

On 24 Jan, Goal launched formally in Amman, with our partner Right to Play. Standard Chartered Jordan CEO Ahmad Abu Eideh and her Excellency Mrs. Hala Lattouf Bsaisu , Minister of Social Development and Women's Affairs were on hand to officially sign Goal into formality.

Goal will be launched in three municipalities, Amman , Irbid and Zarqa and over three phases. Standard Chartered Bank will seek to involve 150 of its staff in this programme to use their core skills as volunteers, helping to develop and deliver modules, mentoring participants and volunteering at community events to help Goal Champions achieve their personal and professional aspiration.

Thanks and congratulations to the whole team in Jordan - we're expecting great things!

Sporting start to the year for Mumbai's Goal girls!

This report has just come in from Goal in Mumbai. . .

Goal Mumbai began the New Year on a sporting note by participating in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon and the Down to Earth Interactive sports meet over 2 weekends in January.

It was a proud moment for the girls to have their own ‘Goal’ contingent among the various groups who formed a part of the Standard Chartered Contingent at the marathon. 25 Goal participants and a few Standard Chartered Goal volunteers formed the Goal group.

On Sunday 16th of January at 7.30 in the morning, the Goal girls set off to Azad Maidan with banners and placards. The girls took part in the ‘Dream Run’ of the marathon. They were excited to see so many citizens of Mumbai taking part in the marathon supporting various causes like save the environment, water conservation, child rights, issues of old people etc. The Goal girls felt proud to represent the cause of women and shouted slogans about Goal, the rights for women and the need for a united Mumbai.

The girls felt elated to participate in the Marathon and walk with thousands of people celebrating the spirit of Mumbai.

Down to Earth Sports Meet:

The Goal program also took part in the Interactive Sports Meet organized by Down to Earth on the 23rd of January 2011 at the Karnataka Sports Ground, Mumbai. More than 400 children from all over Mumbai came together to celebrate!

It was wonderful to have the Goal girls interact, engage and compete with so many children. The event was organized completely by a group of committed and enthusiastic volunteers. All the games with unique names like magic carpet, junk in the trunk and tip the joker encouraged team building and discipline.

One of the Goal participants Chhaya Gaikwad said: "I was very excited about going to the meet this year again! It was amazing to see so many kids from all over Mumbai. I made many friends. I loved playing the various games that I had never played before. Our team had boys and girls of all ages and there was a lot of challenge and excitement in quickly understanding the games and helping our team members complete the tasks!”

More great photos from India

I've got some more fantastic photos from our Goal projects in India last year!

Aali Goan girls celebrate beating the Jaitpur team on their

graduation day!

Practising those all important netball skills.




This is what determination looks like!

Mid-air action shot!

Goal girls with their Standard Chartered piggy banks . . .

hopefully they've filled them up already.

We hope to bring you more photos this here of the latest Goal girls, including those from our new project countries. Don't forget to come back and check out the latest updates!

Spotlight on ROCH (Restoring Our Children's Hope)

This week I've got a great organisation to tell you about. They're called ROCH- Restoring Our Children's Hope and they work in Liberia.

"Happy Children, Happy Nation" is ROCH's motto. ROCH was set up in 2009 and now works in six Liberian counties, reaching around 15,000 children and young people.

After two decades of civil war, this entirely volunteer-run NGO is seeking to help children and young people overcome some of the challenges and difficulties that they encounter in their post-conflict communities. One such challenge is poor access to education and health services, especially for deprived and vulnerable children.

ROCH uses sports, games and interactive forums through which the children and young people can enhance their confidence and learn vital life skills like cooperation, mutual respect, team work and leadership. Furthermore, through activities and discussions the kids learn about health issues like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

All of this new knowledge is used by ROCH and the children to organise awareness-raising events in the local community around themes like peace-building, health promotion and children's rights.

Through its sports activities and educational programmes, ROCH and its team of 500 coaches hope to contribute to developing the physical, mental and social health of Liberia's children. Not only is ROCH's approach to empowering children holisitc, but it is also sustainable as whole communities are also empowered through ROCH's programmes and outreach work.

Hello Liverpool fans!

Football fans unite! This weekend in Liverpool, we're excited to announce that we'll be hosting a skills challenge with Goals 4 Girls.

'Goals 4 Girls' is a fantastic Liverpool FC community initiative aimed at girls who are not in employment, education or training. The lucky winner of the centre circle challenge will be given the chance to travel to India as the LFC Ambassador to Goal.

If you're at Anfield this weekend, please cheer our girls on. For more information, see the Liverpool site.


If you're a Liverpool fan that's come to learn more about Goal, please browse around the blog, check out our You Tube videos or follow us on Twitter.

Global Girls News: 10 January

Latest news in bite-size just for you!

• “Contribute to women and girls gaining freedom, dignity and safety”. July’s turning out to be a big month with the International Women’s Summit and the World YWCA Council- which only l taking place once every four years! Over 1,000 women from 100 countries will be taking part. One of the topics they’ll be focusing on is globally upholding young women and girls empowerment. We’ll make sure to update you on all the outcomes from this!
  
  
• Levi Strauss (creators of those amazing jeans) has launched ‘Shape What’s to Come’ (SWTC). They believe that young women need mentors. The site is a space which allows these women to connect with these mentors and a place to “pursue your passion and channel it into something big- a new experience, a career or even a cause.” It’s a great site so check it out. Or follow them on Twitter:@TheLeviGirl

• The World Food Programme has begun a ‘Women’s Empowerment Fund’ where they say that women are the key in the global fight against hunger. Read what they believe are the four ways to empower women. Did you know that 2/3 of the 75 million uneducated children in the world are girls? I know I didn’t.

More Girls Graduate from Goal in India!

December was a month packed full of graduations!

On December 13th, 73 Goal girls from Aali and Jaitpur graduated from the Goal programme.

The ceremony was attended by Sushen Zhingan, Head of Public Affairs at Standard Chartered India, and Sumeet Singla, Head of Corporate Affairs. They handed out certificates and piggy banks to the graduates and some of the girls shared their Goal stories with the guests and audience. Sushen also spoke about the excellent work that Goal has done and encouraged the girls to remain in the programme, emphasising the importance of sports.

The graduates thanked all of those people who had helped them through the programme, including the tutor who taught them English, the local temple for providing them with meals and the police who had ensured the safety of the girls.

The ceremony finished with a netball match between Aali and Jaitpur. Aali had home ground advantage and ended up winning the match.

Once again, we would like to congratulate the girls for their successful completion of Goal and their graduation. We hope you all continue to enjoy playing netball and that your confidence grows and grows!