Goal Girls

A Young Girl in Jordon Finds that there is more to Life than her Studies

2012-01-13T06:07:00.000-08:00

By Batool Kreishan & Manar Shgerat

Haneen is a 15 year old student from Boshra High School for Girls in Irbid. Timid and reserved by nature, Haneen struggled to interact with other children in her school and community, fearing that they wouldn’t accept her for who she was. But with the exceptional guidance of her Right To Play Coach, Manar Shgerat, and the Goal program, Haneen’s personality has transformed. She has finally realized her potential as a liberator and leader in her home town.

Led by our Right To Play country staff, Goal was introduced at Boshra school almost a year ago. The program includes workshops focused on the empowerment of young teenage girls, and arms them with the necessary tools to prepare for the future. Haneen signed up for workshops such as “Be Empowered”, “Be Yourself”, “Be Healthy” and “Be Money Savvy,” assuming they would be like any other school course.

Since then, Haneen’s self image has soared; she is now confident, friendly and curious to learn and experience new things. Now Haneen speaks up in class and at home. She speaks to her peers, engages in different activities at her school and enjoys her new role as a girl scout.

“I was at my old school for 4 years, and with all that time there I only had one friend. On the other hand, I have been in Boshra School for over a year now and I already have 25 friends”. Haneen said

With regards to her communication problems, Haneen has made an active effort to interact with her friends, teachers and family. She now discusses matters with her parents and is no longer afraid of her teachers. She constantly asks questions so that she can learn as much as possible, and reach her full potential.

“Right To Play and Goal have helped me shed the light on my true self. I feel like am a new person who loves to play sports, communicate with others and learn about many things. I also learned that I could do so much.” Haneen said

Looking back at her progress, Haneen’s mum realizes how much her daughter has changed. “I am truly amazed. It is like I have a new member in the family. She is always telling us about her day and what she wants to learn and do in the future” Haneen’s mum says

Kunti's grown from strength to strength and now a national player of Netball!

2011-12-25T07:24:00.000-08:00

Kunti’s Background
Kunti is in 9th Grade at Deepalaya School, Govindpuri, New Delhi. She has participated in the Goal programme for the past two years. “She was known to be very notorious in school. She was poor in studies and was always in the bad books with most of the teachers.

Her Experience
When asked about her experience with Goal, she gives a brilliant smile and says that it has been a great experience. She admits that after playing the junior nationals, her confidence level has increased. She says “I am looking forward to make my career in Netball”. She is inspired by one of the Goal coaches, Ms. Deepali, who represents India at the international level. She has now been selected to become a ‘Goal Champion’: to facilitate leadership sessions and teach netball to the new girls in the programme for which she underwent a ‘Train the Trainers’ course.

She trains the young girls at her school who now intently listens to her instructions as they get initiated to the game of Netball. During the sessions, Kunti displays great command on the group that she coaches and shares - “I am proud to be a national player of Netball. I can never thank the Goal team enough for this opportunity.

What she learnt
Kunti says “Through the programme I have learned how to operate computers and internet. I understand the importance of Health & Hygiene and learned about Sex & Sexuality.” She also recollects the fun that she had at the Goal picnics and training sessions with the Goal Team.
Her teachers have noticed significant changes in her after she enrolled in the programme, after she joined the Goal programme, her behaviour has improved greatly and so has her performance in academics. We are happy to see the change and know that she can do something in life” says Ms. Namrata, teacher and community coordinator, Deepalaya School, Govindpuri, New Delhi.

She has now been selected to become a ‘Goal Champion’: to facilitate leadership sessions and teach netball to the new girls in the programme in order to do this she underwent a ‘Train the Trainers’ course. She trains the young girls at her school who now intently listens to her instructions as they get initiated to the game of Netball. During the sessions, Kunti displays great command on the group that she coaches and shares - “I am proud to be a national player of Netball. I can never thank the Goal team enough for this opportunity.

Global News - Empowering girls

2011-12-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

GNOC- The ‘women in sports festival’ begins. The Gambia national Olympic committee (GNOC) and the Gambia football association(GFA) organises the week of women in sports festival began on Saturday. This is the third year it has taken place and the main focus is to encourage and empower girls by mainstreaming them into the world of football.
Read more: http://allafrica.com/stories/201112191429.html

Programme director of the Girls Empowered is the Triad winner! Time Warner Cable’s National Super Connector Search will give Johnson a chance to star in a $100 million public service announcement to inspire kids to pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Read more: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/dec/19/wsmet04-milestones-for-dec-19-ar-1728538/

Girl Scouts Declares 2012 the Year of the Girl- Girl Scouts is the leading
authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage,
confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. With its 100th
anniversary coming up in April next year the CEO Anna Maria Chavez has named 2012 the year of the girl.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/08/4110303/girl-scouts-declares-2012-the.html#storylink=cpy

Running organization is helping young girls- Girls on the run was founded by Molly Baker in 1996 Barker she created this national non-profit organization by having expertise in counselling and teaching adolescent issues. It has grown from just 13 girls in its first chapter to chapters in more than 160 communities. Girls on the Run prepares girls from 8 to 13 for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living; it involves physical and mental issues, including running and lessons to improve the emotional and social aspects that our important for young girls to learn. Read more: http://www.clevelandbanner.com/view/full_story/16730582/article-Running-organization-is-helping-young-girls-?instance=latest_articles

Gowri’s graduated with flying colours

2011-12-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Gowri Mudaliar a 16 year old girl from Mumbai is now a Goal Champion! She successfully graduated from the Goal in April this year. Gowri is from a family of five, her father is not presently working and her elder brother is the only provider for the entire family!

When Gowri first came to Goal she was shy and quiet although had lots of potential to show her energy and enthusiasm; with regular attendance to the Goal sessions she grew in confidence and interacted and laughed with her peers.

She grew a love for sport and discovered a lot of life skills, from this she became part of the “train for trainers” programme which has uncovered initiative and the ability to take responsibility which is the future will assist the family, especially her elder brother who has all financial responsibility for the whole family at the moment.

Train for Trainers” benefits the trainer as they feel more empowered by passing on the lessons they learnt onto other girls who are in similar situations. It is also less daunting for those girls who came to learn as they know the trainers were once at the same stage as them and can relate to the trainers more easily.

Gowri is in the 5th grade and will complete the state level exams in order to go to college. Gowri’s potential is increasing with achieving one of the top marks in her school, with her budding marks and love for maths and economics her aspirations of being a Chartered account are likely to come true!

Introducing Goal Zambia!

2011-12-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

We're so excited here at Goal to introduce a new member to our family, Goal Zambia!

We've partnered with EduSport Foundation who are already doing great work with girls empowerment in Zambia through sport and life skills education.

The launch was participated by the Acting Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education as well as Standard Chartered's Chief Exective Office and Managing Director, Mizinga Melu and the Chairman of our new partner, Edusport, Dr J.T.N. Phiri.

Keep reading the blog for more updates on Goal Zambia and also our other Goal countries!

It's here! Beyond Sport's Summit and Awards

2011-12-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

The Beyond Sport Summit 2011 has started! We excitedly shared our news with you in the summer that we're shortlisted for the Corporate of the Year award and the winner will be revealed this week...

The Summit's agenda looks great and our Goal Nigeria partner, the Youth Empowerment Foundation, is attending... Stay up to date on all that's happening through twitter @BeyondSport.

Coach Story: Mayyada and North Badia's Girls

2011-10-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

Mayyada Al-Muafyee, a 21-years old goal coach, lives in North Badia; a Male dominate- conservative community with high percentage of unemployment and community interference in girls lives (who despite their education only have one choice after graduation: marriage).

Shortly after joining Goal Project in the training workshop with Right To Play, Mayyada' father passed away (the only and main supporter of the family). Instead of breaking down, Mayyada was encouraged to provide girls around her with chances she never had:

"I wish I had that chance when I was younger! to simply play, and be more aware of my health, body and manage my finances. Even my mom is using the Goal Manual to manage the household finances, especially after the loss of my father. Whenever I have a session you'd find my mom waking me up earlier than usual in order for me not to be late on my goal Champions all because of her belief in the project"

Totally dedicated and responsible towards her community, Mayyada participated in different activities previously, mainly concentrating on child care and motherhood, but never transferred that knowledge to any of her community members simply because she was shy and isolating herself. After joining Goal project her self confidence increased and through training 13-15 years old girls she no longer feels shy to stand in front of mothers to raise some sensitive issues. Furthermore, feedback from participating girls is that their mothers wish that they had been given the chance to take the training workshop after watching their girls become more expressive about their feelings and more aware of serious health issues.

Mayyada dreams of becoming a teacher in a rehabilitation centre within two years to help those who need help because of her realization to the inner strength she has and the great effect she can have on other people's lives, all through implementing Goal Project.

Update from Jordan: Two young girls find their inner strength through Goal

2011-10-20T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hana* and Hiba* are two young 9th grade students from Zumlet Al-Amer Ghazi Girls School. Violent and repressed by their communities, these girls had a problem of being themselves and acting like a teenage girls. Yet thanks to efforts by Right To Play's Goal program coaches, Hana and Hiba have managed to find the path to discover themselves and find the beauty within.

Before the introduction of the Goal program workshops titled "Be Yourself" "Be Empowered", Hana and Hiba believed that they are unappreciated for being young females; they believed that if they were males their lives would be much easier and they could do and achieve any thing they want. In their own words:

"We don't believe we have a future, males in our society are much more dominant and they always get what they want, while we are always at the bottom" Hana and Hiba

In their School, Hana and Hiba were hard to deal with and violent with other girls. This was a huge matter of concern to their teachers until Right To Play introduced and conducted Goal workshop sessions in the school.

Hana and Hiba joined the Goal program coaches in Al Badia Al Shamliah area and started following and interacting positively with what they were being taught. The sessions focused on developing skills for girls to better understand who they are. Initially not thinking the program would change anything, Hana and Hiba saw and learned how to express themselves politely and ask for what they want.

After taking all "Be Yourself" sessions, Hana and Hiba have become more aware of themselves and how much they can do. They started behaving in a friendlier manner and acting their own age, they learned that they are allowed to have fun and achieve great things too.

Filled with hope for a better future, Hana and Hiba are now actively involved in the program and are participating in every session. They have improved their social relations with their friends and teachers and are much more attentive in class.

*Alias names

Watch the Girls 20 Summit live!

2011-10-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

Can't make it to Paris to take part in the Summit? There's no longer a need to panic... You can now be up to speed by watching it live.

Starting this morning, watch the panel on 'girls and women as engines of growth' at 10 15am and a debate led by the Nike Foundation at 11 45am.

This is just the start of an exciting agenda over the next few days!

Coming Soon: Girls 20 Summit!

2011-09-26T11:24:00.000-07:00

Standard Chartered - Goal programme is proud to sponsor the Girls 20 Summit this year, a fabulous event that brings together brilliant young women from around the world to debate, discuss and design innovative ideas necessary to empower girls and women globally.

The agenda for the Summit is now available, but the planners know that you want to have your say. The team wants to hear your ideas for planning the Summit. Contribute on their new YouTube page!

As we countdown to mid-October, stay tuned for more updates on how we'll be linking Goal in the with this awesome event.

Welcome CGI readers!

2011-09-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

The Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting is happening right now in New York.

Standard Chartered’s Group CEO, Peter Sands, is going to be participating at the ‘Sports as a tool for social good’ session tomorrow! You can watch it live on CGI's webcast at 3:45-5:00pm US time- channel 2! The other participants in this session are:
· Astrid Aafjes, Founder and President of Women Win
· Tony Blair, Founder of The Tony Blair Sports Foundation and also former Prime Minister for the UK and Northern Ireland
· Luis Moreno, President of the Inter-American Development Bank
· Dikembe Mutombo, Chairman and President of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, Inc.
· Robin Roberts, Co-anchor of ABC News and Good Morning America

If you’re new to the site, welcome!
Our programme empowers girls through sport and life skills education in India, Nigeria, Jordan and China. Learn more about Goal.
We also give daily updates on Goal as well as global news on women and girls empowerment through our twitter page @GoalGirlsGlobal.

Jyoti: “These days, what boys can do, girls can do the same.”
We have been filming video diaries of the girls in India which were filmed over a year to hear directly from them how their lives have changed. Meet 14 year old Jyoti, and watch the direct changes that Goal made to the lives of her and her family.

View more of our video diaries on our YouTube channel.

Calling all men to UNiTE against violence towards women and girls

2011-09-13T01:41:00.000-07:00

Creating a t-shirt to stop violence?

UNiTE campaign is inviting men aged 18-25 to design a t-shirt which relfects a world where there's no more violence against women.

Have a look at the entries so far and vote for your favourite!

What is UNiTE campaign?

'UNiTE to end violence against women' was launched by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2008. The campaign calls upon worldwide action to permanently stop violence against women and girls.

Spotlight: Mamta

2011-08-21T08:53:00.000-07:00

It was Mamta’s sister who first introduced her to Goal.

Neetu, was one of the first girls to join Goal in our site in Delhi, India. When she was taking part in Goal, Mamta discouraged her, wondering why she was a part of a programme which encouraged girls to play netball in the heat and get a suntan! Neetu’s reply was that her younger sister should sign up and see for herself.

Mamta decided to join the programme and see what the fuss was about! At first, she was very scared and shy both on and off the netball court. Before she joined, she wasn’t allowed to go outside her house alone.

One year on
One year of being a part of the Goal programme and she’s completely changed. She’s one of the best netball players and is a great team leader. After learning life skills from the Goal curriculum, Mamta feels confident that she can deal with any situation that comes her way.

In December 2010, Mamta was recruited as a Goal Delhi assistant coach as well as being a Goal Champion. She now teaches other Goal girls the valuable life skills that helped her.

Unfortunately her mother passed away earlier this year. With her sister now married, she has to look after the house herself. However, she still makes time to follow her dreams of working in the police force and was one of the first girls in her neighborhood to pursue a graduate degree.

In Mamta’s words: “My mother had a dream that I would always play sport and ultimately become part of Delhi Police service. I am striving hard to get selected into the police. I have got so much confidence from Goal, that now, I am sure of fulfilling my dreams.

Learn more on how Goal changed Mamta’s life by watching her video diary.

Goal Girls: Training on Migrant Girls Case Study 2

2011-08-19T02:33:00.000-07:00

Genping Xiang, High School Graduate, Green Leaf Volunteer Association meeting room, Jiangbei Region, Chongqing

I didn't really understand the Experiential Learning Cycle methodology before the Goals activities. However, after a few discussion sessions with the trainers, I started to understand the Kolb learning styles.

I really like this learning style because not only does it apply to the knowledge we gained from the Goal activities, it applies to everyday life.

My favourite discussion concerned human rights and responsibilities. What the trainers told us was very impressive. For example, one of the trainers talked about the right of self-disclosure, which I did not know about before. For people like us, from the countryside, it is very hard to communicate with others.

Although we have the urge to learn about everything around us, we are not confident enough to ask. Thus, we lose the chance to learn. I think after this experience, with everything I've learnt, I will no longer be afraid to express my opinions and express myself to other.

Great article on our friends Magic Bus

2011-08-16T02:28:00.000-07:00

We love Magic Bus, a great organisation working in India to promote sport with girls and boys who wouldn't normally have access. In fact, some of our Goal Champions have gone on to become staff or coaches at Magic Bus. We saw this on World Pulse and thought you would like it. Click here for the original article and a great slide show.

Transporting a youth soccer team from the poorest slums of Mumbai, India, to the Bay Area has its challenges. Passports, for starters.

A few months ago, the girls of the Magic Bus soccer team barely existed on paper. No IDs, no birth certificates, no addresses recognized by the government. Some learned during the passport process that they had different last names.

Flash forward to this week, when those same girls found themselves palling around with U.S. women's soccer stars Julie Foudy and Aly Wagner on the lush playing surfaces of Saint Mary's College and Stanford University.

Many of the dozen players had never left their communities, let alone India.

When they booted a ball across the manicured grass fields of a college campus, it marked the first time they'd played on anything like it.

The biggest culture shock was realizing that it was OK.

"In the community we come from, we're not used to hearing we can do whatever you want. And that gets frustrating sometimes," said right defender Sheetal Pal, 16. "But when we came here, the message every day was: 'You can do whatever you put your mind to.'

"It was nice to see other people have confidence in you."

The players are here as part of a nonprofit mission to expose Indian girls to an alternate reality. It's a cross between "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Bend It Like Beckham" (with a dash of "Field of Dreams" -- the girls took in a Giants game on Wednesday).

At home, these girls, ages 14 to 17, live in cramped quarters, often without clean water. As soccer players, they are often told they bring shame to their families. An unmarried teenage girl in shorts is an affront to traditional culture.

Matthew Spacie, a former India rugby player, founded the Magic Bus organization in Mumbai in 1999. His goal was to improve the circumstances for the country's poor through sport -- with an emphasis on gender equity. "In India, we're working against hundreds of thousands of years of preconceptions about what a girl should be allowed to do," he said.

Taking an entire team to the United States is a first. Rahul Brahmbhatt, the general manager for Magic Bus USA, teamed with the Julie Foudy Leadership Camp, the soccer training ground founded by the former Stanford player who later spent a decade captaining the U.S. women's team.
The girls arrived at Foudy's camp at Saint Mary's about two weeks ago where they met Wagner, who served as a coach. Wagner recalls how the girls clung only to one another and seemed almost too shy to speak. "They were subdued, almost like they were wondering what they got themselves into," Wagner said.

Foudy and other coaches split the Mumbai girls up in drills so that they would be forced to mingle with the 100 or so U.S. players at the camp. "And within a few days," Foudy said, "they had the American kids doing Hindi cheers."

As their trip winds down -- the girls leave town Saturday -- that shyness is long gone. A handful of the best English speakers took the stage at the end of Foudy's camp and fielded questions from the U.S. players about life back home. A hand shot up from the back of the room: "What's a slum?"
The Mumbai girls took turns detailing their densely populated neighborhoods where dwellings could be bulldozed at any minute by the government. They told of the mafias that control water and electricity. They told of waking up as early as 4:30 to handle the washing and cleaning before going to work. Before going to school. Before going back to work. Before helping cook dinner for the household. Before doing homework. Before going to bed about 9.

Soccer is a luxury reserved for a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays. It's rare for girls to play -- and even rarer for them to be allowed to play past puberty.

Some of the U.S. girls cried when they heard the stories. Wagner, the former star at San Jose's Presentation High and Santa Clara University, hasn't stopped thinking about it. She called her time with the Magic Bus team "one of the greatest experiences I've had, outside Olympic medals and national championships. Just to hear their perspective and then by the end to see the smiles on their faces was incredible."

Not all of the visit was so deep and serious. The girls giggled their way through a trip to AT&T Park on Wednesday, where the Giants provided them with free tickets to a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After working their way through the turnstiles with trepidation (some of them tried to scoot around it before being admonished by a security guard) the girls caught on quickly to U.S. baseball customs. They cheered for Pablo Sandoval's run-scoring single in the third inning, chomped on cotton candy in the fifth and gyrated to "Bust a Move" in the sixth.

But the conversation kept drifting back to Foudy and her camp. Accustomed to India's caste system, where there are distinct lines between the rich and the poor, they remained stunned by such a hands-on approach from one of soccer's most recognizable names.

"Julie has played at the highest level in the world, but she was always asking how we were doing," said Pal, 16, the defensive player who helps her parents run a snack shop back home. "Julie wanted to know how we were feeling. She is such a big woman, but she treated us with respect."

The only thing that could rival Foudy on this trip: Amber India. The girls made a trip to the popular Santana Row restaurant and reveled in the familiar sting of a spicy dish. The girls consider U.S. cuisine so bland that many have been toting bottles of hot sauce around in their gym bags. They store it in the bottle holders, as if it were Gatorade.

The girls also made stops in Oakland, where they participated in a Soccer Without Borders game. And on Thursday they visited the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative.

As the girls head for home, they pack a valuable souvenir: Validation.

"It's about leadership qualities -- how to communicate with other people. How to be confident," defender Gulafsha Ansari, 15, said. "It's about how to stand up."

Updates from Goal Nigeria

2011-08-10T02:48:00.000-07:00

Our 2010-2011 programme year is winding down in Nigeria which means lovely photos from graduations and events!

Graduations were held in Abuja for Goal Champions from the Cherryfield School –Jikwoyi, Junior Secondary School- Mpape, Junior Secondary School- Kubwa and Junior Secondary School- Pykasa in Abuja on the 7th July. Another graduation ceremony is planned for the girls in Lagos before the end of the month.

Nigeria also held a Goal Empowers!! Event on 29 and 30 June with students from the High Achievers College in Ajegunle. This two-day empowerment workshop was presented presented by Standard Chartered staff volunteers on topics such as Choosing the right career, Living with HIV, Money management and developing a Savings Culture, Achieving Academic Excellence, Leadership, Public Speaking and Building Self Confidence. Many thanks to speakers Aramide Ola-Jackson, Dagun One, Dayo Aderugbo, Diran Olojo, Jaiye Titiloye, Ogo Ezenwa, Oguche Agudah, Ono Williams, Segi Laoye, Sena Logo, Sidi Belo-Osagie and Taiye Faloju, and coordinator Joke Adu.

Guest Scholars Wanted

2011-08-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

News flash from the Brookings Institue: They've just launched their Global Scholars Program: Promoting Girls’ Education in Developing Countries, which offers guest scholars from developing countries the opportunity to pursue independent research on global education issues with a specific focus on girls’ education.

During their time at Brookings, the scholars will work with Center for Universal Education staff to develop their specific research project. They will also participate in a variety of workshops, meetings and conferences, as well as have opportunities to network with the broader development community. You can find more information about the program and the application process on their website. Applications are accepted until 31 August.

Thanks to Jessica Stannard-Friel for passing this along!

Spotlight: Precious

2011-07-22T01:22:00.000-07:00

From Nasarawa State, Nigeria comes Precious, an outspoken 12 year old girl from a family of seven. Precious often felt very uncomfortable at school and at the risk of being bullied by her peers and seniors because she was smaller than them. Unfortunately she missed out on the first selection to become a Goal Champion, but when other girls could not get parental consent, Precious’s resolve and determination shone through.

She told the school Goal Coordinator, Mr. Mayaki: “Sir give me my own consent form as my father will support me. Just tell me what the programme is all about and I’ll promise him I’ll put in ma best”. Unsurprisingly her consent form was signed!

Precious has proven herself to be ambitious and driven. When presented with paper or writing material she will immediately make designs and drawings. When sessions were taken on self identity, leadership and academic excellence she stood up and said: “My role model is my father and I want to be an artist or architect like my father”.

Mr. Mayaki also identified Precious as one of the girls Goal has positively influenced in her conducts. During the first quiz competition she asked: “where are the journalists I want them to interview me- I need to speak on Goal!”

Precious’s challenges in life were solved from the outset of Goal in the school. She has learnt a lot of life skills and claims: “now that I know how to better communicate and handle disagreements, it won’t lead to conflicts and I will get into lesser troubles”. She will be writing her Junior Certificate Exams next year and hopes to go into sciences to enable her achieve her dreams. Good luck Precious!

Goal Girls Spotlight: Changes in Chongqing

2011-07-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

Li Qian, student at Yuzhong Vocational Education Institute, Chongqing, China

I came from a remote rural area in China to study in Chongqing. I had to leave for Chongqing because I failed the entrance examination for senior middle school due to my poor Mandarin. I have always had low self-esteem and refused to communicate with others. In their eyes, I was different.

When I participated in the Goal Activities, the atmosphere had a strong impact on me. I actively expressed my own opinions and experiences with other participants and the leader. My ability to communicate has improved and now I am an active student; even others are seeing the change! I am very happy to have this change. Although my Mandarin is still poor, I believe that it will progress as long as I make an effort. I will take every opportunity to practice and to talk, and I firmly believe that I will succeed.

I have also learnt a lot on female physiology and pregnancy, such as the girl's menstrual cycle and sexual health. This knowledge is very useful for girls to protect themselves. I remembered when I experienced my first menstrual period; I was scared so I secretly told my mom. She only told me how to deal with it but not why it happened. Also I was afraid my brother would find out. Before the training, I was even embarrassed to buy sanitary napkins in the supermarket, especially if the shop assistant was male. After participating in Goal activites, I now know it is the girl's normal physiological response. We have grown up so we should have the right attitude and approach to deal with these things.

Additionally, I want to be one member of the Goal Champion team. I will work hard to learn this curriculum and these activities, and strive to pass the assessment to be a leader.

We're honoured :)

2011-07-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that we love Beyond Sport in these parts. We've even found new and soon-to-be partners through their network (more on that later). So we were tickled pink to find out we had been shortlisted for the 2011 Beyond Sport Award for Corporate of the Year.

We'll find out if we've won at this year's summit in December in South Africa. In the meantime though, check out our application and feel free to comment!

Welcome to Mpape

2011-07-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Nestled on the rocky hills of Abuja sits a town called Mpape, an underdeveloped satellite settlement, heavily populated by the native Gbagi tribe.

Due to exorbitant house rental prices many low income earners, often uneducated farmers, opt to live in the more affordable underdeveloped communities where education is highly undervalued. Although they do enrol their children in public school, since they are either free or highly subsidised, there is often little or no supervision and teachers are so stretched that it’s hard to spend a decent amount of time with them.

It is this very environment the Youth Empowerment Foundation discovered at Junior Secondary School Mpape. Determined to make a difference, Goal was implemented at the school and produced excellent results. On introducing the programme they faced a few constraints but these were soon overcome. The principle, Mrs Kuburat Yabasi, believed Goal to be hugely beneficial to the school; “The children are getting better by the day in terms of their leadership characters. They organise themselves to hold meetings, develop programs and ideas among themselves”.

As part of the intervention programme the Goal champions implemented their ‘service learning project’ which focuses on academic excellence, peer pressure and HIV/AIDS and girl child education. The programme was a huge success and attended by over 100 participants! In his closing remarks, the vice Principal, Mr. Crown Olagoke, stated: “In the history of JSS Mpape, and since my transfer to this school over five years ago, students have never organised and coordinated a programme on their own without the input of teachers or adults, and with this I know Goal indeed has a goal”.

Photo: Goal girls graduating from the school

Female warriors of futeball

2011-07-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Meet the Guerreiras or 'female warriors' of Brazil football.

The Guerreira project started last September and is a documentary of 40 female footballers who play for the Brazilian club Santos F.C.

At the start:
"These female players have not only represented a threat to Brazilian masculinity, but have also been perceived as encroaching in a disgraceful manner on one of the nation’s primary sources of pride and collective identity."

Only very recently are attitudes beginning to change. You could view this as a small step towards gendre equality because these female warriors are getting noticed and stadiums are beginning to fill up. However, with this increasing publicity comes another pressure. Image. These players are expected to wear "slim-fit uniforms, grow their hair long, wear make-up on the pitch, and put skirts on after the game." It seems that there's still a very long way to go.

Stay updated with the latest project news.

Spotlight: Juliet

2011-07-07T02:46:00.000-07:00

Before signing up to the Goal programme in Nigeria, 10 year old Juliet was very shy. Now, she’s become a lot more confident. She’s already respected by all the Goal girls- even those who are older than herself. She is a natural leader and is great at coordinating football sessions as well as encouraging other Goal girls to arrive at the life skills training on time.

When asked to get permission from her parents to continue Goal in the school holidays, Juliet replied that this would not be a problem as her parents are great supporters of the programme.

Her parents have noticed that since enrolling in Goal, Juliet has changed. In her own words: “I’m now less offensive” towards others. They encourage their daughter to participate in as many Goal sessions as possible. Juliet has learnt not only how to avoid conflicts but also how important this life skill is.

Juliet is ambitious and determined when it comes to her future plans:
"My father is a driver for one of the private schools in the neighbourhood and my mother is a full housewife, I don’t in anyway want to be like my mother. I want to be a medical doctor and nothing will stop me in achieving my dream".

Global Girls news: 29 June

2011-06-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

Latest bite-sized news just for you!

The Women’s Football World Cup has kicked off in Germany! Check out all the latest results.

One of the world’s top women’s footballer, Marta Vieira da Silva from Brazil, has spoken out: “I have been given opportunities to succeed in life, but I constantly think about the ones who did not have this chance... Only through women’s full and equal participation in public and private life can we hope to break poverty cycles”. Read more!

‘Girls love their bodies!’- World YWCA New Zealand are on a mission to change the way girls think of their bodies: “Young women face intense pressure to look perfect but perfect is an impossible ideal to achieve. [We] teach young women to love their own body and stop comparing themselves with others” says Kathryn Doughty, Team Leader of the YWCA Auckland Future Leaders programme.

Spotlight: Sangeetha

2011-06-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

Sangeetha, was just a shy girl in the 9th grade in Thoraipakkam School, Chennai, when she joined Goal in January 2010. Her father worked in a pharmaceutical factory, fitting the covers on pills, and her mother worked as a helper: sweeping, dusting and cleaning for a pittance of a salary. Within a year of the Goal Program, Sangeetha has come out of her shell, and become a Goal Champion, in more ways than one.

A year ago, no one would have suspected that this skinny girl, from such a modest family background, would go on to play in an International Netball Tournament against teams from Sri Lanka, as she did in December, 2010.

Up until now I was always told that girls must not jump, or play or move their bodies so boldly. But here, with Nalamdana, through Goal, I have learnt to move and play and be confident about my body. I have learnt about the female body, what the various parts are, what their functions are, how to take care of them, etc. This I would not have known anywhere else.

Totally dedicated and responsible, she helps with organizing events at her school, taking pictures for the Goal programme and now, in 2011 as a Goal Champion she assists the Coaches, and delivers netball sessions to the new recruits. She sees her role as a Champion as an additional opportunity. She is excited that she has been selected as a Champion. She sees this as a chance to share all that she has learnt with others and ensure that the transfer of skills and knowledge doesn’t stop with her!

In April 2011, her father died of cancer, leaving Sangeetha’s family devastated. Her mother has the household expenses, her fees and her younger sister’s school expenses also to take care of, on her almost negligent wage. Yet, within 4 days of her father’s death, Sangeetha was at the Goal session, organizing the girls, conducting warm up exercises and taking attendance. Her commitment to the programme and the girls is astounding!
Sangeetha dreams of becoming a photographer. She has been taking many of the pictures during the Goal sessions and events with the Goal Camera.

Sangeetha has been exposed to the Standard Chartered Bank Employee volunteers through Goal and she says: “Seeing the volunteers from SCB come and interact with us, I observed their way of dressing, their way of talking, and the confidence in their attitude. I hope that some day I too will be able to dress like that and talk to others, instilling confidence in them, like these people do.”

Ending Violence Against Women through Men

2011-06-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

The UK organisation End Violence Against Women has released a serious and hilarious (it's seriously hilarious), but really fantastic viral video addressed at young boys with the aim of making sexual violence unacceptable. We applaud this fantastic effort! Visit their website for more on their campaign, and try not to laugh too hard at the video!

Diran Olojo - the Soul of Goal Nigeria

2011-06-21T04:29:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, our Nigeria Goal partner, the Youth Empowerment Foundation, reconised Standard Chartered Nigeria Head of Corporate Affairs, Diran Olojo, with the Soul of Goal Award.

Iwalola Akin-Jimo, our national coordinator in Nigeria, had this to say about Diran:

He has being there for Goal, the girls and us. Diran always sets aside time for all Goal meetings and all events both within Lagos and outside. His level of enthusiasm and concern for Goal was such that he gave his personal phone numbers to all the School Principals in Lagos, to call him if they want him to come and meet with the students and spend time with them. Only one principal made this request and he was there. He spent close to 2 hours with not only the Goal girls but other girls. He shared his story with them, life going through a public secondary school, how this impacted on him and where he is now. This actually lets the girls know that they can aspire to be like him.

Thank you Diran for your super commitment!

What's Father's Day got to do with girls empowerment?

2011-06-17T08:33:00.001-07:00

The best example that I can think of is for another of our spotlights... This time on CAMFED. Did you know:

Every child has the right to be educated, right? CAMFED has fought poverty and AIDS through the education of girls and young women. Read about Marian, a girl who has been given the financial support to follow her dream and become a doctor.

So what’s this got to do with Father’s Day?
In Zimbabwe, a Father Support Group, under the umbrella of CAMFED, has spent months building two boarding houses where girls can stay while at school, rather than walking desperately long distances to attend school every day. What's even more amazing is that many of the men who built these hostels are farmers who need to put in as much time on their land as possible in order to support their family... And yet they still found time to make sure that as many girls as possible could be given a good education. "We see what a difference we are making so we keep making the effort," says one of the men.

I can't think of a better way to celebrate Father's Day than to think of these amazing Dad's, can you?

Video diary: Nisha

2011-06-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Check out our first Mumbai video diary, Nisha. Happy Friday!

Spotlight: Dorcas

2011-06-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

We’re very excited to share our first case study from Goal Nigeria with you! Watch out for more coming your way!

At 14 years old, Etetuk Dorcas has already decided that she wants to be a doctor like the famous neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, so that she can help her community in Lagos, Nigeria.

Dorcas initially saw Goal as being one of those after-school clubs. After joining the programme, she realized that this one was different.

She was taught about the importance of life skills, being healthy and working hard at school so that she has the leadership skills to face any challenge in life. In her own words: “I have improved physically, morally, socially and am now very careful on how I spend money because of my new knowledge on financial literacy”.

Being encouraged to work hard at school has helped Dorcas realize that she could transform her dream of being a doctor into reality. “It is my dream to become a doctor and do my best to save lives. I wrote and directed a play and I played the role of a medical doctor. I love the way the stereoscope and white apron appeared on me!” Dorcas realizes that she needs to work hard to fulfill her dream: “I am now at the top of my class. I used to struggle before Goal but I came first in my exams.”

Dorcas has also learnt about how important it is to be healthy: “I take my personal hygiene very seriously- menstruation and other natural body changes are no longer a taboo for me”.

A large part of being healthy is doing regular exercise. In Nigeria, our Goal girls play football rather than netball- something which Dorcas, as captain of her football team, is great at. She’s learnt that being a captain also means that she has to take on more responsibility to encourage her teammates to play as a team and try their absolute best to win.

Dorcas’ teacher says: “Dorcas is hard working and always ready to sacrifice her time to help others to learn”.

Liu Lingling and Wang Jing train as Goal Trainers for migrant communities in China

2011-06-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

Lingling is a staff member of Plan International. She took part in Right To Play’s Goal Trainer Training with Wang Jing, a Student at Nanging University to learn about the Goal Girls curriculum and how to train Goal Champions in her community.

Lingling and Wangjing both enjoyed the training and intend to use lessons learned in the future. They took different things away from the experience but both liked the participatory methodology employed during each session. As Wang put it: “the previous trainings I participated always discussed the students answer and then provided a correct and standard answer from the point of view of the trainer/teacher. This way always damages and reduces the enthusiasm and the self-esteem of students/participants.” She is looking forward to trying these training methods which focus on listening to participants and allowing them to share and to promote accepting multiple points of view to the Goal trainings she will conduct with migrant girls/youth.

Lingling agreed, saying that “prior to participating in the training, I thought the training would be a trainer-led discussion and that the participants would discuss the topics and the trainer would give a summary of the results and conclusions. But the goal trainer training provided other ways of participatory training, such as participant-led discussions, discussion and learning through games, role playing and other interactive teaching/learning methods. These training methods can increase the participation of girls as well to participate in discussions and also mobilize everyone and encourage participant enthusiasm.”

Wangjing also enjoyed learning about HIV/AIDs as part of the Be Healthy Goal Curriculum. She says that “before the training, I had limited knowledge about HIV and AIDS and girls protection. After having participated in the trainer training, now I know much more knowledge related to AIDS and girls’ protection, such as the infection source of HIV, transmission mechanisms and prevention measures. Moreover, I have taught and shared this knowledge with my peers, and told them how to protect themselves and prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.”

Video diaries: Mamta

2011-06-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Are you enjoying our video diaries? By now you may have figured out you can see them all on our YouTube channel (if you can't wait any longer) but perhaps you're enjoying seeing them presented here with comment. And let me just take a moment to comment on Mamta and her story, which you can see below.

I have had the very great pleasure to meet Mamta on more than one occasion - she has a quiet confidence that is really striking, and although language is a barrier, she's just as forceful sounding to a non-Hindi speaker!

Mamta now runs sessions for her peers in Delhi, in addition to attending school. She came to our Goal Partner Summit in February to run the Body Image exercise for the whole group, and did an amazing job. She's below, third from left.

A lot of what she discusses in the video was thrown into relief for me that earlier this year, her mother passed away, leaving her with a larger share of household responsibilities, on top of Goal and school. Her father has been incredibly supportive of Mamta's education, and she hopes to be able to continue.

Girls on the run

2011-05-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

This organisation is great! Girls on the run was founded by Molly Barker in 1993 and trains girls from 7-15 years old to run 5k. However, its much more than a sports camp. Girls on the run focuses on girls empowerment.

Their mission: "To educate and prepare girls for a life time of self-respect and healthy living".

During the 5k training, girls are being taught certain life skills so that whatever the future holds for them, they'll know how to make positive decisions. Girls on the run is located all across the US and Canada.

Video diaries - part 2

2011-05-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

We hope you enjoyed the first two video diaries from our series. We've got more goodies for you today (what better way to spend a Friday?). Meet Neha, whose confidence and sass is enough to make anyone smile and Jyoti, whose growth over the year was astounding! Pay close attention to how she defines a girls' role in the home before and after her year with Goal.

Spotlight on Reshma

2011-05-23T02:21:00.000-07:00

Reshma is 14 years old and joined the Goal programme in Delhi in June 2010. Reshma has three brothers and although her father has work as a tailor, he cannnot afford to educate all four of his children. What's more, being the only girl meant that Reshma had to help her mother with all the household chores and she was left with little time to herself, especially time to study. She was therefore worried about her poor grades.

Thanks to ABHAS, the NGO running the Goal programme, Reshma has been able to continue her education and learn to play netball for the first time.

When she first arrived, Reshma was rather shy and, thanks to the influence of her father and brothers, did not think she was capable of playing any kind of sport. Reshma was initially unsure of herself, but as time went one, she gradually began to gain some self-confidence and her physical fitness also started to improve. She was among the first in her group to master passing the ball correctly and she earnt the respect of her peers and coaches as a result. Although her fathers and brothers disapprove of Reshma's involvement with Goal, her mother has been very supportive and encourages her to stick to the programme and her studies.

Reshma's hard work and dedication to the programme was rewarded when the Commonwealth Games came to Delhi as she was selected to go and watch a netball tournament at the Thyagaraj Stadium.

Reshma is now very keen to stick to the programme and prove the people in her family her doubted her wrong.

It's all about the girls...

2011-05-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

We have been SO busy here at Goal these days. We're working hard with our partners Women Win to develop economic empowerment guidelines for girls' sports programmes that we can share with you all. We've been managing our fabulous programmes in India, Nigeria, Jordan and about to launch China, which are going from strength to strength.

And there's more great stuff to come - in the coming weeks and months, expect some news from us on Goal sites in possibly FOUR new countries, an exciting new partnership to help build girls' leadership skills globally, and an official announcement about how we're getting our India Goal Champions jobs and skills for life.

However - our reason for being here, day in and day out, is to support the amazing girls who come through our programme every day. Who take time out of their busy lives - they go to school, support their families, and help at home - to come and play some netball and learn some lessons with us. We're so appreciative of the opportunity to touch their lives just a little bit. So we wanted to share with you some of our stories.

For over a year we've been filming our girls to hear directly from them how their lives have changed. We'll be showing you a lot of these videos in the coming weeks, but here's a sneak preview of two of our brand new video diary series. Meet Pooja and Aarti and hear their stories!

UN chief encourages men to champion gender equality

2011-05-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

One of the main barriers that can get in the way of women's and girls' empowerment is the attitude and mentality of men towards women. You can do great work helping to increase women's self-confidence and esteem, and thereby enhancing their independence and participation in the local community and wider civic society, but so often it is the case that women and girls are still subject to violence and discrimination at the hands of men. Changing how men view and treat women is another challenge that must be faced and overcome on the way to achieving gender equality.

This is a view that the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has also voiced. He was recently presented with "The Women's Leadership Award" by the Global Summit of Women for his work in promoting gender equality. He is the first man to receive this award in its 21-year history.

At the summit, he challenged men to champion the cause of gender equality, saying that women and girls still often remain 'second-class citizens' despite some advancements made for women in social, political and economic arenas. He said: "Men, I believe, have a key role to play in overcoming these stereotypes, changing mindsets and proving positive role models. After all, men are also devastated by violence perpetrated against the women they care deeply about".

In his address, Mr Ki-moon also commented that there are other areas that require focus and would help to improve gender equality. He outlined how empowering the world's poorest women and girls, giving them greater access to land, credit and markets, could not only reduce poverty, but it could increase gender equality as well. Furthermore, countries could do more to narrow the gap in women's political participation and increase their influence in decision-making. Plus, businesses also have a major part to play in recruiting more women and placing them in influential positions.

It's great to hear someone like Ban Ki-moon supporting gender equality so vocally and powerfully- his message about getting men involved in supporting women's and girls' empowerment is especially important. Gender equality has to be recognised by men as well as women.

Spotlight on: Girls' Empowerment Center

2011-04-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

JoHanna Jones started the Girl's Empowerment Centre as a community resource for families and organizations to unite over raising healthy happy girls. It's not just a focus on girls, but also their families. Girls are encouraged to find their inner strength so that they can grow up strong and empowered in whatever society that they live in.

Here at Goal we LOVE reading other blogs on girls empowerment so you must check theirs out. There's some great words of advice for girls growing up.

Here's my top 3 from their blog- what are yours?

No one likes a drama queen so admit when you are wrong or overreact. It builds on their trust that you have the ability to be rational

Nothing shows the respect towards others better than the willingness to communicate

To face fear is to trust in who we are at a level we didn't know we were capable of

Global Girls news: 21 April

2011-04-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Latest bite-sized news just for you!

In a recent conference in Pakistan, Neva Khan, Oxfam Country Director said: “education for girls in particular is the key to building economies and overcoming social problems”. Pakistan Education Minister agreed that it’s “high time the government prioritised education”. Read more!

The Girls’ Empowerment Centre- Check out their facebook page for regular words of wisdom to girls. Keep tuned and I’ll give you more on this great programme next week… Watch this space!

Can empowering women end poverty? Gender equality can only be achieved when women have the opportunity to participate in making decisions. Can there be development if only half the population is prevented from fully benefiting from, and contributing to it? What do you think?

Women helping women

2011-04-13T06:50:00.000-07:00

Check out this inspiring article on how empowering women to work for themselves is making a difference to women's lives in India.

Happy reading!

Spotlight: Deepika

2011-04-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

At 16, Deepika is determined to make something of her life. She wants to be a leader, inspire others and play netball professionally.

Newly selected as a Goal Champion, Deepika came into Goal in Chennai a year ago, very shy and lacking in initiative. However, in the last year, she has not only picked up the game really well and made friends with girls from other age groups, but also assists the coaches whenever possible. As the coaches were stretched with multiple sessions at all the Goal sites, she took it upon herself to train the team from her site, to play in the International Netball tournament held in Chennai in December 2010! Deepika is determined to excel in netball, play tournaments, and teach it to others

The coaches and Goal staff have noticed her natural leadership abilities, and the way she is able to instill the same confidence in others, even though she comes from very humble family background. Her father is an autorickshaw driver, and the sole wage earner in the family. Deepika has a younger sister, whom she hopes to be a role model for.

It isn’t only the sport that inspires her. She quickly absorbs all the information in the life skills sessions too! In her words, “I would like to say that Goal Classes are the best! These classes are very useful in learning about taking care of our environment, hygiene, how to control our anger, and how to communicate and behave with others. I really like these classes.”

Not only have her friends and the Goal facilitators and coaches noticed these changes in her, but she has seen the change in herself: “Earlier I used to speak my mind to everyone, without wondering if it might hurt them. But now, I have learnt to think before I speak. I also learnt not to keep thinking about what we don’t like about ourselves, or our shortcomings, rather to think about what all we have and make the most of it.”

In June, Deepika goes to the 12th grade, and will have to put in a lot of hours studying and the program staff wondered if she would be able to do justice to being a Goal Champion as the academic pressure would be immense. However, her father came up to the team and assured them of his support- saying that he will be proud to send her to the Goal sessions, and even drop her and pick her up himself, in his auto!

Aspiring for a great career Deepika says “I want to become a software engineer. I want to work, and help others. Especially the aged. If I earn well, I will give some donation from that to an old age home.”

Spotlight on: Dream a Dream

2011-04-06T08:36:00.000-07:00

Spotlight is back to let you know about the amazing work going on around the world with sports and empowerment. This time, we have "Dream a Dream", a charity founded in 1999 in Bangalore, India. This organisation gives children from vulnerable background the opportunity to participate in sports programmes for educational and empowerment purposes.

Over 2,200 children take part in its programmes each year which are delivered by 1,200 enthusiastic volunteers. Through the programmes, the kids learn valuable life skills like teamwork, communications, negotiation and coping skills, as well as problem-solving skills and developing their self-confidence and self-awareness.

Plus, there are lots of exciting sports to choose from: football, rugby, hockey and table tennis are some of the sports on offer.

Dream a Dream's vision is: "To empower children from vulnerable backgrounds by developing life skills and at the same time sensitising the community through active volunteering, leading to a non-discriminatory society where unique differences are appreciated".

If you would like to learn more about Dream a Dream and the children it helps, then please visit the website.

2010 Sustainability Review

2011-03-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, Standard Chartered launched its 2010 Sustainability Review, which is a great opportunity to sit and reflect on how we progressed over the year. 2010 was a year of huge growth for Goal.

We reached 12,000 girls and launched in three new countries.
Our volunteers spent hundreds of hours teaching sessions on topics like self-defence, financial literacy, and hygiene.
Our India girls got a chance to play in the Commonwealth Games stadium.
We got the results of our baseline study from the Population Council.

Read more, including case studies of our amazing Goal girls Gulabsha and Seema, in the review.

USAID Talks Sport for Development

2011-03-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

One of the things we love is hearing about great programmes working on sport for development around the world. Many thanks to our friend Paul Teeple from Partners of the Americas for sending along this video, featuring our very own advisor from Women Win, Maria Bobenreith.

Women's Economic Empowerment in Africa

2011-03-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

For Goal, every day is International Women's Day! Amina Adewusi, a member of Standard Chartered's Global Research team talks about the benefits of investing in women for Africa
For copies of her article on this topic, email us.

How can we stop violence against girls?

2011-03-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

The answer: sport and empowerment

This is a really great video from Women Win. Let us know what you think.

Addressing gender-based violence through sport from WomenWin on Vimeo.

Happy Women's Day!

2011-03-08T01:12:00.001-08:00

Keep fighting the good fight!

Global News Special: International Womens Day

2011-03-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

It’s the 100th anniversary of World Women’s Day tomorrow! What are your plans? Here are lots of great ideas on how you can get involved:

o The International Women’s Day website has a great selection of events. Just select your country and a whole list of events will appear!

o The UN Women’s theme for this year is: Equal Access to Education, Training and Science and Technology: Pathway to Decent Work for Women. They’ve planned events globally to commemorate this day- lots of it focusing on girls and young women from youth workshops to ‘Girls Talk’. Find out what’s being planned near you.

o Join women on the bridge. All around the world, people will be going onto their local bridges to show their support for empowering women. Find out how you can get involved.

Other news:

Empower the girl, empower the women- ‘Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) teach agriculture techniques to girls so that they know how to grow food and package it in a way that all countries accept it.

Delhi girls show off their stuff!

2011-03-04T04:10:00.000-08:00

Some Friday fun - a few little videos I snapped at our Deepalaya site in Delhi. Girls from Sanjay Colony and Kalkaji Extension gave us an amazing performance! Check out a little speech, some fierce netball playing, and even a song!

Goal Partner Summit

2011-03-02T04:09:00.000-08:00

On 31 January, we were proud to kick off our very first Goal Partner Summit. This summary is long overdue, but we wanted to take the time to share this with you as it was a really incredible moment for the programme – and amazing to see how far we’ve come.

Our NGO partners from every Goal country – Naz Foundation in India, YEF in Nigeria, and Right to Play from Jordan and China – as well as Standard Chartered Volunteer Coordinators, met in New Delhi, India for a week of sharing experiencesand promising practices, problem solving challenges, hearing from experts in key topics like communications, economic empowerment, incorporating men and boys into a girl-focused programme, and human resources, and of course visiting the Goal sites.

Our summit was held at the illustrious Taj Palace hotel, where we were met with excellent service the entire way through. I think we may have even got some of the catering staff to agree to volunteer.

Highlights included:

Each country presenting, in detail, their model and challenges – led to great discussions about scale.

Laura Quinn, our exceptional supporter from Wieden and Kennedy in New Delhi, teaching us about blogging

The Right to Play team demonstrating some of their activities – it was nice to stretch our legs after so much time in the conference room

Mamta (at left), a Goal Champion, taking us through a health and hygiene activity

Kalyani showing us how to play netball in a sari

And of course, interacting with the girls – the best part of any trip!

While fun was definitely part of the agenda, it was really amazing to have all the partners under one roof. Goal is very lucky to have such a core group of NGOs delivering our programme and helping us empower girls around the world.

For more information about what we did or questions, please see our Flickr feed for more photos or email us.

Standard Chartered at FICCI

2011-02-24T03:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, Standard Chartered representatives attended an event in India hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the British Council and Magic Bus.

And the subject under discussion? Using sports programmes as a tool of empowerment in local communities!

A panel talk at the event discussed how large corporates can use sports programmes to promote Corporate Social Responsibility in their markets and bring about social change for the better.

On the panel was Sophie Beauvais, Director of International Relations at the Australian Sports Commission who highlighted our Goal programme as an excellent example of how corporates can facilitate girls' empowerment through netball. Thanks for the shout out!

It's great to see more corporates engaging with sports empowerment programmes and coming together in this way with NGOs and government organisations to discuss the opportunities and challenges in this field.

Collaboration across the public and private sector is something we encourage and here at Goal, we value the relationships we've built with our NGO partners who do an amazing job at teaching the Goal programme to underprivileged girls.

Let's hope we see loads more sports empowerment programmes spring up in India in the near future!

Spotlight on Colombianitos

2011-02-17T06:10:00.000-08:00

In the past, we've featured profiles of organisations that help children in post-conflict countries, but what about children living in countries where conflict is a part of their everyday lives? How can sport help and empower these children?

Colombianitos is one such organisation that works in Colombia with both boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. These children, often from impoverished communities, have felt the effects of Colombia's lengthy internal conflict in many different ways. Some children have fought as soldiers, others are victims of violence and landmines or are forced to leave their homes as a result of the conflict. Many end up living in overcrowded urban slums which are usually dangerous places to live. It is very common for children not to go to school and slide into a life filled with drugs and crime.

Colombianitos provides a safe space for these children to come together and learn skills and values like self-control, decision-making, conflict resolution and confidence through the medium of football. The children learn to be ambitious again, to aspire and hope for new and better things out of life.

Around 4,000 girls and boys are currently enrolled in Colombianitos's programmes which also incorporate learning through recreational activities like music.

Thinking of setting up your own girls' empowerment organisation?

2011-02-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

If so, then click here to read and download the excellent guidelines provided by Women Win. The guidelines have been written by experts and practitioners who have put in all that they know about setting up and running an organisation that empowers girls through sport.

Happy reading!

Goal in 2011

2011-02-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

Want to know everything about Goal (but are afraid to ask)? Check out our AMAZING new video!

"Gender equality must become a lived reality"

2011-02-07T01:26:00.000-08:00

Agreed! This is Michelle Bachelet's motto, the Executive Director of UN Women.

UN Women is a new arm of the United Nations- it's less than a year old but we're hoping that this UN agency can achieve great things and deliver on the third Millennium Development Goal (MDG): to promote gender equality and empower women by 2015.

Here at Goal, we're actively contributing towards fulfilling MDG 3 and the establishment of UN Women is a step in the right direction to ensure that gender equality and women's and girls' rights go to the top of the agenda.

UN Women has also identified five key priorities:

expanding women’s voice, leadership and participation
ending violence against women
ensuring women’s full participation in conflict resolution
enhancing women’s economic empowerment
setting gender equality priorities central to national, local and sectoral planning and budgeting.

Let's hope that we see some real change in the coming years in these areas.

In the meantime for some of our New Delhi residents, UN Women is supporting a seminar on Gender and Governance on 11th February at the India International Conference Centre- sign up if you can!

http://www.unwomen.org/news-events/events-calendar

Plus, the UN Commission on the Status of Women will begin on 22nd February and run until 4th March in New York City. Lot's of important issues will be discussed, so we'll keep you updated on the results of this conference.

Spotlight on Girls in the Game

2011-01-31T01:58:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-27T22:29:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-24T01:16:00.000-08:00

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)

2011-01-17T02:47:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-14T04:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

More Girls Graduate from Goal in India!

2011-01-03T02:41:00.000-08:00

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!

Happy Holidays from Goal!

2010-12-31T02:57:00.000-08:00

Dear followers - we wish you a joyous end to 2010 and a 2011 full of success, happiness, and of course, empowerment!

Happy holidays!

Congratulations to the class of 2010!!!

2010-12-28T02:07:00.000-08:00

December 10th was a special day for some of our Goal girls in Delhi. Over one hundred girls from Deepalava schools participated in their graduation ceremony after having successfully completed the Goal programme!

The ceremony saw girls from the Sanjay colony perform a play based on their Goal experiences and Karuna Bhatia from Standard Chartered Corporate Affairs gave each girl a certificate and a piggy bank to mark their graduation. Karuna said that she could feel that the girls' level of confidence had grown from doing the programme and encouraged the girls to stay in education and maybe even become a banker one day!

Bimla Pawar, Director of Sports for the Commonwealth Games, presided over the graduation ceremony, presenting two of our girls, Samar and Pinki, with their certificates. Both of these girls are now fully-fledged Goal Champions and can train Goal girls not only in netball, but in other lifeskills as well.

Bimla also gave a speech encouraging the Goal girls to not only continue playing netball, but also to try to persuade them to get their friends to join the Goal programme and learn the vital lifeskills that this programme teaches.

Our SCB volunteer, Rushika, was also honoured for all her hard work and participation in the programme over the past four months.

The day finished with a netball match between Sanjay colony and Kalkaji- Kalkaji ended up winning the closely fought match!

Congratulations to all our Goal graduates and good luck for the future!

2010-12-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

It's almost the end of the year, and its around this time every year that I like to look back upon the year that has passed and reflect upon what I want to change for the future years to come. This year, I was incredibly lucky to intern with the Goal program from August to December in Delhi. It was without doubt the best part of my year, and probably one of the best couple of months I've had in my life! Before starting my internship, I had thought that the majority of my learning would happen in the office - learning the usual administrative skills etc... I can now confidently say I was completely wrong about that. I definitely learned plenty from the office, but the greatest lessons I learned were from the people I was lucky enough to meet in the last few months. These people include everyone from the amazing staff that puts their entire hearts into running Goal to, of course, the fantastic Goal girls themselves!

When I first started interacting with the girls, I thought it would be quite a challenge as we came from totally different backgrounds and there were many cultural differences. Instead, I found in the girls some of the most amazing, kindest, funniest girls, and now friends, that I've ever met. I was so surprised at how confident and friendly the girls were with everyone they met - much more than I've ever been when meeting someone for the first time! Just through staying with the girls, and watching them grow through the program - I found myself becoming so much stronger and self-confident. Hearing their stories, and the challenges they face from day to day - it was like a huge jolt to my brain in realization of just how lucky and fortunate I've been in my life. Some of the girls are the head of their household at 15, the amount of responsibilities they have at that age is heartbreaking and yet they come out twice a week with the greatest smiles to play and learn. I would find myself complaining sometimes when it took me more than an hour to get to work because of traffic etc... and then I would see the staff, some of who travel almost 3 hours six days a week to work (and never complain!) or the girls themselves who walk an hour just to attend the Goal sessions. At first I thought this courage, confidence, and generally fantastic attitude towards life might be an innate aspect of Indian culture. But as I stayed on and interacted with people outside the program, and even saw new girls being recruited to the program - I realized it was in large part due to Goal that these girls are growing into such amazing young women - and more importantly such fantastic human beings.

The tagline for Goal reads - Reaching New Heights. It's a lovely idea, but what does it actually mean? It's hard to fully understand and appreciate it till you see a girl - whose goal in life used to be to get married by 16. All of a sudden, this same girl, a couple of months later, says she now wants to study so she can become a teacher or a coach someday. And in front of your eyes you've just seen new heights being reached.

A huge thank you to everyone from Goal and to all reading this out there - Happy Holidays!!

Global Girl News

2010-12-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

Lots of news to catch you guys up on!

Latest posts from Plan UK's 'Because I'm a Girl' blog:

"Children"-on misuse and abuse,

A gender and development reading list- all great suggestions.

Read Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson's piece on why they're supporting the US legislation to prevent child marriage here.

In a blow to women's and girls' right advocates everywhere, this bill failed to be passed in the House. Read why and some of the reactions to it here.

Carrying on with the child marriage issue, allAfrica.com have posted an article about child marriage in Zambia.

The Guardian newspaper has a fascinating section on Development. It recently posted a round-up of UN-HABITAT's latest report on Cities and Health. Unsurprisingly, women's and girls' health and safety are disproportionately comprised by living in cities.

Also, check out the Poverty Matters blog on the Global Development section of the Guardian- lots of opinion pieces on the hottest topics in development policy and aid. There's a great podcast on that contentious question: Do celebrities have a role to play in development?

Even though World AIDS day has been and gone, I wanted to share a blog post powerfully written by a friend of mine on gender and HIV/AIDS. As she says, HIV/AIDS is not a question of personal choice and responsibility, it is firmly rooted in poverty, inequality and prejudice.

Plus, this whole website- Women's Views on News- is always a fascinating read for the latest women's news from around the world.

Spotlight on One World Futbol

2010-12-21T00:40:00.000-08:00

This week we're looking at a fantastic organisation called One World Fubtol.

Photo by Rory Earnshaw

Who are One World Futbol?

A football that can never be punctured, never goes flat, never needs to be pumped and can be played on all terrains- an impossible dream? Well, it's now a reality thanks to One World Futbol!

One World Futbol was inspired by the determination of children living in Darfur's refugee camps to play their favourite game no matter what, even if it meant making footballs out of trash. The creation of an indestructible football is allowing any child, anywhere in the world to enjoy playing football at any time.

Photo by Helmut Schleppi

These unique footballs are sold using the "Give One, Get One" model, so for every football sold, a second one will be donated by the One World Futbol project to a disadvantaged community. The not-for-profit foundation also distributes footballs through local NGOs, which serve people in refugee camps, conflict zones and communities in poverty around the world.

Photo by Ngueuliebou Frederic

The co-founder of One World Futbol, Tim Jahnigen, had this to say about the project: " The One World Futbol projects strives to improve the lives of youth and adults in disadvantaged communities worldwide by distributing an ultra-durable soccer ball to organisations on the ground in war zones, refugee camps, inner cities, and harsh environments for use in their work with communities in need."

Savings as Safety Nets

2010-12-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

One of Goal's "New Year's Resolutions" for 2011 is to beef up the economic empowerment aspect of our programme. We have a lot of ideas on how to do this and will be using the year to research and conduct some pilots that give girls more than the tools they need to succeed - but the opportunities (and resources!) as well.

It's well-known that when women and girls have access to their own money, it creates a knock-on effect that ripples through their families and communities. So when we got this lovely note from Mary Ellen (a personal role model!) at Women's World Banking, one of the top organisations working in this space, we thought we should share it with you. And, as a bonus, Kashf Bank is a client of Standard Chartered. We're proud to help them support women like Syma.

SAVINGS: Creating Safety Nets for the Poor

December 2010

Dear Friends:

Lahore, Pakistan, is a city where even minor aspects of daily life create challenges for many people. Electricity is scarce, and the cost of sugar has doubled in the past year. For low-income women like Syma, it can be difficult to scrape together enough money to keep food on the table, much less save for upcoming expenses such as school fees or weddings.

Until recently, Syma’s only option to save money was to keep it in her home – where it was all too easy to spend – or with a neighbor, which meant a lack of privacy. In May 2010, with the support of Women’s World Banking, Kashf Microfinance Bank opened a savings kiosk in Syma’s neighborhood. The kiosk offers women like Syma a safe, convenient, and confidential place to save. Literacy rates are very low in Syma’s community, so account materials are picture-based to make it easy for Syma and her neighbors to understand how the account works.

Syma has been saving at the Kashf kiosk since May. “I’d like to continue this account for as long as I live,” she says. “At home you can’t save but once you deposit money here you can be assured it’s not going anywhere. I feel more financially independent and worry less about the future.”
Syma’s story is a powerful example of the efforts Women’s World Banking is making to build stronger microfinance institutions, expand products offerings beyond credit, and continue client research to better understand the needs of the poor women. I hope that Syma’s story will encourage you to join me in this endeavor by supporting our work today.

Illiteracy can be a major hurdle to financial education about the need for savings. WWB worked with Pakistan’s Kashf Microfinance Bank to introduced illustrated brochures so that even if a woman can’t read she can still manage a savings account.

WWB believes that the need for formal savings options is crucial: without them the poor are forced to keep cash at home or in informal savings groups which are risky and money can be lost. Our research shows that the poor save, generally in small amounts, an estimated 10 to 15 percent of their monthly income. Access to reliable savings products can help the poor reduce their vulnerability to major budget shocks, invest in the education of their children, and build assets that will see them through old age. Because women tend to shoulder the burden of saving in most poor households, a well-designed savings product can have significant empowerment benefits for women.

To motivate customers to save in the bank, Kashf launched a commitment savings account allowing customers to save for a particular goal, such as their children’s education and marriage and emergencies. In a time when we are all too familiar with the importance and necessity of having a savings safety net, I ask you to please give generously to help improve the lives of low-income women and their families.

Warm regards,

Mary Ellen Iskenderian

International Human Rights Day

2010-12-10T01:18:00.000-08:00

Today is International Human Rights Day!

This is a chance to celebrate not only those who defend human rights around the world and fight to end discrimination, but it is also a chance to reflect on what human rights mean to you.

Human rights are very important to us here at Goal.

Part of being empowered is understanding and knowing your human rights: that's why rights education is included in the Goal's life skills programme which all our girls receive.

Knowing your rights can help you see discrimination and hopefully speak up against it. They can help you understand what kind of behaviour is acceptable and what isn't. Importantly, if you know your rights, you know what is wrong and can access the help needed to right that wrong.

But human rights don't just mean political or civil rights like the right to vote for example. They also emcompass socio-economic rights, like the right to an education, the right to work and the right to bodily integrity which means that no one has the right to harm you physically, sexually or psychologically.

Sexual and reproductive rights are also vital for Goal girls to learn about: knowing these rights is essential to ending gender-based violence and ensuring that the girls have equal and adequate access to sexual health clinics and maternal health care.

Wherever you are in the world today, make sure you take a couple of minutes to think about human rights. If you are privileged enough to enjoy human rights, think about what your life would be like if you couldn't access them and think about those people around the world who aren't able to exercise free speech, who don't have the right to own a property or access education. If you aren't aware of your rights then it's never too late to learn about them and start claiming them!

Updates from Goal Jordan

2010-12-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

We asked Hala Al Zou`bi, our City Coordinator for Goal in Amman, to give us an update on what's happening with our Jordan launch. Here's what she's had to say so far:

I'm really glad to be part of the Goal project because it will not help the girls only in the short term (the period of the project), it will help them in the long term; in the way of dealing with their life, in the decision making process, in how to raise their kids in the future in how their kids will raise their kids and so on (as it will effect more than one generation).

Being part of this empowerment process is very amazing; helping girls and leading them to take and lead their lives in an open minded thinking to take the right choices, teaching them how to think how to take care of themselves.

At first I was very excited when I start reading the project (because all of the benefit which will affect the life's of the girls) but when I moved to the next step which was to choose the establishments to implement the project I was like flying from happiness as I notice the big smile which were painted in the faces of the managers which I explained the Goal project to and I felt more happy and excited when they told me that the girls in their areas are very marginalized and don’t have any one to lead them to the right way don’t have anything to fill their free time and that I'm bringing them the right project the project which will help them not just in the short run but in their whole life.

One of the sentences which I heard from the managers of the establishments and effect me and encouraged me the most is ''you are saving generations'' as it was the first sentence which the manager of Al Mansora Princess Basma Center told me after I finished explaining the project for her, actually the way and the excitement of her when she told me the sentence was just AMAZING !!

A note from Jordan

2010-12-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to have Right to Play as our implementing partner for Goal in Jordan. They understand the power of sport to effect change more than anyone and we are so happy that they are on board. And (you heard it here first!), we'll soon be working with them in China as well.

Johann Olav Koss, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Right to Play International, had a message for our readers:

Right To Play is delighted to have been chosen as a delivery partner for Standard Chartered Bank’s Goal programmes in Jordan and China. Goal is a fantastic initiative that focuses on advancing female social, emotional and economic empowerment by harnessing the power of sport and play. Working with some of the most marginalised young people in the world, Goal also aims to enhance girls’ self-confidence and knowledge of key health and social issues. It’s focus and approach aligns perfectly with Right To Play’s own and we are very excited to be involved in the Goal programme over the next three years.

Hear more from Johann on Twitter. Follow us too!

Spotlight on Mifalot

2010-12-03T01:07:00.000-08:00

Today we're returning to the theme of organisations that empower girls and young people through sports. This week's organisation is called Mifalot.

Important advances in contributing towards peace in the Middle East are being made by Mifalot. And the vehicle that is bridging the divides between 20,000 Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian children every year? Football.

By building bonds of friendship between children across religious, ethnic, cultural and political differences on the football field, Mifalot hopes that mutual respect and understanding is achieved off the field too.

Over 300 programmes in the region use football and educational activities to develop the skills and values that the children need to learn, grow and succeed in their community and the world.

The programmes reach out to those most in need: disadvantaged and socially marginalised children, new immigrants, refugees, and children with special needs. Social integration and, more importantly, acceptance of other ethnic groups are facilitated through the programmes. Gal Paleg, International Development Manager of Mifalot, describes Mifalot's vision as "capturing the power of football in order to build more active, compassionate, just and cohesive communities, and to promote peaceful coexistence in our immediate region and beyond.”

Mifalot’s invaluable work and programmes are also being adapted to help even more children in Rwanda, Cameroon and Haiti.

All that hard work over the past 13 years is paying off...

Mifalot and Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club won “Sport Team of the Year” at this year’s Beyond Sports awards. Congratulations! Click here to read about other winners.

Click here to visit Mifalot's website.

Punitha's Progress

2010-12-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

Goal participant Punitha is a 14 year old girl from Saidapet, a Goal site in Chennai. She hails from a challenged socio-economic background. She is the eldest and has two younger siblings. Her father is a ‘coolie ‘(daily laborer) and her mother works as a housemaid.

Seeing her family situation, she had always wanted to study well and get into to a good career to support her family financially. She has never played sports, and the first time when she heard the term ‘Netball’ it was something very new to her. Punitha was a very timid and soft spoken girl, but no more she is the same, she has gained confidence and had overcome her shyness.

“Usually girls do not play in the common play ground in our locality; I never thought that I would ever step into this ground to play. Whenever I would cross this playground in our community, I would think to myself - ‘Can I ever go and play inside this area?’ But now, I just can’t believe that it has become a reality!” says Punitha.

Going to school and helping her mother with household chores was all that she thought she can do and should do being a girl. She longer has this attitude, after joining Goal, her perspective of being a girl has changed.

“After being a part of this Goal Program, I learnt that sports can also be a channel to identify my goal and ambition and work towards it”, says Punitha.

Punitha wants to learn to use a computer and aspires to become a doctor. She feels that the Goal sessions are very useful and it’s a great opportunity for girls like her as it improves skills.

Camfed: Every Child Belongs on School

2010-12-01T02:26:00.000-08:00

Today Camfed (an organisation we really rate) is launching “Every Child Belongs in School”, a campaign about the injustice of educational exclusion. Each week during the next month, they will be showcasing a short film about a child who is unable to attend school. Produced by an award-winning team of filmmakers, the films raise awareness about the fact that millions of children around the world are deprived of the one thing that will help them escape poverty: an education.

Sisters from Camfed on Vimeo.

Their goal this Christmas season is to send 1000 children like Afisha back to school so that they can once again view their futures with hope and excitement. Think about supporting Camfed today!

ISKCON Midday Meals at Goal

2010-11-29T21:59:00.000-08:00

The Goal site at Aali Gaon, Delhi, has a new reason to rejoice! A new initiative, spearheaded by new Goal Delhi coach Pooja Rawat and Goal Delhi Co-ordinator Jaya Tiwari, with the ISKON foundation's food relief program, is providing midday meals to the Goal girls of Aali after each Goal session!

A huge thanks to the Director of Iskcon Food Relief Center at Aali Vihar, Mr. Shyam Govind Das, for providing this fantastic opportunity for our Goal girls! The Iskcon Food Relief - Midday Meal Program works to providing children in school with a Midday Meal. As their website states:

ISKCON FOOD RELIEF FOUNDATION, has resolved to liberate the underprivileged by feeding the poor with sanctified and nutritious food.

In just three years since it was founded, the program has scaled to provide over 1,00,000 hygienic and nutritious meals every day through an extremely cost-effective program. MIDDAY MEAL has demonstrated and is now showcased as an operating model that can strategically address two of the most pressing problems for poor children in India : hunger and education.

To many of our children, the MIDDAY MEAL is the only complete meal that they have access to during the entire day. This has produced dramatic results in terms of enrolment, attendance, and attention spans.

Sanjay Colony Shows Off!

2010-11-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Goal girls of Sanjay Colony, Delhi, got the chance to show off in front of several Standard Chartered Bank representatives. Jamie Dundas, Non-Executive Director of Standard Chartered PLC, accompanied by Neeraj Swaroop, CEO of SCB India, and several other SCB staff from Mumbai and Delhi came to the Sanjay Colony site to spend some time with the Goal girls.

The girls presented a play to their visitors highlighting the story of a Goal girl, from the challenges she faces to her successes and finally overcoming the odds and becoming a Goal champion! Some "real-life" Goal champions from Aali Gaon and Sanjay Colony then shared their own experiences with Goal.

Then of course, it was time for a round of netball! Mr. Dundas and Mr. Swaroop even joined in for a couple of shots towards the end!

Spotlight on Kolkata Sanved- Saving Lives Through Dance

2010-11-25T04:11:00.000-08:00

This week's organisation that empowers girls and women is Kolkata Sanved. We're departing from our usual sports empowerment theme to focus on an organisation that uses dance as a form of therapy and empowerment.

Kolkata Sanved is a breath of fresh air for the people who this unique organisation helps. The women and children who come to Kolkata Sanved have suffered horrific and unimaginable abuse and violence: traditional methods of counselling and therapy aren’t always effective enough.

Since 2004, Kolkata Sanved has been using dance to aid the recovery of victims of abuse, violence and trafficking, mental health patients, children living with HIV or AIDS and children living in slums.

Every year, 2,500 women, girls and boys, are reached through its dance classes and workshops.

Through the medium of dance, Kolkata Sanved teaches vulnerable and troubled women and children to express their experiences and feelings.

What’s more, this form of dance therapy can turn around a person’s negative body image and attitude; it also empowers the participants to be creative artists in their own right. As Sohini Chakraborty, Founder of Kolkata Sanved says: “Not only does the process of Dance Movement Therapy bring about positive changes in mind, body and spirit, it also enables the women, children and youth to interact with mainstream society on an equal footing.”

However, Kolkata Sanved’s interventions don’t stop there. Public performances and awareness-raising campaigns mean that another 5,000 people a year are reached.

By making more people aware of the exploitation and suffering experienced by Kolkata Sanved’s participants, it is hoped that the government will start to make policy changes on health, trafficking, prostitution, education and HIV/ AIDS.

The response and success rate of this programme has been so fantastic that is has been launched in other parts of rural and urban India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Click here to visit the website and read more about this organisation's exciting and innovative work.

Great piece on Goal India

2010-11-24T06:24:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to The Alternative for this great profile on Goal in India.

Go Girl!
Aarti Mohan, Prerna Seth, 24 Nov 2010

Netball gives these young girls a better chance at life

It is 2’0 clock in the afternoon. The sun blazes down the open space of a near empty and dusty Barat ground in the village of Aali, close to the Delhi-Badarpur border. Sixteen year old Sarita cycles in through the gate, brimming with confidence, a bright smile on her face. She enjoys singing and sports; she wants to be a 'player' when she grows up. Sarita joins the rest of the ‘gang of girls’ , all dressed demurely in salwar kurtas; cheers and screams renting the air as they chase the ball down the ground in wild abandon. Welcome to a training class on HIV, sexuality education and health! Keep reading...

Seeing is Believing at Goal

2010-11-22T23:19:00.000-08:00

October saw a fine collaboration between two of Standard Chartered Bank’s CSR initiatives: Seeing is Believing and Goal. In celebration of World Sight Day, the ‘Seeing is Believing’ Programme organized an Eye Camp at the Goal Program’s Hamara foundation site in Mumbai on the 27th of October.

The camp was organized at the KK marg municipal school in Mumbai Central. 3 staff from the KBH.Bachooali Charitable Opthalmic & E.N.T Hospital screened 75 people over a period of 3 and half hours. A large gathering of people waited patiently for their turn.

The Goal girls were very excited to get their eyes tested. This camp also gave their family members a wonderful opportunity that they wouldn't have been able to get anywhere else. It was extremely gratifying to see many aged people come in to get their eyes tested.

25 of the community members have recommended a follow up visit at the eye hospital for more in depth testing and intervention. 17 people were prescribed spectacles and it was interesting to see them go through the frames and select the right one!

Sunil Pardeshi father of Goal participant Priyanka has to say: “It was wonderful to see so many people - young and old from my community turn up to get their eye’s tested at the eye camp organized at the local school. If it had not been for the camp so many of us would not have known that we had problems with vision! I too was prescribed spectacles!! Most of these people cannot afford to get tested from private hospitals and the free checkup was truly beneficial.”

Goal Champion Vandana’s mother Nanda says “Whenever we have a health problem we tend to ignore it and are too lazy to get it checked out. However, this time the eye camp was conducted right at our door step and we all went and get our eyes tested!

Many more people have eye problems and more such camps will be useful.”

Spotlight on Play31

2010-11-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

I've got another great sports empowerment organisation to profile for you this week: Play31!

Who are Play31?

Working primarily in Sierra Leone, Play31 uses the power of football to heal broken communities and create peace in regions torn apart by violent conflict.

It was named after Article 31 in the UN Convention on the Rights of Children that enshrines the right to play for all children the world over; it is Play31's mission to make this human right a reality.

As Jakob Lund, Play31 Director says: "By facilitating community gatherings and donating footballs, we contribute to the creation of peaceful societies where children can exercise their right to play."

What do they do?

Two years ago, a pilot project in post-conflict Sierra Leone set out to reconcile communities through football. Former combatants, victims, civilians and witnesses from over a hundred villages were brought together through the tournaments organised by Play31.

Play31's approach is simple but effective. It provides children living in conflict and post-conflict regions with footballs and it also helps to set up community tournaments.

By taking these steps with local NGOs, Play31 hopes that peaceful relationships between the players and amongst the spectators can be built, as well as establishing mutual respect both on and off the pitch.

Football allows people to put their differences aside and set out on the path to peace.

Play31 hopes to spread the message of joy and peace through football to other countries in the coming years.

Click here to visit Play31's website.

10,000 Girls

2010-11-17T04:19:00.001-08:00

I’ve just come across this education programme called 10,000 Girls. It's in Senegal and gives girls the support that they need to be successful during and after school. Watch their video to find out more on 10,000 Girls...

Standard Chartered Volunteers Shine

2010-11-15T02:11:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of months in Delhi, volunteers from Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) branches all over Delhi have taken time out from their busy days to volunteer to teach, play with, and learn from our Goal girls.

In the past couple of weeks, SCB volunteers have conducted financial literacy for the girls at different sites. For many of the girls whose parents may not ever have had a bank account, the lessons taught by the staff are invaluable. An integral part of delivering these financial literacy modules includes a visit to a Standard Chartered bank office by the girls.

Over the last few weeks over a 100 girls from Goal sites around Delhi were taken to different SCB branches to learn from some of the employees about how the bank works and what role banking could play in their lives. All the visits were accompanied by fantastic presentations from the bank staff about the importance of banking, the different roles of the bank, how a bank account can be opened, and finally how an ATM works. For many of the girls who had never seen an ATM machine, let alone actually withdrawn money from one, it was an amazing experience. Not only did the girls get the chance to see how a bank works, but they got to interact with Bank employees and understand a whole new spectrum of employment.

Some pictures from the visits:

Sumitra, a Goal participant from Sanjay Colony, said of the Financial Literacy sessions: "It's the first time someone is talking to me about money and my own responsibility of saving. I used to think this was only the duty of my parents!"

A huge thanks to all the SCB employees who made these visits for the girls so special and such a success. Without people like Meenakshi Dhanda, organizing and co-ordinating logistics for the visits, or Mansi Khandelwal's taking time to take the girls so enthusiastically through the banks, or Bank Managers like Shishir who kindly welcomed the girls into their banks, the girls would never have been able to take part in such an invaluable life experience! A huge thanks to Rajiv Mehrotra and Amrita Aggarwal for their massive efforts in co-ordinating with Goal over the last few months in providing SCB staff with the time and resources to interact with the Goal girls (and vice versa!)

These sessions and visits are just a small portion of the work that has been carried out by SCB volunteers in the last couple of months. SCB volunteers have gone above and beyond in their sessions with the girls. In Aali Gaon, where SCB staff hold weekly English sessions for the girls, the employees collected donations within their branches to provide the Goal girls of Aali with a small sitting mat, a water bottle, two registers and stationary.

A huge thanks from the whole Goal team to SCB volunteers all over Delhi for all their efforts in the last few months and here's to hoping these efforts can continue to make huge differences in the lives of these Goal girls!

Spotlight on Seema

2010-11-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

    Growing up in a family with 3 older brothers, Seema Singh, 13 years old, grew up in her brothers shadows. When Seema heard about girls playing netball in her village, she couldn’t believe it. She had never heard of girls playing sports before! She was so enamored after she saw a Goal session, that she begged her older brother for permission to join the program. He refused and told her to stay at home, telling her there’s no use in a girl who can run around and play. Seema refused to give up so easily and asked the Goal staff to help persuade her brother. Her brother begrudgingly agreed, saying he was only allowing it because Seema would end up quitting anyways. Today, almost a year later, Seema’s brother is the first in the family to rush Seema off for her Goal sessions.

    Before joining Goal, Seema had never attended school. She had never even thought about going to school or anything in her future besides marriage. Seema had never interacted with girls her age before coming for the program. When she talks about the friends she’s made through Goal, her eyes light up as she says that “my team mates are like the sisters I’ve always wanted!” Seeing the other girls in Goal, many of whom are in school, Seema was motivated to join school and now she proudly attends a nearby Government school.

    When she first came for the program, Seema admits she had never thought about her own hygiene or the way she dressed. After seeing the Goal coaches and talking with other girls in the program, Seema started dressing and cleaning herself. Seema says that before her hygiene lessons from Goal, she would never properly clean herself while bathing as she thought it was wrong and dirty, but after understanding how necessary it was to keep your body clean she now religiously maintains her cleanliness.

Seema on her experience with Goal:

“Before joining Goal, I was shy, I never had any confidence and I was scared of speaking to people. After coming here and making so many friends, and seeing the way my coaches play and teach, I have become such a strong person and I feel so proud of myself. I never thought of doing anything in the future, but I now have dreams. I want to become a Goal Champion, I want to study and become a teacher or a coach.”

“Playing netball makes me happier than everything. I have become so healthy and so fit from exercising that my brothers also now want to play and exercise. My brothers and my family look at me with new respect and tell me that I will do something with my life. When I went outside Aali for the first time to play a match, I came back home and told my family about how we won and my family was so proud that my brother took me out and bought me a new dress for the first time!”

“When I am chosen to go outside my village and play, I feel like I am worth something. I have never seen such things before; I never thought I would get a chance to see such big people and such beautiful things. When I see the way my coaches and teachers talk to such big people, I feel very proud and feel maybe I also can become like my coaches one day!”

Spotlight on Empowering Women of Nepal

2010-11-11T01:14:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday and that means it's time for another profile of an organisation that empowers women and girls!

This week it's Empowering Women of Nepal's turn.

Who are they?

In the male-dominated trekking and adventure tourism industry, Empowering Women of Nepal (EWN) is making great strides towards gender equality.

The Chhetri sisters, Lucky, Dicky and Nicky have created two organisations: EWN, an NGO dedicated to women’s empowerment, and 3 Sisters Trekking, a company of female trekking guides working in the Himalayas.

Their work is knocking down social and religious barriers that confine women to the home and is opening up a new world of possibilities to disadvantaged Nepalese women!

What do they do?

EWN trains women from all over the country to become a trekking guide.

This life-changing training is free, plus the women get free accommodation, food and trekking equipment. There’s another big incentive too: after the first month’s training, the women embark on a paid apprenticeship which helps to empower them economically.

This innovative programme offers practical life, survival and trekking skills like map reading, first aid and trip planning.

It also teaches the women about the natural habitat around them and how take care of it, creating ecological awareness. EWN are making sure that the environment from which they are able to earn a living, the Himalayas, is protected for the next generation.

As EWN founder, Lucky Chhetri explains: “By offering opportunity, education, and practical skills training, we are instilling hope, courage, and confidence among the most deprived women and girls in Nepal. With access to opportunity and education, EWN trainees are transforming lives and improving livelihood.”

It’s great to see a women’s empowerment programme that responds so excellently to a gap in the tourism market and uses the local environment to change women’s lives!

Click here to read more about EWN's work.

Don't forget if you go to Nepal, you can explore the Himalayas with some of the only female trekking guides around!

Our Common Wealth(s)

2010-11-07T03:52:00.000-08:00

A couple of months ago, Anjali and Sonali Mishra (yes, they're sisters!), two of our Goal champs from New Delhi, were invited to volunteer for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. You read about their experiences volunteering during some Netball test events at Thygaraj Stadium, and now you can read about their experiences during the CWG 2010!

Anjali: "I was part of the Technical Officials for Netball. The best part, by far, was getting to watch the netball matches! I had never seen such level of sport before. It was so amazing to see how much hard work and passion each of the players puts in to their game. I only realize now that it is impossible to get anywhere without hard work. It's made me want to run on the field and practice my game as much as possible! Seeing the final match between New Zealand and Australia, especially after interacting with so many of the players beforehand, was definitely the best moment of my life!!"

Sonali: "I was a volunteer at the Sports Information Desk. I was really lucky because this meant I was able to interact with teams from all over the world. I never even knew there were so many countries in the world, especially that so many countries and so many people play netball! Apart from interacting with the teams and getting to watch such fantastic matches, my favorite memory is all the friends I made. I never would have gotten a chance to meet so many new people if not for this opportunity, I learned so much from everyone I met!"

When asked what their family thinks about their Commonwealth stint, both sisters look at each other and laugh. Sonali speaks up and says "Our parents are so proud of us. But they have made it very clear that next time they want us to be the ones on the court winning the medals!"

News from Nigeria!

2010-11-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

What with all the great blog posts on our Goal girls in India, it is high time that we posted some of the fantastic stories coming out of Goal in Nigeria!

Football is the sport of choice amongst the Goal girls in Nigeria, and Standard Chartered has been working with local NGO, the Youth Empowerment Foundation, to bring football, life and survival skills to over 230 girls in Lagos and Abuja.

This project has even caught the attention of a national newspaper in Nigeria, the Vanguard.

What kind of things is Goal doing in Nigeria?

Goal is not only improving the girls' football skills, but it is also helping some of them learn how to read and write, and teaching them about financial literacy.

The girls are being empowered to become whoever they want in life- even if it is a professional footballer playing for her country!

Peer education is also an important part of this project: the girls pass on what they learn in their weekly training sessions to their friends and family, so another 3,000 people are reached as a result!

Mrs. Iwalola Akin-Jimoh, Executive Director, YEF, has described the impact of the Goal programme as "tremoundous. . . these girls can now work as a team and have learnt that it is only as a good team player that they can become good leaders. They know those qualities they want to see in a leader and we are working with them towards acquiring some of these qualities. . . this initiative has come to stay."

Check out this article in the Vanguard to read more about Goal in Nigeria.

Spotlight on PLAY SOCCER

2010-11-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

Every week I will be posting a profile of an organisation that empowers children and young people through sport. All of our followers out there will be able to read about the amazing work being done around the world to help young people, so don't forget to check in each week for a new profile!

And if you have an organisation for me to write about, then get in touch here.

First up this week: PLAY SOCCER

A soccer revolution has been sweeping through Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa for the past nine years...

PLAY SOCCER has been bringing its unique programme that combines football, health and social skills to over 40,000 children throughout the African continent.

What do they do?

In PLAY SOCCER’s year-long programme, boys and girls (aged 5-15) learn to play soccer together.

In that time, not only do the children learn soccer skills, but they also focus on health issues like nutrition, good hygiene, malaria and HIV prevention, and social skills like teamwork and fair play.

As Judy McPherson, CEO and Chair of PLAY SOCCER explains, "PLAY SOCCER's holistic program goes beyond the game, weaving physical, health and social skills into a fun, activity-based curriculum.”

And the best part of this programme is that the skills acquired by the children in the weekly training sessions can be transferred to other parts of their lives- at school, at home and in their local community!

Even the coaches are local volunteers. PLAY SOCCER trains young adults to teach the programme and also equips them with the skills they need to find paid employment and become valuable members of their community.

PLAY SOCCER is empowering children and young people at grassroots level to make a real difference in local communities!

And judging by the faces of the children below, they're having a great time learning all these new skills!

To learn more about PLAY SOCCER's work click here.

Liz Ellis visits Goal

2010-10-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

Liz Ellis, ex-captain of the Australian netball team, recently came out with a crew from Australia's Channel Ten to play with and learn from our Goal girls. Our girls got the chance to play with a netball legend in the process! Some pictures from the day:

More HIV Education in Mumbai!

2010-10-28T03:26:00.000-07:00

A big thanks to our two SCB HIV Champions, Tarun and Anjaneya, who recently volunteered to run a HIV education session for the Asha Sadan Goal girls! The interactive and humorous session was a big hit with all the girls! Check out the photos below...

HIV Education Session in Mumbai

2010-10-27T03:01:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of photos from our superstar volunteer (and SCB HIV Champion) Vimal, running an HIV education session for the Hamara Club Goal girls in Mumbai! For many of the girls, it was the first time they had ever seen a condom demonstration!

An Aussie Welcome!

2010-10-22T03:28:00.000-07:00

Last week, Goal girls from Delhi were invited to the Australian High Commission for the launch of the Australian Sports Outreach Program in India, for which Goal is one of the partners. The girls were asked to put on a demonstration of their netball skills as an example of sports for development.

Here's a peek inside the launch. Watch out for special appearances from the Australian High Commissioner to India, and Australia's Sport Minister Mark Arbib (who is pretty fantastic at netball himself)!

More photos HERE!

Goal in India is still loving netball

2010-10-18T03:12:00.000-07:00

Sadly India did not make it to the Netball finals at the Commonwealth Games.

However....

Our Goal girls in Delhi, India still love to play netball and their enthusiasm has definitely not been dampened!

This continual excitment for netball has been noticed by thestar.com.

Jaya Tiwari, a coordinator with the Naz Foundation (India) Trust says that Goal has changed these girls for the better:

“The level of confidence has increased a lot. The concept of ‘I’ has come into their lives. It was not there before. This is one hour at least they are just playing [netball] for themselves. They are not playing for us. They're playing because they want to play.”

Read more on this article on our Goal program in India.

IFNA Visits Goal!

2010-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last week, Molly Rhone, President of IFNA, Urvasi Naidoo, CEO of IFNA, along with Kate Palmer, CEO of Netball Australia, took a day off from the Commonwealth Games to visit Goal! After lunch at the Naz office the team made their way to the Goal site at the Deepalaya school in Sanjay Colony.

The girls welcome Ms. Rhone and Ms. Palmer to Sanjay Colony

The girls of Sanjay Colony, together with new Goal Delhi Coach Pooja Rawat, had prepared a play showcasing the story of Goal for their visitors. The play started showed a Goal girls journey, from the challenges faced at home to finally growing and learning through the program and becoming a Goal champion.

After sharing some songs with the visitors, some of the Deepalaya teachers and parents offered to share their personal stories about how Goal has impacted their girls. It was fantastic to see so many community members and school faculty sharing together about how much Goal has helped their girls. After that, it was of course time for some netball! The girls played a quick match and then Ms. Rhone, Ms. Naidoo, and Ms. Palmer shared some chocolates, presents, and stories with the Goal participants.

A proud parent shares her own daughters' Goal story.

After goodbyes, the team made their way to the Jaitpur site to see a Goal league match between the girls of Aali Gaon and Jaitpur. In this "season" for Goal, the Aali Gaon girls and Jaitpur girls have battled it out on the court several times. For this final match, the entire Goal batch from Aali and Jaitpur gathered to cheer on their respective teams.

Matches were played between the old and new batches of Goal and it was a fantastic day for Aali as they managed to win both matches! The Jaitpur girls showed great sportsmanship and handed the winning side chocolates as a reward. Then, Ms. Rhone awarded Savita, a Center from Aali, the best player of the day.

The winners celebrate their 10-6 victory!

Molly Rhone hugs Savita, star player of the day

An added bonus - our visitors were fantastic enough to bring with them an official Commonwealth netball for the girls to use in their match!

Finally, sadly, the day had to end, and Ms. Rhone shared some inspiring thoughts with the girls before they finally had to leave. Ms. Rhone told the girls how once she was just like them, a young girl who loved netball and loved to play. With hard work and passion for the game, she was able to reach where she is today! The Goal team and the IFNA team exchanged presents, and as they say "Great minds think alike," both teams had prepared an almost identical photo collage for each other!

I think to sum up the day, this picture pretty much says it all:

You can see more pictures here.

IFNA visit to Goal - Delhi

2010-10-14T04:58:00.000-07:00

Kate Palmer, Netball Australia CEO, Urvasi Naidoo, IFNA CEO and Molly Rhone, IFNA President took time out of their busy schedules during the Commonwealth Games to visit the Goal Programme in Delhi.

They visited the Deepalya site in Delhi where the girls had prepared a play and a song especially for the visit and the group then visited the Jaitpur site and watched a close match between two of the Delhi sites, Aali and Jaitpur. The President met with some of the Goal Champions and made a small speech and presentation to thank Goal National Co-Ordinator, Kalyani Subramanyam, for her dedication and hard work. Kalyani had travelled from Mumbai to Delhi especially to meet the IFNA delegation.

The President was moved to tears to see young girls and women playing netball in challenging circumstances. She promised to do her utmost to ensure more netball equipment is sent to Goal.

Also during the Commonwealth Games, Australia’s Sports Minister, Mark Arbib, launched a RS 200 million programme ($4.5 million US) aimed at developing sports facilities across India for disadvantaged children. The GOAL programme, was cited at the launch event as an example of how sport can make significant differences at the grass roots and some of the funding is therefore especially ear marked for the Goal Programme.

Finally, a group of over 50 lucky Goal girls from Delhi were given tickets to go and watch the Commonwealth Games netball competition and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of seeing top level international netballers in action.

Hooray - The Goal Programme is just going from strength to strength.

A week without violence

2010-10-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

Violence is something which happens all around the world.

Did you know that this week is YWCA's Week without Violence?

The YWCA is global network of women leading social and economic change in 125 countries.

They believe that attitudes must change. Violence must be seen as unacceptable and something which must stop. This won't change unless people start having the confidence to intervene.

This week is about encouraging that confidence and that intervention... "Speak out in what you believe".

A look inside Tughlaqabad Village

2010-10-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, the camera hit Goal Delhi's site at Tughlakabad Village. Goal partners with ABHAS (Action Beyond Help and Support) to run the Goal program in the village. Kalyani Subramanyam, the National Co-ordinator for Goal India, visited the site last week to see first hand the 120 girls who come out for each Goal session.

Global Girls News: 4 October

2010-10-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

New photos from Delhi

2010-10-04T04:19:00.000-07:00

Our Delhi Goal girls have been super busy the past couple months, and luckily, Rushika has been there to capture it all! See a few highlights below from the Goal Champions trip to the Commonwealth Games stadium, Indian Independence Day, and training.

Gulabsha Parveen - Goal Star

2010-10-03T23:44:00.000-07:00

This is 14-year-old Gulabsha Parveen from Jaitpur, Delhi. Last month, in a coaching clinic with Dr. Bimla Pawar and Carmel Wright, she was awarded an Honorary Diamond by Carmel Wright, on behalf of Netball Australia for her passion and improvements in netball.

When asked to talk about the changes the Goal program has made in her life, Gulabsha smiles enthusiastically as usual. Youngest of 4 sisters, Gulabsha never thought she would be lucky enough as the boys in her school to get the chance to play a sport. Then last year, she heard stories about some girls from her “gaon” getting to play every week with each other and getting chances to play in national tournaments. She made her way over to the Goal Jaitpur site and stood outside the ground watching sessions, too afraid to enter.

The coaches and Goal staff noticed her constantly standing outside and finally persuaded her to come inside and join in the program. Her father, a labourer, and her mother, a tailor, motivated Gulabsha to join in the Goal program with her sister.

As they say, the rest is history! Gulabsha quickly picked up the game and shone across the court. From her very first session, rain or shine, Gulabsha has always been present excitedly awaiting that days’ lesson. Not only did Gulabsha excel at netball in no time at all, but the Goal staff says her enthusiasm for the game was truly infectious! The other girls watching her play always try to play better themselves, just because of the enthusiasm Gulabsha shows for playing and learning. After becoming an Honorary Diamond for Netball Australia, Gulabsha has become even more of a hero to all the other girls.

Not only has Gulabsha improved tremendously in netball in the short time she has participated with Goal so far, but the Goal staff have noticed immense growth in her as a person.

“Before she joined the program, Gulabsha would awkwardly stand outside the gates to our ground. She was too shy to ask to play with the other girls. Now, we have seen her become such a confident girl, serving as a role-model for all the others. She is always present, always enthusiastic, and has now started motivating the other girls around her. We have seen her grow into a self confident, strong leader!”
- Shashi Bharti, Program Officer- Goal Delhi

Gulabsha said of her experience with Goal:

“First I would come to the program and stand outside because I did not know anything about netball. I was very scared to play but then seeing all the girls play together and having the coaches tell me I can also play made me want to join also. I thought I would just come play one or two times and then go back home. But then I loved the game so much, I never wanted to stop playing! I kept practicing and I now have become so much better. I feel very proud at becoming good after working so hard.”

“I never thought I would get to see a Commonwealth stadium, but I also got to play a match in such a good stadium!! Carmel Maam also gave me a Honorary Diamond and told me she was very proud of how much I have improved. I could not even believe that she knew my name or was impressed by my game! After that experience, I feel maybe I can practice even harder and my love for netball can also become my career later. I am now inspired to study harder and play harder than before because I now feel like I can reach somewhere in my life.”