NAIROBI, Kenya, March 7- Former Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe will grace the opening ceremony of one of the ‘20 Centers for 2010’ at the Mathare Football For Hope Centre on Wednesday.
The former Leeds defender will carry out the ‘switching on’ event of the Official Campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and part of the Football for Hope movement.
20 Centers for 2010 is to create 20 Football for Hope Centres to promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa. As part of the Football for Hope movement led by FIFA and streetfootballworld, the campaign will leave a tangible social legacy for Africa.
The creation of a Football for Hope Centre begins with identifying both the local challenges as well as a local organisation that successfully uses football-based programmes for social development. The centre and the programmes that are run there, e.g. HIV/Aids awareness, literacy, gender equality, disability and integration, are created to meet the needs of the community.
Lucas Radebe grew in Diepkloof Zone Four in Soweto Township outside Johannesburg in one of the poorest and toughest areas during the fierce times when South Africa was under apartheid.
Despite of the tough life he faced just like kids in Mathare slums and neighbouring areas and being one of the 11 children in his family, Radebe became one of treasured players in the English Premier League and the most capped South African player with 70 appearances for the national team.
The “switching on” event is supported by Yingli Solar an ideal partner in the Football For hope movement.
Yingli Green Energy provides clean environmentally friendly energy and will supply all centers with solar installations including power pitch lighting.
The solar systems will provide this energy free of charge for many years to come allowing the centers to manage their budgets more effectively.
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