Umzingisi Foundation, Gqeberha

The Umzingisi Foundation delivers community development through the following programmes:

Mass Participation Programme (MPP)
After School Programme (ASP)
School of Sporting Excellence
Youth Development through Football

Mission Statement
To encourage sustainable peer-led social change among the youth by using sports as a tool to leverage peer influence through increased life skills abilities, including developing leadership skills, reducing at-risk behaviors, improving social connectedness, health awareness, and encouraging responsible citizenship in a fun and interactive way.

Background
Umzingisi Foundation actively promotes and enhances opportunities for children in Nelson Mandela Bay's previously disadvantaged communities to take part in structured sport and life skills sessions. South Africa is a socially diverse country where the gap between rich and poor is vast. The country competes at the top level in several international sports yet the huge majority of children from historically disadvantaged areas are not afforded the same opportunities as those from traditionally privileged backgrounds.
Umzingisi works in schools in the townships of iBhayi and the Northern Areas, where the communities are left disadvantaged from the historical struggle against apartheid. Umzingisi is committed to developing life skills through sport amongst the disadvantaged and vulnerable youth on a mass participation level. Sport programmes are run in local communities focusing on rugby, netball, cricket, soccer, hockey, swimming, and tennis. The aim of these projects is to empower citizens and consolidate communities in their social, institutional and economic wellbeing and sustainability.