The
2016 Youth and Sport Summer Camp under the auspices of the National Sports
Councils, will get underway at the Independence Stadium on Thursday 1 September
2016.
Registration
for the camp, which will take place from 1 to 7 September 2016, is underway for
a fee of D500.00 (five hundred Dalasi) for children between the ages of 8 and
15 years.
Registration
forms can be obtained at the National Sports Council Secretariat during working
hours.
Speaking
in an interview with The Point, Pa Suwareh Faye, chairman of the national
organizing committee, said preparations for the camp are at advanced stage.
Participants
will converge at the venue on 31st August, he said, calling on interested
individuals to grab their forms, as there are limited spaces.
The
camp targets 120 participants (7 from each region with the rest coming from
partners such as Childfund (10 participants), Black and White (7 participants),
with others coming from stakeholders and other interested individuals), he
said.
Mr
Faye explained that upon payment of the registration fee, the ministry will be
entirely responsible for the accommodation, feeding, security and other needs
of the campers.
He
said the camp, which began in 2011, is part of the ministry’s agenda based on
children and youth empowerment, which is important for their continued
development.
He
said further that they annually plan to stage a national youth summer camp and
send the campers on an international camp the following year.
This,
he said, could not happen last year due to the Ebola outbreak but noted that
they were trying to revise it to ensure last year’s campers go for international
camp.
The
theme for this year’s camp is: ‘Educating youth and children in the fight
against FGM/C, child marriage, open diffraction, enhance peace through youth
and culture’, he said.
He
stated that the sports activities to be carried out during the camp include
football, basketball, cricket, volleyball, table tennis, athletics, and
wrestling. The educational and skills training programmes will include debate,
beauty pageant, and queue.
Faye
urged parents to register their children for the camp, saying the camp will
have a great impact in their lives as some previous campers are now excelling
to another level by becoming procurement officers, law students, playing
divisional football while others are in UK academies.
He
also said that campers will have the opportunity to visit historical sites they
had never seen, and would also be given the opportunity to visit GRTS Radio and
TV, and Gambega.
In
conclusion, he commended the Ministry of Youth and Sports, particularly the
minister, for providing the necessary logistics in ensuring the camp take
place.
