Following tournaments in South Africa and India, the third PASCH tournament will once again be hosted on the African continent. Young people from Gabon and Cameroon will come together March 11-13 in Buea, Cameroon to take part in the event. It is sponsored by the German Foreign Office as part of its „Sport and Foreign Policy“ initiative. The tournament is hosted by United Action for Children (UAC) in collaboration with streetfootballworld.

In Cameroon, where over a million children work and live on the streets, UAC uses the popularity of football to get young people off the streets and provides them with access to classrooms and training centres.

Enlarge image Team spirit on display in Cameroon (© streetfootballworld) UAC is a member of the streetfootballworld network since 2005. The initiative, which was launched in 2002, currently unites more than 80 organisations that have identified football as a tool to improve the living conditions of disadvantaged people around the world. With programs that focus on sustainability the streetfootballworld network members overcome local challenges in areas such as education, health, vocational training, gender, peace-building, social integration, the environment and youth leadership.

In addition to the young people who are involved in local UAC programs on a regular basis, students from PASCH schools will travel to the small town at the foot of Mount Cameroon. In 2008, the Foreign Ministry launched the "Schools: Partners for the Future" (PASCH) initiative, which connects 1,500 partner schools that promote the German language from around the world.

The following schools will be represented in Buea: the Alfred Saker College and the Lycée de Nylon Ndogpassi from Douala, the Jean Tabi Collège and the Lycée de Biyem-Assi Yaoundé, as well as the Lycée Bilingue from Bafoussam. Furthermore there will be a team from Gabon, which consists of students from  the Immaculate Conception Institute and the Lycée d'Application Nelson Mandela from Libreville.

Enlarge image Fun learning was also part of the tournament (© streetfootballworld) Ten street football teams, made up of boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18, will play against each other under the “Football-3” rules. This special football methodology and accompanying cultural programs and workshops promote interaction between the adolescents, and also imparts social skills such as teamwork, respect and tolerance.

After the tournament in Cameroon events in Israel and the Palestinian territories, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, and Brazil will follow. The winning teams of these six tournaments will face each other in the final tournament in Berlin at the end of June.