BG Football and BG Intern - A Great Match

I joined Breaking Ground just over a month ago as a Communications and Fundraising Intern. Initially, my interest in Breaking Ground’s work stemmed from an experience I had abroad in Zwelenqaba, South Africa in 2010. I spent a month living in this remote village on the Eastern Cape assessing the community impact of a solar television installation and organizing and running a soccer camp for local youth. The project reinforced to me both the incredible potential for positive impact of development projects and the immense difficulties of imposing change from outside a community. Breaking Ground’s commitment to investing in local knowledge and self-identified needs seemed like the perfect, carefully nuanced approach to addressing development solutions. 

So, when Kierstyn offered me the internship, I was excited to accept. During my first month I’ve been focused almost exclusively on the Breaking Ground Football Program. Making use of my previous experience running a soccer camp in Zwelenqaba, my own extensive soccer background, and Kierstyn’s abounding energy, support, and knowledge, we’ve already made great strides towards re-launching this program with renewed vigor. With 160 female players in the past, four committed coaches, and a tremendous amount of community interest, the stage is set for BGF to develop into an increasingly productive means of empowering young women in Ngaoundéré. 

It’s been a fantastic learning experience working to structure and organize this program, arranging equipment donations and transport, codifying project goals, developing potential partnership relationships, and generally building the Breaking Ground Football Program infrastructure. So far, I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this organization working to achieve positive change for Cameroonians. I’m excited to keep working and learning at Breaking Ground and can’t wait to watch BGF continue to grow and prosper. 

-- Micah Rose