The Coca Cola X-Mas Tournament is not just a sports competition. We want to be more than that, and therefore we invest in several fields, such as G-basketball and social and humanitarian projects in Belgium and abroad. We are able to realize this thanks to the support of all of you ! We are not asking for financial aid for this, but being at the tournament, as a participant or a spectator is already helping us a lot !
These are our main engagements:
Sports for everybody: G-Basketball
G-Sport are activities organized for people with mental or physical limitations. It allows a large group of people to practice their prefered sports.
During the Coca-Cola X-Mas Tournament, we organize a G-Basketball competition on the last day of our event. This competition takes place in our main Venue and offers large visibility to these excellent athletes.
Support for a humanitarian project: Makoye Kafo
We yearly support the humanitarian project of co-organizer Werner and his wife Fabienne in Senegal. Below a description of the project, written by them.
From touristic experience to project
As we left for the warmth and rest of Senegal after a long and cold winter in April 2013, we met Madi Diouf. He was our local guide to his village and the nearby villages in the jungle around Toubacouta in South Senegal. We learnt about the needs of the local people: better school facilities, better working circumstances for women, extra food, ….
Coming home, Fabienne got stuck with the question about what could be done. To better get to know and understand the problematic nature of Africa she joined a project in Ghana, run by the volunteer organisation Vrijwillig Wereldwijd.
Back at home, she started thinking how to organise and realise a programme of help for Toubacouta. Through almost daily contact with Mad Diouf, she decided to go back using the money of a benefit night to provide the villagers with mosquito nets, rice, a solar cooker, clothes and toothpaste.
Werner talked with the local basketball coach and consequently set up a few training sessions and staged a match. We want to continue this project, as it is part of the social and sports development for the local youngsters.
We experienced real gratitude from the people. Talking with the village chiefs, representatives of the youth and the women we gained insight into the real needs of the villagers.
In May 2015, we started a non-profit organisation Makoye Kafo to be on the safe side, regarding the legal and financial aspects, and to structure our activities. We’re registered at the support office for volunteers in projects dealing with the south. You will find the necessary information about our statutes, accounting and activities at www.mayekafo.be.
We aim at gathering enough money in 2016 in order to provide the villages with a grain mill to improve the working conditions of the women and a sanitary unit for the school.
We tried to gather the necessary funds through our benefit night on 14th November 2015, through all sorts of sponsoring, donations and a calendar sale.
At present, the construction works for the grain mill shed and the sanitary unit have started. In February we will go to Senegal to deliver and inaugurate the mill and the toilets. At the same time we will carry out some research about the school situation of the children. In the long run we would like to provide the school with first readers and to build a small library with a reading and storytelling corner.
It is our hope that every single child will be given the opportunity to learn to write, read and do sums in order to fight illiteracy.
As Mathama Gandhi said: ‘If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children’..
Support for a social project in Belgium: De Hoge Kouter
De Hoge Kouter is a Multi Functional Center, offering day care (replacing school and completing school), guidance and immediately available assistance to young people between 12 and 21, dealing with mental limitations or possible other issues.