The Community/Sports Center

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One of the major reasons for early pregnancies in the area is the fact that young people have literally nothing else to do but to hang out in shebeens and have sexual intercourse from an early age on. Up until now, there is only one grass field for sports activities in the whole Kavango area, and the Mayana Lodge grounds could become the second! We are planning to build a grass field on the premises to provide different kinds of sports activities that would offer the children a whole set of alternatives and ways to spend their free time.

Competitions with other teams in the area could become a valuable part of the calendar on weekends and during school holidays.

In May 2007, the Shebeen around the corner was closed down. The reason for this was the death of a 15 year-old boy from a village nearby who had been killed during an argument on the premises.

We had disapproved of this place and this situation for a long time. The young people use their free time to come to the shebeens where girls are at the mercy of older men and where young boys get into fights, not to mention the contact with alcohol and drugs.

This was the reason why we felt the urgent need to set up a meeting point for young people, a haven where they could meet to do sports together, to watch movies, etc.

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