During the World Cup, Esperance is also part of the FIFA programme “Africa for Africa” Legacy Campaign. Soccer is a predominantly male field of sports, which is a reason for Esperance to focus on female participation. The soccer field as a representation of the society is what they are aiming for. To have the soccer games work as emancipating instruments, Esperance introduced the fair play instrument “Football Amahoro.” Football Amahoro represents the essence of how soccer works as an empowering instrument. Teams must consist of an equal number of boys and girls. However, only girls are allowed to score. This demands a high level of team spirit between the members of a team and there is no room for gender discrimination. Fair play is further enhanced by the lack of referees in the field. If a foul is committed the other players call upon the player who committed it. This way peaceful solutions are aimed for and prove to have a decrease in the number of fouls that are committed in the field. Being called upon by the whole group makes players commit less fouls then when a referee is in the field.

Football Amahoro delivers an important contribution in the emancipation of younger generations, as it stimulates their self-awareness that their voices are meaningful and deserve to be heard. In addition, not unimportant, children are allowed to have fun in contemporary Rwanda. This seems self-evident, however after the genocide people have felt their lives were worth little and lived by the day. For children to grow up in such an environment, it is difficult to have straightforward and uncomplicated fun. With its activities, Esperance aims at restoring the feeling of being young within the Rwandan youth. Also the importance of gender in post conflict areas cannot be denied. Female influence has proven to have a significant role in rebuilding societies. Post 1994 Rwanda became the first country with a female majority in its parliament.

Esperance works from the conviction that sport and culture are important in the processing of the Rwandan genocide for the youth. In addition to the sports events, the following activities are to contribute to this making this a successful project. In collaboration with the municipality of Karongi, the umbrella organization for genocide survivors IBUKA and experts of the Rwanda National Museum, Esperance is working on recording and preserving eyewitness accounts of the events in the Kibuye stadium during the genocide. These accounts will be documented by means of film and photographs and will be presented in the form of an exhibition. This exhibition will in turn function as an instrument of fundraising. The raised funds will be used to recover the over 5000 bodies buried in a mass grave located near the stadium and to rebury these bodies in an honorary way. Esperance is also involved in annual memorial services. With external funding Esperance intends to make this service accessible for a large public by having it registered for national Rwandan television. The multifaceted project Sixteen will be concluded with a Festival of Hope, with music, dance and performances to honour the memory of the victims and celebrate the future of the people of Rwanda. This festival will be organized in collaboration with partner organizations in Burundi and DRC. Project Sixteen is targeted to launch in September 2010.

The Prince Claus Fund creates space for people and activities that are hidden and silenced through exclusion, displacement, war and/or unjust local or national governments. Zones of silence which lack possibilities for individual and cultural expression require special attention because alternatives to the mainstream are of crucial importance in the functioning of a society. This theme transcends geographical boundaries and local opportunities are stimulated against the Fund’s background of the international network.

Rwanda, Africa, Kibuye, 2010, 1994, Esperance, Sixteen, Youth Emancipation, Sports and Culture, Genocide, Reconciliation, Soccer, Football Amahoro, Girls Emancipation, FIFA, Supported, Applications