Some of the youth expected to participate in the camp. From left: Samantha Lukonde, Peter Ndolo and Doreen Nabwire Omondi
By Bonnie James/Deputy News Editor

A group of 30 young achievers from developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa and the Palestinian Territory are to participate in the 2012 United Nations Office on Sport Development and Peace (UNOSDP) Youth Leadership Camp in the Aspire Dome in Doha from January 9-19.
These 18 young women and 12 young men from South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, Burundi, Tanzania and Namibia and the Palestinian Territory are currently working at a variety of grassroots sport for development projects in their impoverished communities.
Joining them will be 10 youth from Qatar who have been identified by the NGO Reach Out to Asia, giving the event a local element and exposing the youth to different cultures, backgrounds and innovative ideas.
The camp is being organised by the UNOSDP in collaboration with Right to Play as a major knowledge partner and Aspire as well as other partner organisations.
The objective is to provide the youth with practical leadership skills, best practices practical leadership training and best practice examples from leading SDP experts. After the completion of the camp, the youth will be able to design, improve, implement and evaluate their own SDP initiatives and help invoke change in their communities.
Among the participants is Samantha Lukonde, who started working as a youth leader at the age of 15 in her hometown of Lusaka, Zambia.
She has conducted numerous trainings to the youth in her community and the region for drug abuse and HIV/Aids prevention.
As a facilitator, she holds debates and discussions for gender empowerment and developing young girl’s skills. “After the camp, I wish to use sport to address Millennium Development Goal 3 -‘Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women’ - in my community and in the country as a whole,” she said.
Another delegate is Peter Ndolo who started as a football player and a community worker in Mathare slums, Kenya, in 1996 as an 11-year-old.
Later, Ndolo, who is interested in art and photography, joined a Sport for Development and Peace organisation and now uses sport as a tool for photography and filmmaking. The young achiever also got an opportunity to work for Radio Bremen in Germany and also learned the German language.
Ndolo currently works with the organisation in Kenya as a project manager and uses sport to train youth in his community.
Kenyan footballer and coach Doreen Nabwire Omondi, is a role model for men and women from Kenya. She started playing soccer at the age of 10 and went on to become Kenya’s best female football player and joined the Kenya women’s  football team.
She has been actively involved in community development especially in HIV/Aids projects where she trains and creates awareness by hosting group discussions and events.
Omondi also got an opportunity to play for Werder Bremen Football Club women’s team where she also worked with youth to address gender based issues.
She currently works as an assistant coach of U20 football team and co-ordinator for Unicef. “I wish to work actively in combating gender based violence and HIV/Aids,” she said.
Palestine national volleyball and basketball team player Ghada Baboun has coaching experience with children in swimming, volleyball and football.
She is focused on coaching and teaching kids how to use sports for improving their life skills. She currently works with a foundation as a football coach and scout leader where she trains over 150 girls.
Baboun also runs her own club where she trains children in her community. “I plan to use the training from the camp to increase my leadership skills and train more children the right way to play and teach them skills of teamwork and discipline for the development of my community,” she declared.
Lloyd Burungi, a school teacher from Hoima, Uganda, has been volunteering as a coach working with children with disabilities for the past three years and has increased the amount of disabled kids participating in sports and other activities in the community.
He runs his own school-based club for children where he teaches them sports and how to use it for their own development.
“I hope to become the leader in my community, train kids and give them hope for the future,” he said.
Nomawethu (Wewe) Sokoyi, from South Africa, started four years ago as a volunteer coach and is now co-ordinating activities with 40 primary schools, coaches about 800 U/14 girls in a soccer and life skills programme for the kids in the communities. She has also been an ambassador for gender based inequality and has represented her organisation in Germany and other parts of the world.
“Community and youth development is my passion and I wish  to pursue a career in helping youth from disadvantaged communities,” she added.
Wheelchair tennis player Precious Kachasu from Zimbabwe is among the participants at the camp, Zimbabwe’s leading Sunday newspaper The Standard reported on Saturday. Kachasu, a renowned female wheelchair tennis player has been presented with a chance to start learning leadership and administration skills before she retires from playing competitive wheelchair tennis.
The University of Zimbabwe student, who had to undergo a leg amputation, beat other applicants to land the opportunity to start learning about sport administration and leadership.
This will be the first camp held under the auspices of Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace.

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