A Remarkable Community in Rwanda Turned a Dirt Field Into a Game-Changer.
A Remarkable Community in Rwanda Is Turning a Dirt Field Into a Game-Changer.
Will you pitch in?Over $252,000 has been raised!!!
Phase I GOAL has been met!
You helped score BIG!
A life-changing field in Rwanda
Together the dream becomes possible.
It takes a team to see a dream become a reality.
We are thrilled that the Timbers and Thorns Stand Together, Fields for All joined African Road and friends as generous partners for Phase I of the Togetherness soccer pitch construction. African Road and Togetherness were selected as the first international field build for Stand Together Fields for All in 2020. This has facilitate powerful community development and girls empowerment.
In honor African Road’s ongoing partnership with the Portland Timbers, Timber Joey and Vice President of Community and Social Impact for the Timbers, Dr. Robin Beavers, joined African Road on a special trip to Rwanda in January 2024 for learning and relationship building, as well as a long-awaited field dedication ceremony at Togetherness.
Soccer (or football) is a big deal in Rwanda. For over 20 years, the Togetherness Youth Cooperative has used soccer to connect people and facilitate transformational training for community building, peace & reconciliation, and girls’ empowerment. Soccer at Togetherness brings joy to children and young people who survived great loss.
Their uneven dirt field has become a FIFA Jr. regulation-sized soccer pitch, and is ready for future Phase-II development.
WHY a soccer field?
Soccer is the heart and soul of Togetherness Cooperative. The dirt playing field was dug by hand by 80 kids, eight years ago. They have dreamt of their own regulation pitch since day one. Rain and erosion took a toll on this hillside and extensive retaining walls were needed to stabilize the hillside, as part of Phase I.
WHAT does Soccer mean to Togetherness?
Soccer is the glue that brings people together in this rural area. Access to sports for all creates community cohesion. Hundreds of young people use this play area weekly.
Conflict prevention: Togetherness uses their field to reach young people from across the region with sports for conflict resolution and conflict prevention. In a country that was destroyed by genocide just 25 years ago, this is a big deal. Lives are transformed on this field. With an improved field, Togetherness becomes a greater community hub for healing and a healthy future for Rwandans.
Empowerment for women and girls: Weekly soccer clinics taught by one of Rwanda’s few female coaches, Oscarie, give girls the skills to play, and use sports to help girls learn their value, voice and potential.
A community resource: Togetherness youth share all that they have with others around them. This field benefits the 142 children and young people of Togetherness, and their neighbors across the region.
An eventual source of income: Rwanda is called ‘The Land of a Thousand Hills’ for a reason. In a country with little level land and a great passion for soccer, an excellent field would be rented regularly and provide a source of income for Togetherness. This Phase I project stabilizes the hillside, manages water, adds infrastructure, and creates a safe space to play and starts a new brick making business.
It also lays the foundation for Phase II: adding final grade, turf, lights, and a road to meet FIFA Junior field regulation standards for professional games. The first phase brings its own impact in establishing Togetherness Cooperative firmly as a forward-thinking and beneficial presence in the local community.
Click to view the Togetherness Pitch Project plan PDF
Togetherness Youth Cooperative is a community of orphaned children who have built a life for each other since the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. They are lifting up themselves and others.
With the help of a passionate leader named Steven Turikunkiko and partners like African Road and YOU, these young people have grown beyond a gathering of survivors to a thriving community of dreamers and doers with a vision. Join in and come alongside to see this vision realized.