Desailly brings Laureus Goodwill to Ghana

Laureus World Sports Academy member Marcel Desailly received an enthusiastic welcome from hundreds of young people when he returned to Ghana, the country of his birth, to visit the Laureus supported Sport and Skills project run by OrphanAid Africa. Sport and Skills has been developed to benefit orphans, deprived children and young people in the juvenile justice system. Over 400 children currently benefit from the project. French football legend Desailly visited two sites in the Greater Accra & the Eastern regions of Ghana - the DSW Correctional Centre in Labone, Accra and the GES OrphanAid District Assembly School, near Dodowa, to run football training sessions. Desailly was born in Ghana, but moved to France when he was four. He ultimately became one of France’s greatest footballers - a member of the 1998 FIFA World Cup winning team and captain of the side which won the 2000 European Championship. After the 2004 European Championship, he retired from international football after making 116 appearances for France. In 2007 he became a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy and has been very active in supporting the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, both in France and in Africa. He said: “ football gave me so much over my 20 year career. It’s made me who I am today and it gives me so much pleasure to see what sports can do for kids and that’s why the Laureus project is so important. It will make a significant difference and change their lives.’ I am delighted to be back in Ghana and I was overwhelmed by the welcome I received. I became Patron of OrphanAid Africa in 2005 and I am very happy that now the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation has decided to support this very worthy project which is doing so much good.” Sport and Skills is the first project in Ghana to be supported by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. The project provides for young people from 6 – 21 to take advantage of informal training in life skills while also receiving sports coaching. For those over 17, the project offers educational training emphasising career advice, skills classes and HIV/AIDS education. In the DSW Correctional Centre, OrphanAid Africa, in association with volunteer Ghanaian lawyers, works with DSW to fast-track children in conflict with the law through the juvenile justice system and assists with tracing and reunification of the children with their families. The OrphanAid Africa District School, near Dodowa, has been set up to educate deprived children from the local community and children in foster care. OrphanAid Africa was founded in 2002 to help improve the standard of children’s homes and institutions caring for minors in Ghana. A non-profit, non-governmental organisation, it aims to help orphans grow up in a healthy, nurturing environment that provide quality care, protection, education and support. The children who need help the most are those who have been surviving alone on the streets. Many are emotionally disturbed. They may have lost their parents to disease or been sexually abused. In 2004 OrphanAid Africa was able to build its own self-sustainable home, which caters for children with special needs - those with severe illnesses and handicaps. It has been described as a ‘model in Africa’. The mission of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is to fund and promote the power of sport to effect positive social change in communities around the world. The Foundation supports almost 60 projects worldwide and has improved the lives of over 150,000 children since its inception, through its global foundation and a growing network of eight subsidiary foundations in Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. The Foundation addresses social issues affecting young people which include social exclusion, gun and gang violence, discrimination, community integration, peace and reconciliation and education. The Laureus World Sports Academy is a unique association of 45 of the greatest living sporting legends led by its Chairman Edwin Moses. The Academy members share a belief in the power of sport to break down barriers, bring people together and to improve the lives of young people around the world. They act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, volunteering their time to visit projects in order to draw attention to the problems afflicting society today.