We are thrilled to announce that we will be hosting our latest volunteer service trip to Sierra Leone in West Africa in the summer of 2024! From Friday, June 21 through Wednesday, July 3, 2024, this trip will take a team of 14 volunteer participants to the capital of Freetown where we will serve as coaches and camp counselors as we facilitate a six-day Softball for Success Summer Camp program for 37 teenage girls ages 12 to 18!

Softball for Success, one of our signature programs, is an ongoing community-based youth development and girls empowerment initiative, designed with the input of the participants and their families, that is the first and only softball program for teenage girls in the country. The participants had an absolute blast in the program during our five-week pilot session in February and March of this year, and we can’t wait to bring everyone back together for summer camp this June with the support of our amazing team of volunteers!

While in Sierra Leone, we will also facilitate a one-day softball and baseball skills clinic and distribute school supplies for young people from the community of Lakka and play friendly softball games focused on teaching and learning with the four adult teams that are a part of our Softball Salone mixed-gender adult league (the league is designed to familiarize adults with the game and prepare them to work with young people as coaches). All of these projects are completely free for participants and we need your support to raise funds to make them possible!

Read more to learn just how important these programs are and see how you can help make a difference in the lives of so many young people.

What is Softball for Success?
Softball for Success is a sports-based youth development program for teenage girls that melds positive, inclusive softball instruction, practice, and games with holistic youth development activities including life skills and leadership workshops, cultural activities, community service, academic support, and team building opportunities. Coordinated in collaboration with our partner Vintage Academy soccer club, the program also seeks to develop supportive adult connections, build confidence, and reduce barriers to participation by providing meals and transportation as well as school supplies, athletic clothing, and personal care products to help ensure participants’ needs are met off the field. The family of each participant also receives nutritional support including a 110 pound bag of rice as a part of each program session. In addition, Softball for Success also has a medical fund in the event that any softball-related or other emergency medical care is needed. The program was designed and implemented based on the input and feedback from the participants as well as their families.

Why Softball for Success?
Young people growing up in the small West African country of Sierra Leone face many challenges, with 63.6 percent of children experiencing multidimensional poverty (UNDP, 2023). Life can be even more difficult for young girls, with only 17 percent completing high school, 28 percent becoming pregnant or having a child by the time they are 19 (with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world), and 30 percent getting married before they turn 18 (with half of these marriages taking place before they are 15) (UNICEF, 2021; UNESCO, 2019). Most families survive on less than $3 a day, without access to electricity, running water, or indoor cooking, and with little access to medical care. In the capital, over 60 percent of families live in makeshift housing in informal settlements, many of which are hard to reach due to unpaved, unmaintained roads (NYT, 2023). This is the case for nearly all of the Softball for Success participants, the majority of whom reside in impermanent structures made of corrugated metal that provide limited protection from the elements and face difficulty obtaining basic necessities.

All of these factors mean that children–especially girls–struggle to survive, let alone participate in sports. Many never have the ability to participate in sports at all, or have to stop before they want to, despite their desire to play and the demonstrated benefits and connection to resources that sports can offer, particularly for vulnerable young people. The cost of program fees, equipment, or uniforms is completely out of reach for young people who cannot afford critical items including meals, school supplies, and clothing, and who don’t have the funds to get back and forth to the field; they also don’t have the money or access to care to treat underlying medical conditions (which interfere with playing) or get care for any injuries that might occur. Some sports activities conflict with school times or exams, creating another barrier to participation. Many girls also play a prominent role in maintaining their household and have responsibilities for cooking, laundry, childcare, getting water, running errands, and more, making it difficult to have the time for sports, or to be permitted to play. Cultural stigma around girls playing–common throughout the world–can also be an obstacle. Because of these challenges, girls need multi-faceted, ongoing support to be able to have sustained participation in sports.

As a result, Softball for Success seeks to provide the tangible and holistic tools, resources, and encouragement–combined with the engagement of the participants’ families–to not only enable the girls to experience the joy and benefits of playing a team sport like softball, but also to ease many of the burdens of their daily lives and help set them up for success on and off the field.

How It Works
The five-week pilot season of Softball for Success took place from February 3 through March 9 and engaged 39 girls. Twice a week, the girls participated in softball learning sessions and, on the weekends, took part in youth development activities including trying indoor rock climbing, taking part in swimming lessons, going to the movies, participating in a women’s health workshop, visiting Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, touring the National Museum and the National Railway Museum, and relaxing with a mindfulness and meditation class. The girls also received a backpack filled with school supplies as well as personal care products, reusable menstrual products, athletic clothing, cleats, a trophy, and 110 pound bag of rice. Nine participants received fully-covered medical and dental care for conditions including two cases of epilepsy, an eye infection, malaria, typhoid, UTIs, broken molars, ulcers, and more.

Now, our team of 14 volunteers will return to facilitate a six-day Softball for Success Summer Camp which will take place from Sunday, June 23 through Friday, June 28 to continue to engage and provide consistent support to the girls in the program. The camp will kick off on Sunday with teambuilding and get-to-know-you exercises as well as a supply distribution, as the items provided in February and March only scratched the surface of the girls’ extensive needs. Each of the participants will receive a tote bag filled with additional school supplies including a composition book, pencils, pens, crayons, glue sticks,a ruler, and a pencil sharpener. They will also receive a replenishment of personal care products including a toothbrush, toothpaste, bar soap, lotion, lip balm, face wash, a hair brush, antiperspirant, shampoo, and conditioner as well as more athletic gear featuring a camp t-shirt, pair of athletic shorts, a pair of ankle socks and softball socks, underwear, a sports bra, a hat, and softball pants.

On Monday, the softball component will begin, with four days of morning softball learning sessions at St. Michael’s field in Lakka with a curriculum designed specifically to support and encourage teenage girls and get them moving, having fun, and learning new skills in a safe, positive, and welcoming environment. In the afternoons, the camp will feature leadership, communication, and team building workshops as well as activities in and around Freetown so that they can learn, feel more connected to their community, and just be kids. These include touring the Sierra Leone Peace Museum, hiking in the Western Area Peninsula National Park, taking part in a cake baking and decorating class, trying surfing or stand up paddleboard lessons, and participating in a yoga class. On Friday, the participants and coaches will go on a daytrip to Bunce Island on the Sierra Leone River Estuary, the site of one of the largest British slave fortresses where people kidnapped in West Africa were held before being sent to the United States and the Caribbean to be enslaved. This will be the first time that the girls have participated in any of these activities.

Each day of camp will include at least one meal for the girls as well as snacks and beverages to help address their persistent food insecurity, and van transportation to and from the youth development activities will also be provided. The program will also provide a transportation stipend to the participants of $2.20 per day so that they can afford to get back and forth to the field via public transportation. We increased this stipend from the $.88 that we provided in February and March as a majority of participants reported that this was not enough and often had to use their school lunch money in order to be able to make it to the field. The girls will also receive an additional 110 pound bag of rice for their families, and we will continue to cover medical and dental care as needed.

Furthermore, based on the feedback of the participants and their families, the camp will include a fund designed to help cover the cost of school fees and school-related expenses for the girls, as 100% of the girls stated that they need assistance to be able to stay in or continue with school. While school fees were technically abolished by the government in 2018 for government-funded schools, schools do not have the necessary funds to operate or to pay teachers, meaning that students must still pay for a myriad of expenses including mandatory uniforms, required footwear, administrative fees, school supplies, textbooks, pamphlets, assignments, additional classes, exams, and sometimes even to receive their grades. Failure to pay results in significant punishments, including flogging (NYT, 2023). Many teachers go for months without getting paid, resulting in uneven instruction. Some students' families opt for schools run by community-based organizations or NGOs to try to receive a higher quality of education; these schools charge a range of fees as well. A number of the girls in the program have finished high school and taken their required West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) but now do not have funds to go on to college; other girls need the funds to take this compulsory exam.

All of the girls who will be a part of the camp took part in the pilot in February and March and were identified in collaboration with our partner Vintage Academy (many being former or current soccer players) or heard about the program through word of mouth. They all live in the communities of Lumley, Lakka, or Hamilton in and around Freetown, primarily in informal settlements. Nearly all experience multidimensional poverty and face significant barriers to participation.

All of the participants surveyed at the end of the program in March expressed the impact of Softball for Success on their lives, with 100% stating that they learned new skills as a result of the program, and 100% stating that they had experiences that they would not have had without the program. "I've never went to the places that we have been before," states program participant Angela Lusane. "This is the first time so I just want to say thank you." 100% also stated that they made new friendships as a result of Softball for Success, and 100% stated that they would do the program again. As program participant Adama Kamara stated, "I want to do the program again and again and again and again."

In addition to the Softball for Success Summer Camp, on Saturday, June 29 we will host a softball and baseball skills clinic for the more than 40 vulnerable young people from the Lakka community at the field where the Softball for Success softball learning sessions take place. This clinic will include lunch as well as a school supply and personal care product giveaway featuring a backpack, pencils, soap, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soccer balls. Later that day, we will play friendly games with the four adult teams that are a part of our Softball Salone adult league that had its inaugural season in February and March. The league is designed to enable the adult coaches and players to enjoy the many benefits that recreational sports can offer while also helping the participants to become more familiar with the game so that they are better positioned to work with young people as softball coaches, as adult involvement and investment is critical to the success of youth programs. These games will include lunch as well as soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste for the participants.

How You Can Help
All of these initiatives are completely free for the participants, and we need your help to make them possible! We are collecting monetary donations to cover the full cost of the six-day Softball for Success Summer Camp, as well as the cost of the one-day softball and baseball skills clinic and the friendly adult games.

These costs include meals (for both participants and counselors/coaches), beverages, snacks, participant transportation, a transportation stipend for each participant, youth development activities fees, t-shirts, athletic clothing and undergarments, personal care products, school supplies, medical care and first aid supplies, school fees and related expenses, field rental/cleaning fees, and any softball equipment that cannot be obtained through donations. They also include equipment bags, airline baggage fees, and any contributions to our partner organizations.

Fortunately, through our community partnerships and contributions from Philadelphia Adult League Softball players, much of the softball equipment is already covered. In addition, everyone who is participating is volunteering their time which reduces the costs significantly.

However, we need to raise $20,000, and this is where you come in! Please consider making a tax-deductible donation in any amount to support the young participants in our programs and their families.

Here are just just some of the ways that you can help:

--For $20, you can cover the cost of four new sports bras for program participants
--For $35, you can sponsor the cost of one participant to visit Bunce Island
--For $40, you can cover one 110 lb bag for rice for a participants’ family, providing food for them for a month
--For $80, you can provide one afternoon of ice cream treats for all of the program participants
--For $100, you can cover the cost of all of the youth development activities for the week for one program participant
--For $150, you can cover annual school fees for one program participant
--For $250, you can provide one day of lunch and beverages for program participants, coaches/counselors, and young spectators from the community
--For $300, you can cover the cost of replenishing all of the program first aid supplies
--For $330, you can cover all of the personal care products for the 37 program participants including toothpaste, shampoo, lotion, lip balm, face wash, and more
--For $500, you can cover hospital visits and medication through our medical fund
--For $700, you can cover the cost of athletic gear for all of the girls including t-shirts, shorts, socks, underwear, and sports bras
--For $1,480, you can cover the cost of all of the 110 lb bags of rice for the 37 program participants

If we exceed the amount needed, we will put the funds towards additional supplies, meals, activities, and program costs. If you’d like to donate supplies from our wish list, click here.

You can learn more at www.letschangeupsports.org and see the full list of participants at this link. Thank you so much for your consideration and your support. We truly could not do it without you and you will be making such a difference for so many young people.

Support Softball for Success Summer Camp + Our Volunteer Service Trip in Sierra Leone!

By Change Up Sports

Support Softball for Success Summer Camp + Our Volunteer Service Trip in Sierra Leone!

Change the lives of 37 teenage girls in Freetown this summer!