Cameroon: the footballers working for the well-being of young girls
Heading up associations and foundations, Nchout Njoya Ajara, Gaëlle Enganamouit and Gabrielle Aboudi Onguéné are not holding back in giving something back
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Njoya Ajara against child marriage
In Foumban, Cameroon, her home town, where the main religion is Islam, girls often marry quite young. Sometimes at 16. And most of the time, it is against their will. But that is not what happened to Nchout Njoya Ajara. The Cameroon international was "lucky" enough to grow up in the city of Douala, where the practice is slow to take hold. That allowed her to get an education. And, more importantly, she had the chance to pursue her passion for football.
The Indomitable Lioness is on cloud nine. The Inter Milan player earns a good living from football, and she has no shortage of honours. A player of worldwide renown, ranked among the two best African players in recent years – behind Nigeria's Oshoala – she has made the fight against child marriage a personal cause. According to a UNICEF report, 38% of girls in Cameroon are married before their 18th birthday. The country has one of the highest child marriage rates in the world. For Nchout Njoya Ajara, it is time to turn the tide.
Every year, the 30-year-old organises awareness and discussion campaigns in her home town on the consequences of the practice. "Education is one of the best weapons against child marriage (in Cameroon)," she often says. "If my family hadn't let me play football, I would be married today into a Muslim family with three children. My aim for girls is to fight child marriage. Girls must be allowed to study and pursue their dreams." Over time, she hopes to help change attitudes and traditions back home.
Enganamouit, an academy to dribble past prejudice
It is no accident that Gaëlle Enganamouit chose her home turf, Elig-Edzoa, a working-class district of Yaoundé in Cameroon, crossed by a railway line. Nor is it an accident that the former star striker for the Indomitable Lionesses named her project "Rails Football Academy". The 2015 African Player of the Year was born and raised beside the tracks. And it was to give girls in her country a chance of a football career that she founded Cameroon's first women's football academy in 2016.
The players train on a bumpy pitch. The ground is bordered on one side by shops and other buildings, and on the other by the railway tracks. The centre has already trained nearly a hundred players in Cameroon. Some are showcasing their talent in the country's top two divisions. Passionate about football, they share at least two aims: to have a career to match that of the academy's founder, and then to fight the prejudice that makes football a man's game. Some have had to deal with their parents' reluctance. Others chose to play in secret. That gave the academy time to put in place a door-to-door strategy to make families aware of the need to let these girls pursue their passion.
Over time, the message has got through. Cameroon's Rails Football Academy is taking in more and more residents. And more parents are turning up to matches, we hear. At the Rails Football Academy, the girls' education is not neglected. Residents are required to get good grades at school.
Gabrielle Aboudi standing alongside vulnerable people
Winning titles with her country (Cameroon) and her club is not the only goal of Gabrielle Aboudi Onguéné. When she is not playing football, the Cameroon national team captain is playing another game: helping the disadvantaged. And to meet that challenge, the 34-year-old has set up a charity. It is called "Association Terre Promise". The organisation donates food and other basic necessities to orphanages, where most of the children are girls.
The foundation of the Cameroon Indomitable Lioness also distributes sports kit and equipment to women's football clubs. The CSKA Moscow player has made it her mission, through her association, to give hope back to the poor and vulnerable, particularly girls. She also aims to give young female players from disadvantaged backgrounds the bare minimum they need to live their dream of a professional career. In short: to give them the chance to succeed in life.
Arthur WANDJI