The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Young Leaders programme has organised a karate training camp for children in Kigali.

This camp is part of the broader IOC initiative of supporting inspiring young people to develop and implement their sports-related grassroots projects in accordance with the IOC vision of making the world a better place through sport in local communities.

Since November 1, the camp is held at Sport View Hotel and will be climaxing on December 31.

Jean-Claude Rugigana, who is the project manager, is implementing it after attending the 4th IOC Youth Summit that took place in Lausanne, Switzerland in September.

Globally, the IOC Youth Leaders family is made up by 53 members representing 40 nationalities, with Rugigana being the only Rwandan.

"Doors are open for all willing partners in this initiative. Our goal is to use sport as a tool to teach children Olympic values so they can actively contribute to the development of their communities,” Rugigana told Sunday Sport on Saturday.

He further explained that the project will run under three phases, with the first from November 1 to December 31, the second from July 1 to August 31, 2020, while the final phase – which will start on November 1 – will be concluding on December 31, 2020.

"Besides impacting communities, the programme also connects with the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which is about healthy lives and wellbeing for all at all ages.”

The IOC and Panasonic are the main partners for the project.

In the ongoing opening phase, participating children are also given a platform to try other sports such as basketball, chanbara and badminton.

In a separate interview, Noel Nkuranyabahizi, the chief instructor, said that so far a total of 70 children – aged between 4 and 16 – are benefiting from the camp and the number will be increased up to 200 with time depending on the available resources.

RNOSC commends the initiative

Félicité Rwemalika, the first vice-president of Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC), has applauded Jean Claude Rugigana and his team for the effort to keep the children on holidays ‘busy and useful’.

"By engaging the children in sports and keeping them busy, at the same time they prevent them from undesirable activities that would result into drug abuse and early pregnancies among other calamities faced by our children today.”

Rwemalika is also a member of the International Olympic Committee.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com