Manchester City fans vote for Xylem’s safe water project in Ghana
Through an initiative called Cityzens Giving, City Football Group supports multiple causes across the globe, and lets fans decide how funds are split by voting for their favorite project. This year a project supported by Xylem, promoting sanitation and hygiene education in Ghana, was one of the top-voted projects.
Cityzens Giving lets fans vote on how £400,000, donated by City Football Group and its partners, is split between six community football projects across the world. This year thousands of people voted, including players, partners and City fans.
This year’s two most popular projects tied for first place, with 24 percent voting for Mumbai’s education project, supported by club partner Cisco, and 24 percent voting for Cape Coast’s safe water project, supported by club partner Xylem.
Kicking for Change and the safe water project
In Cape Coast, Ghana, Young Leaders are using football to help educate young people about health and hygiene issues as part of the Kicking for Change project. The project is delivered in partnership with Play Soccer Ghana and is supported by Xylem.
Ghana is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies and has made significant progress in reducing poverty. However, more than 60 percent of the population still lacks access to safe drinking water, leaving them vulnerable to water-related illness and disease.
This can affect children’s education, especially girls, as they often have to walk long distances to collect water, making them late for school, or they are absent due to illness from waterborne diseases.
Fatimatu, a Young Leader in the Kicking for Change, believes football can bring about change for children within her community. The project will use football to teach children about life-saving water and sanitation education, keeping them healthy and in school, and will be combined with equipment to provide clean water access to the local community.
“Football has really changed my life tremendously,” she says. “I always dreamed to help young girls in my community, and this project will help children stay safe from illness. We use football to teach children about drinking healthy water, regular hand washing and staying away from germs. If you want to be a footballer, you need to stay healthy and strong and be educated as well.”