Unforgotten day from Bugesera
Shooting Touch, an international sport-for-development nonprofit organization, joined residents of Bugesera district, Eastern province, Rwanda last Friday for a basketball event promoting public health and gender equality in rural areas.
Working in partnership with the Basketball Africa League (BAL), the organization’s objective is to use basketball as a platform for social impact in Rwanda, with a focus on under-resourced communities.
Marie-Laurence Archambault, Social Responsibility and Player Programs Lead at the BAL.
The event served 150 girls and young women who participate in Shooting Touch Rwanda’s (STR) daily sport-for-health activities.
It featured a basketball clinic led by the BAL’s U-23 BAL4HER women’s team, alongside community health education and a workshop on sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for STR beneficiaries, in collaboration with local gender activists.
“We couldn’t think of a better way to finish off our first-ever BAL4HER camp than being here with [Shooting Touch], gathering all of these amazing women to talk about sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said Marie-Laurence Archambault, Social Responsibility & Player Programs Lead at the BAL.
Jane Dusabe a Basketball player from first division
“The Basketball Africa League is more than just an international leader in the basketball space – we’re really all about social impact and using our platform to talk about different issues that exist on a continent, and we’re really, really lucky to have Shooting Touch as a partner in creating that impact.”
The BAL4HER U-23 athletes, involved in the BAL’s first Pan-African women’s camp was designed to empower young female athletes both on and off the court, spearheaded an energetic basketball clinic and interacted with Shooting Touch beneficiaries in an on-court SRHR educational workshop.
Shooting Touch Founder -Lindsey Kittredge
Through uniting STR beneficiaries with elite female basketball players from across the continent, STR and the BAL are forging significant avenues for young women to learn, foster community, and engage in physical activity.
“Meeting these young women is something special,” remarked Jane Dusabe, a BAL4HER participant and standout player for The Hoops WBBC in the Rwanda Women’s Basketball League. “We get the chance to share our knowledge about women’s lives and inspire other young, talented girls to keep pushing themselves in their development.”
As a social impact partner of the BAL since 2023, Shooting Touch is dedicated to collaborating with the BAL and other key international partners to leverage basketball as a driver for positive change in rural communities throughout Rwanda.
With a vision to expand its impact to new communities within Rwanda and beyond, Shooting Touch convened corporate, nonprofit, and government stakeholders, as well as community beneficiaries, to showcase the effectiveness of its model, which leverages sports as a tool to foster community trust and empower individuals.
Umuhoza Christelle Country Director-Shooting Touch
