HMB Foundation for the education and social inclusion of young people

A project led by Hamchetou Maïga-Ba

Former captain of the Mali women’s national basketball team (champion and MVP at Afrobasket 2007), Hamchetou Maïga-Ba began her career in 1995 and went on to play overseas in Senegal, the United States (winning the WNBA championship in 2005), Spain, the Czech Republic and France. She has been a member of FIBA Players’ Commission since 2019.

Hamchetou Maïga-Ba created her foundation, HMB Foundation, in the United States to facilitate access to education and foster the social inclusion of young people in Mali. At its Lapantha Camp, the foundation introduces girls and boys to basketball and uses the educational values of sport to help them build their own life path. The camp also focuses on the inclusion of young people with intellectual disabilities. The foundation’s long-term ambition is to create a sports and education academy to sustain and strengthen the impacts of the different initiatives it carries out.

Context

According to a 2018 UNICEF report, more than 2 million children aged between 5 and 17 are not in school in Mali and the illiteracy rate among young people aged 15 to 24 is almost 50%.
Given Mali’s youthful population (of which children under 14 account for 48%), it has become essential to develop initiatives for fostering access to education, as borne out by the Mali Government’s Education For All programme.

Hamchetou Maïga-Ba’s foundation uses sport as a vehicle to promote access to education in Mali by holding basketball camps for girls and boys aged 8 to 12.
The former captain of the Aigles Dames (Eagles) – the nickname for the Mali women’s national basketball team – wants to create a basketball and education academy to sustain the effects of these initiatives and give the youth of Mali a chance to combine going to school with playing basketball.

Goals

Facilitate access to education for girls and boys
Foster the social inclusion of young people, particularly those with intellectual disabilities
Promote the playing of basketball
Build a sports and education academy with tutoring programmes and scholarships for studying in Mali or overseas

Activities

Organisation of three-day basketball camps
Inclusion of young people with intellectual disabilities in the camps, in partnership with the association Special Olympics Mali
Raising young people’s awareness of the importance of education, health and the key values of living together in society
Training of coaches and supervisory staff
Provision of sports equipment and teaching materials for young people

Watch a video about Hamchetou Maïga-Ba’s foundation
(source: World Bank)

Impacts

60 young people aged 8 to 12 participate in the Lapantha Camp every year
A specific programme designed for girls aged 13 to 19
Partnership with Special Olympics Mali to integrate athletes with intellectual disabilities

Funding

Recurring annual needs
Project supported by Hamchetou Maïga-Ba through her foundation, with the support of donations, student sponsorship, coaches and events

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