Ibadi works as a kindergarten teacher in Tanga. During his education he faced many challenges, as there are many prejudices against male kindergarten teachers. Undeterred, Ibadi moved from city to city in order to finish his studies and after he graduated in Tanga he stayed there. He now teaches kids in a kindergarten, but he also runs sports activities outside of school hours.
When Ibadi graduated it was difficult to find paid employment, so he volunteered for a year in a kindergarten school. As he didn’t earn money for the first year, Ibadi got food during lunch in the school and was allowed to live in a mosque in Tanga. He searched for different resources on the internet to get a better knowledge about sports and to get some ideas about how he could train the children with purpose.
IBADI
Project: Tanzania, April 2019 – October 2019
Parent Organization: Tanga City Council
Born: 1991
Nationality: Tanzania
“I was born in Dar es Salam and my mother raised me on her own. Later I lived at my grandmother’s house and helped her with some work around the house. I decided to become more independent, so I moved from Dar es Salam to Kibaha to start studying to be a kindergarten teacher. I was confronted with a lot of prejudices, because this job is seen as a job for women. I felt ashamed so I moved to Tanga, where I continued my studies, but I still experienced the same prejudices there. I decided to continue anyway as I thought to myself that nobody knows me here and I will do what I want to do. I graduated with good grades but couldn’t find a job. I volunteered for a year in a school. It was difficult to get by, but I could get food at the school during lunchtime and I wrote to a local mosque to see if I could live there for the year. After some time, the parents of the kids asked me if I could do some extra classes, because their children responded so well to what I was teaching them and so I started finally to gain something for my living.
In early 2019, I got the opportunity from a governmental leader in Tanga to attend this Young Coach Education. I was happy to learn from a real professional coach and to not only be teaching the kids with material I found from the internet. After the first and second module I had 25 kids but then I changed the way I teach them and now I have more than 120 kids attending my activities. The training had a big impact on me. I am more creative than before, for example if I am running out of tools, I make sure I have more plans of other exercises I can do. I trained a Peer Young Coach who now helps me and also conducts the training sessions if I am away. Now I also have trustful relations with the parents of the kids, because they know I am an educated coach and that I know how to do first aid if needed.
At the place where I am working, we are facing many challenges. We have a lot of orphans, due to different diseases like HIV or malaria. My role as a coach is now to organise activities and through them teach the children healthy habits and life skills, including HIV and malaria prevention.”
Our Young Coaches are community leaders and role models in less privileged societies. They commit themselves to support the children of their communities by conveying important social topics (conflict resolution, inclusion, HIV prevention, etc.) through football. Each of the Young Coaches represents a unique personal story.