Exchange project on gender equality in volleyball

Participants from Germany and Tanzania learn the rules of the game

FARU in the Sand

Partner organisations: FARU Sports Foundation

Partner country: Tanzania

Duration: January – December 2022

SDG: 5. Gender equality

Project gave participants from the FARU Sports Foundation and Sand für Alle opportunity to find out more about Tanzania and Germany, play volleyball and meet new people -  all while working together on SDG 5, “Gender equality”.

SDG 5: Gender equality

Focus on volleyball

The project was all about volleyball, looking at questions like “Who plays volleyball?”, “Who trains the teams?”, “Who is represented at the management level in the organisational structures?”, “What is the gender equality situation at the various levels?” and “What challenges exist in the two countries in this context?”. The project participants drew up questionnaires, interviewed women volleyball players about their experiences and conducted discussions and workshops at schools and at Kampala University in Dar es Salaam. Their aim was to develop strategies for action to promote equality in volleyball for all genders.

The photo shows a volleyball training session. There are several young people on the sand court. One of them is running with a ball, another is about to throw a ball. There are other people standing and sitting around the edge and on the path slightly abo
In action: Intense concentration on the training court and in the stands.

But the groups also actually played volleyball, of course, and learned about different training scenarios and methods in the process. As Victoria John from Tanzania pointed out, a key takeaway was that sport “unites people and we need to encourage girls to try new ideas and new games.  There is no such thing as a ‘game for boys’ or a ‘game for girls’. Everyone, regardless of their gender, can play all sports.”

To bring this message to a wider audience and highlight the issue, the group also took part in the Young Beach tournament in Hamburg and, along with other teams from Kenya, the Coco Beach Cup in Dar es Salaam.

I have realized that sports is the way to go. It unites people and we need to encourage girls to try new ideas and new games. There is no game for boys or for girls. Everyone regardless of their gender can play all sports.

Finding out more about partner countries and people

Although the focus was on volleyball, there were opportunities to find out more about the two partner countries too. Tanzania and Germany are linked by their colonial past - an aspect that the project participants learned a lot about during their visit to Bagamoyo, which was the capital city under German colonial rule.

The photo shows at least 17 people, standing around a conical stone monument. The monument is in Bagamoyo, which was the capital of Tanzania in the colonial era. The young people appear to be listening to a guide.
The volleyball groups from Tanzania and Germany on a visit to Bagamoyo, which used to be the capital of what was German East Africa.

Engaging with history, reflecting on their time together on the exchange and playing volleyball helped strengthen ties between Hamburg and Dar es Salaam, as Sinja Reich from Germany confirms:

“It was great to be able to make so many new friends and I hope this opportunity will be made available to even more people”.

Bildergalerie mit Bildern aus dem Projekt

This group photo shows 18 people assembled in front of a vibrant green tree in a courtyard.
A vibrant group in front of a vibrant background.
The photo shows four women in front of a beach volleyball net. Two volleyball players from Kenya are standing with a German flag on the left and two players from Germany are standing on the right with a Kenyan flag.
Women’s volleyball duos from Kenya and Germany, with Sinja Reich on the far right of the picture.
This photo shows participant Victoria John smiling in front of the volleyball courts on the beach in Tanzania.
Victoria John in front of the volleyball courts on the beach in Tanzania.
This photo shows participant Victoria Mwita standing next to another Tanzanian participant on the youth exchange behind a display case in a room. In the background other people from Germany and Tanzania are talking.
Victoria Mwita (right) poses for the camera with a fellow participant.
The photo shows two Tanzanian men, standing in front of a blackboard in a classroom and talking to seated people. The words “GENDER EQUALITY” can be seen in capitals on the blackboard.
A classroom discussion focussing on gender equality.
This photo shows at least seven youth exchange participants around a table in a room at Kampala University. One person is talking and the others are listening carefully.
Project participants engrossed in discussion at Kampala University.
This photo shows two pages of a notebook. On the left there is a list of points under the heading “What can be done for improvement”. The lists on the right are headed “Whom to be addressed” and “How to be addressed”.
Notes on strategies for action on SDG 5: Gender equality.
This photo shows a large group of people on a volleyball court. They have assembled in front of the net and some of them are holding up a banner with the names of the two exchange partners on it: FARU Sports Foundation Dar es Salaam and Sand für Alle Hamb
The participants with the banner of the partners on this exchange project, FARU Sports Foundation and Sand für Alle e. V.
The athletes have assembled at the volleyball facility for this picture. The banner of the two exchange partners, FARU Sports Foundation Dar es Salaam and Sand für Alle Hamburg, is lying on the sand in the foreground.
At the end-of-project tournament in Dar es Salaam, everyone wants to be in the photo
The photo shows 17 of the youth exchange participants, who have assembled for a group photo. They are standing on dry grass, with the sea in the background, and joyfully waving their arms in the air.
Exchange project participants bursting with energy as the sun beams and the sea beckons.
This photo shows 14 of the youth exchange participants on the steps in front of Hamburg’s city hall.
The youth exchange participants in front of Hamburg’s city hall.

Long-term impact

Even though the project has come to an end, the partners are continuing their gender equality action. They plan to implement the action strategy to make their activities more sustainable and equitable in the long term. And the participants themselves will pass on what they learned on the project too. Victoria Mwita from Tanzania, for instance, wants “...to encourage other young girls to make sure they fight for their rights, to make sure they use their talent.”

I want to encourage other young girls to make sure they fight for their rights, to make sure they use their talent.

This group photo shows 18 cheerful youth exchange participants. Some of them have their arms up in the air.
The beaming athletes rarely passed up an opportunity for a group photo.

You can find out more about the FARU in the Sand project here:

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