By James Waterson Photo Credit: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images
(July 12, 2011) Sixteen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer launched a $3.3 million project on Tuesday that is meant to provide an education for 54,000 children in impoverished areas in Malawi in the next 10 years.
“As the father of two little girls, I observe every day how incredibly fast children learn if their environment is a stimulating one,” Federer said in a statement to AFP. “It is a great privilege for me and my foundation to help give children in Malawi the chance to reach their full potential.”
The initiative is a collaboration between the Roger Federer Foundation and Action Aid Malawi, a United Kingdom-based organization that works to provide food, shelter, work and basic healthcare to those in impoverished areas.
Federer’s project aims to build 80 community-based child care centers in six of the country’s 28 districts. According to the Roger Federer Foundation’s website, 800 early childhood educators will be trained to encourage, nourish and educate their students.
The centers will have classrooms, educational supplies, play areas and a nutritious meal will be provided to each child once a day, Martha Khonje, country director of Action Aid, said.
Malawi is one of Africa’s poorest and least developed countries. More than half of its more than 15 million people live below the poverty line, and 80 percent of its population lives in rural areas with little access to education, according to the www.cia.gov.
"In a country where nearly half of all children under five are chronically malnourished and over three million children under eight are out of school, the initiative could not have come soon enough," Khonje said to the AFP.
This initiative is nothing new for the Federer Foundation, which has worked to provide educational and athletic opportunities for Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tanzania and Switzerland since 2003.