The Cameroon Football Development Program (CFDP) is an organization dedicated to improving the health of West African youth by encouraging community building through soccer. Partnered with Soccer Dreams Without Borders, a non-profit organization based in Evergreen, Colorado, and community leaders through Cameroon, CFDP was launched with its 2010 Program Kick-Off in Kumba, Cameroon.

We caught up with CFDP founder and Beauty Shoppe flex-time user Justin Forzano to learn more about Cameroon, the development program, and his future goals for the region.

Justin, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.

In a blog posting dating back to 2008, you wrote: “Football Pitch, Barombi Village, 2008 – Perhaps the unofficial Start of the Cameroon Football Development Program. All young men in the Barombi village were equipped with donated soccer shoes from the U.S. – more than 25 in all. The village also received a team set of jerseys donated by Wheeling Central High School, Wheeling, West Virginia.” 

Can you take us back to that day on the field in Barombi and describe the scene in front of you and what you were thinking?

“Chaos: the guys went mad over these boots, some still caked with dirt from a high school senior’s last match. There was a buzz of excitement as men and boys of all ages gathered outside the two- room concrete school house where we lived for two months that summer. We lined up the shoes by size and then invited individuals to make their selection. There was some type of unspoken hierarchy in the way they organized themselves; they knew resources were limited. Our priority was to get shoes first to the “area men”– the hard-working, 20-somethings with whom we had been working around the clock since we started the water project a few weeks earlier. Most of these guys are farmers with little more than primary school education; they will live and work in Barombi for the rest of their lives. This donated used soccer equipment and the afternoon matches that ensued every day for the rest of that summer represent much more than a Western hand-out you typically see across Africa. The game of soccer united us and created a spirit which carried the water project to completion and built lasting relationships. Here I saw how passionate every man, woman, and child was about the game and I realized the capacity of sport to improve lives.”

Soccer worldwide has always been more than just a game. Its become a billion dollar business, its facilitated a globalized labor market that undercuts national boundaries and creates a sense of nationalism. Soccer has played an integral role in the rise of electronic-media coverage, its transformed global brands and it has become an important arm for foreign policies. At the very core of the sport, however, soccer is a game that is simply played, watched, and loved, and it provides a motive for people coming together, collaborating, learning, and improving.

Can you share how Cameroonians view their love for the sport, and how an organization like CFDP is positioned to help people overcome obstacles and reach their goals?

“As the saying goes in Cameroon, “Football is like Religion.” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard a Cameroonian express this sentiment. Many people will argue the only reason there is peace in Cameroon, unlike so many other young African nations destroyed by civil war, is because of the great success of the national team. “Les Lions Indomptables” hold the country together. For CFDP, sport is the conduit by which personal growth and community development can be achieved. On and off the pitch, we create a platform for communities to identify their needs and gain access to local resources to improve the situation for their youth. The sport infrastructure and equipment facilitated by CFDP further incentivize this aspect of development.”

Justin, when you first visited Cameroon in 2006 as an engineering student and member of the University of Dayton’s ETHOS program, did you ever think you would discover such a deep connection with the region?

“The moment I knew I wanted to continue working in Cameroon came one afternoon as I and some friends enjoyed some pepper soup with goat meat and udeko – a concoction made with Guinness and local favorite, palm wine. The spirits enlivened discussion about George Bush and his “war on terror”. As we engaged in absorbing dialogue, I found that after four weeks in Cameroon I was no longer the “white man” as every small child reminded me as I passed on my way to the office each day. At that moment in time, I was a Cameroonian.”

An integral element to CFDP are the contributions from local community leaders. Can you tell us a little about the people you are working with?

“We are fortunate to have a dedicated team of individuals who make up the management team in our home base of Kumba in the Southwest Region. Diony Collins joined us in June 2011 and has thrived in his new role of Director of Operations in Cameroon. His right hand man, Diba Dickson, teaches biology part time at Cameroon College of Arts and Sciences and serves as our public relations spokesman. Co-founder, Peter Ngwane is a government teacher who was transferred to a school in the Northwest Region, far from Kumba. Nearly every member of our team has a university education and no job. For them, CFDP is their passion, just as it is mine. Our organization is growing to engage many other NGOs and stakeholders in Cameroon. I am excited to see what we can accomplish this year now that we have established a foothold in the city of Kumba.”

There are a number of important issues facing Cameroonian adolescents, including HIV/AIDS, sexual responsibility, healthy interpersonal relationships and community building. Can you share how CFDP and its partners are working to tackle these important issues?

“CFDP has been working tirelessly since our inception in 2010 to address some of the complex problems which are product of poverty and corruption. Our objective is to fill the gaps in local social infrastructure and improve the human security of participants by implementing soccer-based programs with a focus on leadership, life skills, health and HIV education. We use sport to spread information because of the unique place of esteem that soccer has in Cameroonian culture.  By combining our curriculum with a pastime so central to the lives of our target demographic, we reach youth who would have been otherwise reluctant to participate.  We empower respected leaders within their communities to become mentors and coaches which enhance the effectiveness of our sport program to create behavioral and social change. By combining soccer drills with discussions on sensitive health and social issues and activities which reinforce these topics, CFDP creates an experiential education environment that, as our work has proven, local youth find both compelling and informative.”

As a young organization, what obstacles are you facing and how can our community here in the U.S. contribute?

“On March 30^th of this year we submitted, with the great support of the Community Enterprise Clinic at Duquesne University School of Law, our Application for Tax Exemption under IRS Code 501.c.3. We anticipate receiving our determination letter from the IRS this fall which means we will be officially registered as a nonprofit organization in the USA. And the quest for sustainable funding continues! We are working now to build strategic relationships with partners who are also interested to leverage the global game of soccer to see Cameroon flourish. We intend to bridge the gap between communities here in the US, in Pittsburgh specifically, and those in Cameroon. Sponsoring a team for one season is a great way for any local community to gain a greater insight into life in Cameroon. I promise the stories of your team and the community that supports them will be compelling enough to make you want to pack your bags and travel to Cameroon. Or at least come back for next season to see the progress of which you are part.”

Can you tell us a little about the “Change Project”?

“The Change Project is a great way for individuals and groups to get involved – turning loose pocket change into real, positive change for youth in Cameroon. This started last year when one of our board members, Nick Hamlin, asked his co-workers to support our initiatives in Cameroon. “The Swear Jar” added some accountability to this week-long holiday linguistic experiment. Anyone who dropped any sort of curse word was forced to empty their pockets of coinage into the jar. It got interesting when the boss deposited a roll of quarters and declared he was good for at least the next few f***ing days!”

“Elementary schools have adopted the project as an opportunity to educate students on global issues and empower them to become advocates for change. Groups can see the fruits of their labor during community soccer camps in different villages in Cameroon which are hosted on their behalf. The project embodies grassroots development you can see with your own eyes.”

What is your favorite Bantu word or phrase?

“There are more than 200 different dialects in Cameroon! I was learning a little bit of Bantu language last summer – specifically a dialect spoken by the Bafaw people who settled in Kumba. It’s a bit difficult to catch on as I am more familiar with Pidgin English, unofficial language of Anglophone Cameroon. My favorite phrase has to be:

Nwan M’boka which translates to “Son of the Soil”… As I said earlier…I am Cameroonian!”

Sponsor a Team, Make a Contribution, or Just Get Involved.

You can find more information by following this link http://www.cameroonfdp.com/sponsor-a-team/ 

You can also get involved at The Beauty Shoppe co-working space. In the next few weeks, TBS will become a participant in The Change Project.

Special thanks to CFDP founder Justin Forzano for taking the time and effort to talk with us and share his experiences. TBS would also like to thank Mr. Dan Speicher, CameroonFDP.org, 2011, for his photographs.

Essential Public Radio 90.5 caught up with East Liberty small business owners to discuss one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. Featured entrepreneurs and their businesses include Jon Rubin of the Waffle Shop and Conflict Kitchen, Justin Strong of Shadow Lounge, and Emmai Alaquiva at Ya Momz House.

Listen to the story here http://www.essentialpublicradio.org/story/2012-05-01/small-business-ownership-10977

E-learning is a fascinating phenomena, and its taking another big step forward. We’ve all learned a lot from Sal Khan and his ten minute videos. He’s taught us algebra, reminded us of world culture and history, prepared us for tax season, and he continues to encourage us on our quest for knowledge. We are, after all, living and working in the Information Age and having powerful e-learning tools at our fingertips is empowering us all.

E-learning is more than simply an online learning platform. E-learning means personalized education and collaborative technologies. Not only does e-learning provide millions if not billions of people around the world with world-class educational opportunity and a mechanism for personal and intellectual growth, the amount of data generated by e-learning initiatives will enable educators to better understand how 21st century students will learn.

Below are just three amazing educational tools that are changing our daily lives.

1. Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/) - ”The Khan Academy is an organization on a mission. We’re a not-for-profit with the goal of changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.

There are some core elements to co-working. To name a few; be social, participate, be curious, know the phone policy, love dogs, and own a great pair of headphones.

We’ve been to a lot of co-working spaces. We love music. We actually believe listening to Mozart while working makes you more productive. We’ve learned, however, that headphones take on a new meaning within a co-working community. There is a quite etiquette. Headphones on the table – it’s co-working time. Headphones on the head – stay away, I’m getting work done.

Headphones of choice at The Beauty Shoppe?

http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/RP-HTX7-G1

Pew Center polling, data, and analysis tell us some extraordinary information about this particular group of 18 -to- 29 year olds. While they may be the most educated group in American history, 50 million Millennials also have the highest share who are unemployed or out of the workforce in almost four decades. This may not come as a huge surprise, given the increasing value of a higher education degree, the enormous student populations in University pipelines, and the current state of the economy. But there is something else happening to this generation, something deeper, and something that is influencing all of our lives. Essayist and critic William Deresiewicz takes a closer look.  

“Today’s polite, pleasant personality is, above all, a commercial personality. It is the salesman’s smile and hearty handshake, because the customer is always right and you should always keep the customer happy. If you want to get ahead, said Benjamin Franklin, the original business guru, make yourself pleasing to others.

I was contacted recently by a young man who plans to start a Web site to promote the need for reading and reflection to people of his generation. Not just promote it, though, of course, but market it. When he asked me for advice, I suggested he begin by pointing out the superficiality of so much social media. Well, he said, I agree with that idea, that’s a big premise of what I’m trying to do, but I wouldn’t want to come across as negative, because that turns people off. If they think you’re criticizing them, they won’t want to buy what you’re selling.

That kind of thinking is precisely what I’m talking about, what lies behind the bland, inoffensive, smile-and-a-shoeshine personality — the stay-positive, other-directed, I’ll-be-whoever-you-want-me-to-be personality — that everybody has today. Yes, we’re vicious, anonymously, on the comment threads of public Web sites, but when we speak in our own names, on Facebook and so forth, we’re strenuously cheerful, conciliatory, well-groomed. (In fact, one of the reasons we’re so vicious, I’m convinced, is to relieve the psychic pressure of all that affability.) They say that people in Hollywood are always nice to everyone they meet, in that famously fake Hollywood way, because they’re never certain whom they might be dealing with — it could be somebody who’s more important than they realize, or at least, somebody who might become important down the road.

Well, we’re all in showbiz now, walking on eggshells, relentlessly tending our customer base. We’re all selling something today, because even if we aren’t literally selling something (though thanks to the Internet as well as the entrepreneurial ideal, more and more of us are), we’re always selling ourselves. We use social media to create a product — to create a brand — and the product is us. We treat ourselves like little businesses, something to be managed and promoted.

The self today is an entrepreneurial self, a self that’s packaged to be sold.”

You can find Mr. Deresiewicz’s full article at New York Times online by following this link http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/opinion/sunday/the-entrepreneurial-generation.html?pagewanted=all

Every year, Colorado’s Unreasonable Institute gathers 25 social entrepreneurs from around the world to meet with mentors and work on the business plans for their ventures. We wanted to share The Unreasonables with you as we are truly inspired by their ecosystem of innovation, learning, and support.

Meet The Unreasonables

If you want your business to have success you certainly need to promote it, but for most people who join co-working spaces that means promoting yourself. This is no easy task. Most of us find it much easier to praise the abilities of others than to applaud our own. Nevertheless, self-promotion is a skill we must all learn to practice and there is no better place to start than your co-working space. Soo, rosin-up that bow…uhh, we mean…grab a piece of paper and a pen, jot down ten great attributes of your company, read the article below, and get to work.

http://www.deskmag.com/en/10-free-self-promotion-strategies-freelancer-coworking-365

http://vimeo.com/38067048