• Curaçao Chronicle
  • (599-9) 523-4857

Plastic challenge accepted!

Local | By Press release May 31, 2023

~Future Goals Creating Young Change Makers as it Strengthens Transformational Program

 

 

WILLEMSTAD - “Plastic is very bad for the environment. If you throw it on the ground, it can go into the water. If the fishes eat the plastic, they might die. Since the plastic challenge I’m more aware of cleaning my plastic and being creative with it," nine-year-old Jayden shared.   

 

There’s a shift taking place across the island’s primary schools as students engaged in the innovative football empowerment curriculum Future Goals program, are confidently taking on life’s challenges, assured of their ability to make a lasting difference.  

 

Implemented by The Netherlands’ top soccer club AFC Ajax, in partnership with the island’s luxury all-inclusive resort, Sandals Resorts, and its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation – Future Goals has been an immersive personal development program, teaching children between the ages of eight to 12, lifelong skills in leadership, teamwork, self-confidence, resilience and by no means least – environmental stewardship.  

 

In a recently concluded Plastic Challenge, students tapped into their imaginative expressions, repurposing day-to-day plastic waste such as PET bottles, caps, and packing materials into toys, robots, vending machines and fishing boats. 

 

 

 

Last September, 12 mentor coaches selected from the youth organization Favela Street and trained in the Ajax methodology, commenced an eight-week curriculum of in-class and field lessons across 10 primary schools, building on youngsters’ love for the game of football with practical challenges that teach life skills and empower participants to take action.  

 

Over the weeks, students have been identifying ways they can influence their peers, families and communities by executing challenges in problem-solving and plastic waste reduction.  

 

“The Future Goals’ sustainability curriculum covered topics that were not yet discussed during their regular classes. Once the students learned what damage improperly disposed of plastic could cause to the environment - and the consequences - they got excited. They gathered plastic from the streets and created new things,” said Stephanie, future coach, and mentor.  

 

“Future Goals has been an ambitious program connecting youth, sports, and the conservation of our planet,” says Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at Sandals Foundation. “Together with local company, Limpi Recycling, we have collected fishing nets from the ocean and recycled plastic waste, creatively transforming it into football goals to be used in play.”  

 

“By the end of the program’s first year,” Clarke continued, “56 football goals will be in use, each made from recycled plastic bottles and caps, of which no less than 850,000 have been collected through recycling efforts of residents as well as clean-up drives at beaches and in the streets. Each goal would have also used about four square meters of ghost fishing nets retrieved from the ocean and the remains used to make handy nets for the transport of footballs made available by Adidas, of which almost 400 will be in use.” 

 

And what of the personal growth observed within students? Stephanie, original future coach and mentor shares the improvement in participants’ confidence, “at the end of the lessons and challenge, students have learned it is not a matter of cleaning up yourself, but also working together to keep it clean.”  

 

These positive results have now led program organizers to bolster its operations, welcoming an additional 10 coaches to seamlessly cover 528 teaching hours with 264 sustainability challenges, expanding the transformational program to meet its initial target of some 42 schools and more than 1000 students island-wide.  

 

“We are proud to welcome the new future coaches who will help widen the scope of our reach and assist in nurturing the development of football in Curaçao as well as the key principles that we hold true – creativity, discipline, respect, and team work,” says Menno Geelen, chief commercial officer at AFC Ajax.  

 

 

The new coaches will hit the field running, working double time to prepare schools for participation in a Future Goals League that will culminate in June.   

 

”We are honored to join the program and are excited about the upcoming tournament because it gives the kids something to look forward to, to motivate them to achieve the best they can and to become a better version of themselves.” shared new future coach Michal Jourdain. 

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Curaçao Chronicle | Plastic challenge accepted!
  • Curaçao Chronicle
  • (599-9) 523-4857

Plastic challenge accepted!

Local | By Press release May 31, 2023

~Future Goals Creating Young Change Makers as it Strengthens Transformational Program

 

 

WILLEMSTAD - “Plastic is very bad for the environment. If you throw it on the ground, it can go into the water. If the fishes eat the plastic, they might die. Since the plastic challenge I’m more aware of cleaning my plastic and being creative with it," nine-year-old Jayden shared.   

 

There’s a shift taking place across the island’s primary schools as students engaged in the innovative football empowerment curriculum Future Goals program, are confidently taking on life’s challenges, assured of their ability to make a lasting difference.  

 

Implemented by The Netherlands’ top soccer club AFC Ajax, in partnership with the island’s luxury all-inclusive resort, Sandals Resorts, and its philanthropic arm, the Sandals Foundation – Future Goals has been an immersive personal development program, teaching children between the ages of eight to 12, lifelong skills in leadership, teamwork, self-confidence, resilience and by no means least – environmental stewardship.  

 

In a recently concluded Plastic Challenge, students tapped into their imaginative expressions, repurposing day-to-day plastic waste such as PET bottles, caps, and packing materials into toys, robots, vending machines and fishing boats. 

 

 

 

Last September, 12 mentor coaches selected from the youth organization Favela Street and trained in the Ajax methodology, commenced an eight-week curriculum of in-class and field lessons across 10 primary schools, building on youngsters’ love for the game of football with practical challenges that teach life skills and empower participants to take action.  

 

Over the weeks, students have been identifying ways they can influence their peers, families and communities by executing challenges in problem-solving and plastic waste reduction.  

 

“The Future Goals’ sustainability curriculum covered topics that were not yet discussed during their regular classes. Once the students learned what damage improperly disposed of plastic could cause to the environment - and the consequences - they got excited. They gathered plastic from the streets and created new things,” said Stephanie, future coach, and mentor.  

 

“Future Goals has been an ambitious program connecting youth, sports, and the conservation of our planet,” says Heidi Clarke, Executive Director at Sandals Foundation. “Together with local company, Limpi Recycling, we have collected fishing nets from the ocean and recycled plastic waste, creatively transforming it into football goals to be used in play.”  

 

“By the end of the program’s first year,” Clarke continued, “56 football goals will be in use, each made from recycled plastic bottles and caps, of which no less than 850,000 have been collected through recycling efforts of residents as well as clean-up drives at beaches and in the streets. Each goal would have also used about four square meters of ghost fishing nets retrieved from the ocean and the remains used to make handy nets for the transport of footballs made available by Adidas, of which almost 400 will be in use.” 

 

And what of the personal growth observed within students? Stephanie, original future coach and mentor shares the improvement in participants’ confidence, “at the end of the lessons and challenge, students have learned it is not a matter of cleaning up yourself, but also working together to keep it clean.”  

 

These positive results have now led program organizers to bolster its operations, welcoming an additional 10 coaches to seamlessly cover 528 teaching hours with 264 sustainability challenges, expanding the transformational program to meet its initial target of some 42 schools and more than 1000 students island-wide.  

 

“We are proud to welcome the new future coaches who will help widen the scope of our reach and assist in nurturing the development of football in Curaçao as well as the key principles that we hold true – creativity, discipline, respect, and team work,” says Menno Geelen, chief commercial officer at AFC Ajax.  

 

 

The new coaches will hit the field running, working double time to prepare schools for participation in a Future Goals League that will culminate in June.   

 

”We are honored to join the program and are excited about the upcoming tournament because it gives the kids something to look forward to, to motivate them to achieve the best they can and to become a better version of themselves.” shared new future coach Michal Jourdain. 

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