Clarisse Machanguana Foundation

Our organization would apply the funding in these following ways:

First, on the organization's leading team, to acquire through Elevate resources all the complementary skills that are available. FCM wants to assert that it uses all available and relevant tools to implement its programs goals, also by attending relevant seminaries and workshops intended to empower them.  

Second, use funds to empower the organization's workforce;  CMF understands that it would be tremendously empowering and advantageous to receive periodic institutional's development and capacitation workshops and clinics. CMF values the importance of hiring a consultancy team to provide support for the SDGs implementation plan. These two steps will assure the workforce continues to improve its skills for deliverables as well as engaging in the monitoring of the progress of its actions towards SDGs.

Third, funds will be also used by investing on community local individuals/leaders that will be empowered to understand the program and take its ownership. This transferal of knowledge and experience is extremely important for the sustainability and continuation of the program when our organization ceases work in the community.

My name is Clarisse Machanguana. I was born and raised in Maputo, Mozambique. In my formative years, I was transfixed by the notion of protecting individual rights especially those of women in third world countries. That passion led me to pursue my bachelor’s in criminal justice, however, my legal studies were upended by my professional basketball career. I spent 22 years playing in the professional ranks such as the WNBA (women national basketball association).

Eager to give back, and to provide sustainable programs for youth, in the year 2014, I founded the Clarisse Machanguana Foundation (CMF) to empower youth around the world, Mozambique in particular. I believe it is my duty to use convening power, determination and empowered motivation for the improvement of the lives of young people, contributing to their education and health. 

Clarisse Machanguana Foundation (CMF) is a Mozambican charitable, non-profit organization. CMF’s vision is to enable young people to fulfill their roles as positive contributors to the society in which they live, by connecting them with their potential and talent, empowering and giving them a voice. 

Our goal is educate youth, equip them to adopt healthy behaviors  establish a more equitable culture and create confident Mozambican leaders

The Problem: 

We have identified that very few Mozambicans have access to education, are misinformed about HIV and sexual reproductive health.The cycle of misinformation in the communities leads to high rates of HIV in youth, early pregnancy and early marriage, and school abandonment, especially for girls.  

The school dropout rate in Mozambique is very high, particularly for girls.  Literacy rates are 56% for Mozambican girls, 15-24 years old, according to UN figures.  94% of girls enroll in primary school but more than half drop out by the fifth grade.  Only 11 percent continue to secondary school and just 1 percent continue to higher education.  Limited Education with imposing gender inequality creates a gap in eliminating HIV and the development of women in Mozambique.

Each participant in the programs is led to act as a student in educational activities and as a basketball player in others. The program’s curriculum is designed to incorporate a series of paths of daily application within certain theme areas: gender equality, HIV prevention and treatment, sexual and reproductive health, positive youth development, and mentorship, which a participant follows according to personal interests and capacities (music, art, theater/improv). 

We educate through sports and broaden access to education.

We aim to innovate by disrupting the traditional education system, providing online education in a circular economic format to provide sustainability to the program broadening boys and girls’s access to education. This innovation will disrupt the current educational system, empower professors, and students with new skills to enter the 4th IR world. 

CMF's innovation uses basketball as a tool to carry out educational activities that combine sport, collaborative learning, and personal study with practical application within the community. Each academic and sport activity is to be an enabling experience that helps participants develop further the qualities, attitudes, capabilities, and skills of a new type of social actor where sport values translate into newfound personal capacity, promoting the well-being of the community. 

The niche area of operation provides the opportunity for FCM and its supporters to speak directly to those who will be the country’s future leaders.The girls and women of Mozambique are the leaders of the future, sports is the vehicle we use to access these future leaders. Sports alone will not change Mozambique, but it will be the vehicle to provide information, training, and advocacy for policy change. 

FCM's is impacting through its three pillars, education, health and sports: 

Saber & Viver (asa To know is to live): A national, HIV education and de-stigmatization program 

Girls SSHR:  Reproductive health education for girls through training workshops.

DJAMPA, or JUMP!:  An innovative program with the unique ability to address social issues through a co-educational, peer-led initiative and developmental and sports and health programs

CMF believes in a circular system to provide our community with tangible skills.

 Education- Online school to empower  professors and PE teachers through tools needed  to transfer relevant and time sensitive knowledge to the students. Teachers will be educated on planning and coordination with community’s activist systems.

Systematic community empowerment - Partner with  community leaders to transform them onto change-makers for the social norms that discourage girls and boys from attending school. We aim to demonstrate the importance of an educated society and its benefit to the community.

Sports - We organize tournaments, train students to sharpen their skills, encourage students to take up leadership roles and be the voice of health and hygiene for the community.

 Lastly CMF will create an integrated platform for students, professors, alumni's and community leaders to advocate and inspire their peers.