Borneo Football International Foundation - Indonesia
BFIF offers an integrated programme in a remote area of Indonesia to support the healthy development of children and young people through football.
Opportunities for young people in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan are severely constrained by economic hardship. The minimum wage is well under $200 a month, and many students drop out of school for financial reasons, in order to help their parents by starting work early.
The Borneo Football International Foundation opened its academy in 2015 with just 14 children, providing not only a wide range of football activities but also health and educational programs. These children were eager to learn, and responded well to having structured training sessions and using English terms during the training. The project team found that using these language terms, related to the rules and basic concepts of the sport, is an effective way of reinforcing English-language learning.
Students are also given worksheets to extend their English learning at home, before moving to a second stage of English learning supported by the YUM Vocational training centre, and complemented by Computer courses.
IMPACT to-date:
• 3,000 beneficiaries
• 40 schools involved
• 450 children in the Academy across 6 branches
• 151 workshops delivered in schools
• 139 football clinics delivered in schools
• 260 children participated in tournaments
• 6 workshops for 35 teachers on child protection
• 20 tournaments with the participation of 4 boys’ teams (ages U10, U12,13 and 17) and 2 girls’ teams (ages U18 and U25)
• Thousands of spectators including the Regional and National tournaments
In July 2024, BFIF celebrated its 10th anniversary with the inauguration of a brand new indoor sports hall and adjacent dormitories — a project three years in the making, made possible by generous contributions from SD Britain, alongside other Susila Dharma national associations and private donors.
To ensure long-term sustainability and reduce dependency on donations, BFIF plans to implement a hybrid social enterprise model, combining targeted programmes to generate income from residential football camps and tournaments, attracting families from wealthier islands like Java and Bali, that will also offer tourism opportunities in the local area supporting other community enterprises.
