Thuba’s story

A young fairly sized women with deep skin, a small high top curly fro, and a small earing on her left ear holds a soccer ball. She is wearing a red addidas shirt, black adidas pants, and pick purple shoes. The setting is a rocky dirt field with short purple cones on the ground. A few deeper toned young girls with young hair to the side cut out by the frame. There is a rusted goal also cut out on the same side behind them.

Girls Opportunity Alliance: Thuba's Story

Thuba Sibanda has always been passionate about soccer—and she’s using that passion to empower girls on and off the field.

Thuba is a coach and mentor at Physically Active Youth Namibia, an after-school program in Katutura—a township where less than half of girls complete high school. Thuba uses the power of sports to help girls take the lead and stay in school. Thuba’s sports and life skills program “helps students build character, confidence, and discipline. It’s meant to help them find out who they want to be.”

The program also provides academic support, and the results are inspiring: 4 out of 5 young women who participate in the program attend university.

A young fairly sized women with deep skin, a small high top curly fro, and a small earing on her left ear holds a soccer ball. She is wearing a red addidas shirt, black adidas pants, and pick purple shoes. The setting is a rocky dirt field with short purple cones on the ground. A few deeper toned young girls with young hair to the side cut out by the frame. There is a rusted goal also cut out on the same side behind them.

Thuba recently joined us in Johannesburg as one of the  2019 Obama Foundation Leaders: Africa program participants. She told us that she hopes to empower girls for years to come: “I want to help girls achieve their goals in sports and in life.”

“ I want to help girls achieve their goals in sports and in life.”

–Thuba

You can support leaders like Thuba around the world through the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund. (Opens in a new tab)

placeholder

Support Young Women

You can support young women around the world through the Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund.

Donate on GoFundMe (Opens in a new tab)
Aspect Ratio

Watch Diana’s story

Malawi | See how a scholarship from AGE Africa helped Diana attend school.
Learn more
Aspect Ratio

Watch Rebecca’s story

Rebecca experienced FGM when she was just 12 years old; she was the fourteenth girl in her village to be cut that day. Afterwards, she was considered a woman, so her family decided she should drop out of school and get married. Rebecca vowed that some day things would be different for her daughters.
Learn more
Laxmi's Photo Portrait

Watch Laxmi’s story

India | See how the Prerna Girls School helped Laxmi balance her family’s needs and her education.
Learn more
Aspect Ratio

Read Hay's story

Vietnam | Learn how the Rock-Paper-Scissors Children’s Fund provided Hay the tools she needed to succeed.
Learn more
Aspect Ratio

Read Kiran's story

India | Learn how one young woman overcame gender discrimination to attend school with help from the Study Hall Educational Foundation.
Learn more
Single Image

Watch Thuba's story

Namibia | See how Thuba is empowering girls through sports with Physically Active Youth.
Learn more
37-scaled

Celebrate Mother’s Day with the Girls Opportunity Alliance

This Mother's Day, send your mom or the woman who raised you a card designed by the Girls Opportunity Alliance!
Learn more