Fada N’Gourma District Launches 2024 Sports and Cultural Activities Amid Challenges
FADA N’GOURMA — The Basic Education District (CEB) of Fada N’Gourma N°I initiated its annual sports and cultural activities for the year 2024 on Saturday, marking the beginning with an aerobics session that attracted over two hundred participants involved in education. This event set the stage for a series of competitions that will span several months, featuring football, dance, poetry, traditional wrestling, and athletics among the schools within the district.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the head of CEB of Fada N’Gourma N°I, this year’s activities are being conducted against a backdrop of significant adversity due to terrorist attacks that have not only disrupted peace and communal harmony but have also led to a surge in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and Internally Displaced Students (EDI). Mr. Idani highlighted that the objective of these activities is to provide some measure of relief and joy to those affected by the ongoing crisis, under the theme “Sport and culture, factors of resilience and promotion of peace.”
David Yentéma Thiombiano, the regional director in charge of preschool and primary education in the East and the president of the launch ceremony, underscored the value of sports for both physical and mental health. He cited a thinker’s opinion on the benefits of walking for hospital patients to emphasize the healing and therapeutic potential of regular physical activity. Thiombiano encouraged everyone to engage in sports as a means to maintain health across all ages.
The kickoff event was a football match between the teams from Barnatanou school and Kpakpatouomou B, concluding with a victory for Barnatanou with a score of 1 to 0. The match highlighted the competitive spirit and the emphasis on fair play, tolerance, understanding, and respect that the head of CEB wishes to promote through these activities. Despite a strategic shift in the second half by Kpakpatouomou’s team to put pressure on their opponents, the scoreline remained unchanged until the end of the match, thanks to an early goal by Barnatanou’s striker, Wachirou Koaré.