Engineers without borders

(CNN) -- Engineers Without Borders (EWB) has operations in countries across the world, each committed to engineering for international development.

The first organization was established in France in 1982, being followed in the 1990s by operations in Spain and Italy. The concept has recently spread more widely, including across Africa and the Americas.

Overall EWB's mission is to facilitate human development through engineering, and it does this through a number of different projects. One of these is based in Jozini, South Africa.

Jozini is in the Kwazulu-Natal province and is one of the poorest municipalities in South Africa. The majority of households in Jozini make a living from subsistence farming and pension whilst 36% of the local population have no income.

The horrific effects of AIDS has meant that around 60% of the population is below 30, and there are an unusually large number of households headed by children, where children of 10-12 years old are responsible for their younger siblings.

The young people in this underdeveloped rural area have little to aspire to. They have few opportunities to benefit from the development that the rest of South Africa is experiencing.

This project concerns the creation of a quality sports facility in Jozini. The sports academy will be the first of its kind in the entire province and will provide schooling and training for the young people of the Jozini Municipal Area.

There are virtually no opportunities in the whole of northern KwaZulu Natal for young people to receive quality training in the field of sports. The facility will provide local students practical sports training in a variety of sports as well as an academic education that will equip them for further studies in the field of sports at tertiary institutions. E-mail to a friend