Playing for freedom: strengthening a sports for development program in Bogotá

With chapters in Brazil, Colombia, Morocco, the U.K., and the U.S., the Nukanti Foundation focuses on identifying creative people working on social problems, and helping them work on a larger scale. In Colombia, one of Nukanti’s largest programs is Playing for Freedom, which runs a capoeira program for children and youth in Ciudad Bolívar and Altos de Cazucá (informal settlements around Bogotá). The Capstone team traveled to Colombia to interview program staff and participants; analyzed their structure and processes; and made recommendations about how to strengthen, expand, and/or replicate the current program. The team’s deliverables included a literature review on comparable sports programs and their impacts, draft measurement tools, and a document outlining critical inputs for the sustainability and replicability of this program.