The Elman Peace Centre in Mogadishu hosted the president of the 2019 NBA Champions Toronto Raptor and founder of Giants of Africa Masai Ujiri. Giants of Africa is a non-profit organization with the goal “to use basketball as a means to educate and enrich the lives of African youth”.

Ujiri was joined by several basketball coaches from his Giants of Africa team to conduct a training session for 50 girls at the centre. The girls also received custom training kits.

Ilwad Elman, the Director of Programmes and Development at Elman Peace Centre, took to social media to express her thoughts on the momentous occasion and shared pictures of the training session with her followers.

#Somalia Dreams BIG!! Watch out world,these girls are ready 4the big leagues!! 😬so much joy,laughter and real motivation today among these girls to train to be the very best one day !! We missed you today coach @AlmaasElman !!! 🇸🇴🇸🇴 The New Face of #Somalia via @ElmanPeaceHRC pic.twitter.com/THVFJplDGI

— Ilwad Elman (@IlwadElman) August 22, 2019

The energy at @ElmanPeaceHRC was unmatched today! I’m so pumped and inspired! moments like today push me and my team to do and be more for girls in #Somalia we’re super stoked for the future w/ @GiantsOfAfrica & 2expand our #Sports4development agenda. #WetheNorth @Raptors 🇸🇴🏀🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/E3cnfwIHZa

— Ilwad Elman (@IlwadElman) August 22, 2019

Elman Peace is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1990 to promote peace, cultivating leadership and empowering the marginalized brackets of society to be decision-makers in the processes that ensure their well-being. For more on their work, visit their website: http://elmanpeace.org/.

*This article was originally posted on our previous website on 26th August 2019.