Maldives Promotion House – Volunteer Maldives is an organisation which was founded by Yvonne Habeeb and Michelle Flake, two professionals with a lot of experience in the global travel business, and ten years of experience living in Maldives.

In order to benefit the locals, Volunteer Maldives works in cooperation with island communities, NGO’s and government schools ensuring that the volunteer’s skills are shown where they are most required. The volunteer placements offered by Volunteer Maldives includes teaching, the medical field, sports coaches, and community development among others.

As part of the Volunteer Maldives “Give Back” campaign, they recently held a football tournament in Noonu Atoll Velidhoo. The tournament was held in cooperation with the islands two NGO’s, Velidhoo Youth Development Society (VYDS) and Club Still Red.

Volunteer Ryan, a qualified football coach from Australia, coached and prepared the youngsters, while newly Volunteer Marc assisted with the tournament. According to Volunteer Maldives the new Volunteer Marc will also be helping out teaching English in the island’s school. The football shirts and training bibs for the more than 60 participants were donated by Volunteer Maldives.

During the junior tournament four matches surprisingly saw no goals at all being scored, so the best playing teams made it to the final, with a result of 1-0.

“Despite the lack of goals, the lads had great fun, and the many spectators on the side lines had a great time watching, and the winning team was absolutely thrilled to take a victory round of the island in a truck screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs,” Volunteer Maldives said.

A similar scenario played out the following day, where it was the turn of the seniors to take to the field, again with the final match going to a 1-0 win.

Donated by Volunteer Maldives, “Man of the Match” and “Top Goal Scorer” trophies along with medals and certificates for every participating member, were awarded at the end of the tournament.

Volunteer Maldives combined the busy football day with the World Environment Day, and the start of their expanded conservation and environmental work which will progress throughout the year. Five trees donated by the organization were planted by the volunteers to mark the day.