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Charles Nkazamyampi
Vice President
Born and raised in Bugabira, Burundi (the small country to the south of Rwanda), Charles Nkazamyampi spent thirteen years competing abroad as a track runner. In 1987, he won the National Championship in track and field and was selected to represent Burundi at the African Games in Nairobi. In 1989, he won the 800m Bronze medal at the African Track Championships in Algeria. In 1990, he was offered a sports scholarship to France and received a degree in Business Management in Lyon. He won many more medals over the next few years at the African Track Championships, the African Unity Track meet, and the Salamanca International meet. He was selected to represent Burundi at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
After losing his parents in the Burundian genocide, Charles decided that he wanted to return to Africa to work with other orphans by using sports as means to promote peace and reconciliation. He began by reaching out to street children in Kigali, Rwanda, and the first soccer team of boys was established in 2001. More and more children came to the fields to participate in Charles' activities and he quickly began to recruit more Rwandan volunteers to serve as coaches and mentors. In 2002, Charles formed The Sports and Culture for Peace Foundation. The Foundation's activities quickly grew to include traditional dance, drumming, and singing groups, and soon over 3,000 children were participating every week.
UNICEF and the international organization Right to Play approached Charles to propose that they partner to implement his activities and training modules of sports and development across the country. Charles was asked to serve as a Right to Play Athlete Ambassador in 2003.
Charles and Gasana Mutesi, the President of Amani Africa, were married in 2002. They live in Kigali, Rwanda, with their six children, three of whom were adopted after the genocide, and four of Gasana's younger siblings. Their house is constantly active and loud, and frequently serves as a temporary home for other Amani kids that don't have a place to stay. Charles somehow manages to continue pursuing his love of sports by running and biking every week.