Opening Doors

Opening Doors is the programme that gives its name to our integral approach: opening doors for children and young people through sport, the arts, environmental education and active citizenship. Born in Maputo, it now extends to several biodiversity hotspots across Mozambique and includes continuous training for coaches.

It is structured around ten distinct activities, described below.

1. Mini-Basketball Circuits

Periodic activities that include mini-basketball games, skills stations and technical competitions, art workshops (drawing, painting, dance) and talks on biodiversity and other relevant subjects. Each cycle runs for up to three months.

• Where: Maputo city and province
• Who: girls and boys aged 7 to 11, drawn from schools, neighbourhood hubs, academies and clubs

2. All Girls

Exclusively for girls — it could easily be called Their Space. Through basketball games, technical circuits, conversations on sexual and reproductive health, self-defence classes, talks on biodiversity and renewable energies, and dance classes, All Girls is a safe space for socialising, empathy, friendship and the promotion of healthy habits among adolescents.

• Where: Maputo city and province
• Who: girls aged 12 to 17

3. António Azevedo & Hernani Mussa Development Camp

An initiative to identify and develop young basketball talent, combining technical refinement with life-skills and citizenship formation. Throughout the camp, young athletes are supported by qualified national and international coaches and by players — both active and retired, local and international.

• Where: Maputo
• Who: athletes aged 12 to 17, girls and boys
• Milestones: First edition in January 2019, with 32 athletes and 8 coaches. Six editions held to date.

4. Pancho Guedes Citizenship Camp

When we created the Pancho Guedes Citizenship Camp, the intention was always to celebrate Pancho Guedes' work and the legacy he left us: humanism, forward thinking, authenticity, multidisciplinarity, and the creative use of available resources.

We see mini-basketball and basketball in much the same way as Pancho looked at his architecture: art that combines different artistic fields. More than a game, basketball is for us an exercise of civic and cultural expression with a social function of human enhancement.

• Where: Maputo
• Who: children aged 7 to 11

5. Carlos Morgado Citizenship Camp

Launched in 2014 as a holiday camp, with the aim of offering activities to children during the school break of January and February — a safe place where they could make new friends, build bonds, learn and refine skills, always in a playful and joyful way.

Over time, we extended its presence across the calendar and renamed it from Holiday Camp to Citizenship Camp — a name that more accurately reflects what happens there.

• Where: Maputo
• Who: children aged 7 to 11

6. Maputo National Park Citizenship Camp

An active citizenship and environmental education programme for children from communities adjacent to the Maputo National Park, developed jointly with PNAM and the Mozambique Wildlife Alliance. It brings together mini-basketball, performative arts, environmental education and civic formation.

• Where: communities adjacent to Maputo National Park
• Who: children aged 7 to 11
• Partners: Maputo National Park (PNAM)

7. Matsequenha Dreams

A collaboration between the Authorities of the Namaacha District, the Matsequenha Community, Still Standing and Mozambique Wildlife Alliance (MWA). The programme extends the Opening Doors approach to the Namaacha Valley, focusing on educating children of the surrounding schools about biodiversity conservation — through capoeira, ludic games, dance, painting and mini-basketball.

• Where: Namaacha Valley, Matsequenha Community
• Who: children from the surrounding schools
• Partners: Mozambique Wildlife Alliance · Authorities of the Namaacha District · Matsequenha Community

8. Opening Doors Tambara Kulota

The Macossa–Guro–Tambara landscape covers conservation areas of crucial ecological importance to Mozambique. In partnership with Associação NATURA — which holds a 15-year mandate for the management and restoration of this ecosystem — Tambara Kulota (in Sena, Tambara already dreams!) brings mini-basketball and life-skills sessions to children and adolescents in the region, with a strong component of awareness around the value of local biodiversity.

• Where: Manica Province
• Who: children and adolescents from local communities
• Main partner: Associação NATURA

9. Opening Doors Malamba & Mazuene Kulora

At the heart of Mozambique's Inhambane Seascape — globally recognised for its exceptional marine biodiversity — lies a pressing challenge: ensuring that the children of Malamba and Mazuene have access to quality education, life skills and opportunities that can break the cycle of poverty.

Malamba & Mazuene Kulora is Still Standing's response, developed in collaboration with Associação NATURA. The programme intends to reach 500 children across two primary schools and the broader youth community. The first edition was held in 2025 in Mazuene.

• Where: Inhambane Seascape (communities of Malamba and Mazuene)
• Who: children and young people from local communities
• Main partner: Associação NATURA
• First edition: 2025, in Mazuene

10. Henrique Vieira Clinic For Coaches

A continuous training initiative aimed at Physical Education teachers, basketball coaches, aspiring coaches and individuals with an interest in sport — in particular in basketball. It brings together the different stakeholders of the basketball ecosystem to debate the most pertinent issues of the discipline and keep pace with the evolution of the game.

• Where: Mozambique
• Who: teachers, coaches, aspiring coaches and basketball enthusiasts