We are Carlotta Mela and Giorgio Vittorio Garuzzo, the siblings behind Play It Forward, a charitable organisation built on one simple belief: sport has the power to change a child's life.

This summer, Play It Forward is partnering with Ndaw Académie, a Senegalese charitable academy, to build and rehabilitate three basketball courts in Senegal. The first will be built from the ground up in a school in Fatick, where children currently have no access to sporting facilities. Then we will completely restructure two existing basketball courts that are in bad condition around the city, giving them new life. Below are pictures of the courts we will be working on.

Ndaw Académie has accomplished some admirable things in the past, donating over 1200 pairs of shoes and holding 12 camps over the past 3 years. As well as having fully rehabilitated a basketball court in Dakar in collaboration with BSAS in early 2026.

Our collaboration was born through friendship and a shared belief in the power of sports and family.

Together with Ndaw Académie, we will inaugurate the new courts in August of 2026, with 3 full days of basketball camps for the children.

On the first day, we will host a girls-only basketball camp to bring young girls closer to the sport. Then we will host 2 other co-ed basketball camps.

These days of inauguration will be an opportunity for us to bring together hundreds of people, and donate over 200 pairs of shoes, a t-shirt to every participant, and much more!

1. Please donate anything you are willing to.... every little helps

2. Share this page with someone who believes in the power of sport

Every euro raised goes directly toward the construction of the courts: materials, installation, and equipment; as well as the purchase of the 300+ new pairs of shoes, t-shirts, and other sports equipment to be donated to the camp participants.

Help us reach our goal. With this first project, we can have an enormous impact on the lives of many young children.