In the early morning, the Gazelles de Gouandé train one last time before a friendly against the Dassari team later in the day, in Gouandé, Benin.

Virginie passes two cousins digging up earth for bricks, as she goes to visit her uncle in Gouandé, Benin.

Bélassé Tchari (left), in Gouandé, Benin, gets up every morning to work in her field to feed her seven children. She works hard to put Virginie and her two sisters through secondary school and encourages their footballing ambitions.

Yvette Saba Sambieni (center) of the Gazelles de Gouandé football team leaves morning mass, having practised for a match since dawn, in Gouandé, Benin.

Yvette Saba Sambieni, who is a proud Gazelles team member, is one of the 24 girls in her village enrolled among 132 boys in the local secondary school, in Gouandé, Benin.

Members of the Dassari football team travel to Gouandé, in Benin, to play a match against the Gazelles de Gouandé.

The Dassari football team arrive in Gouandé by bush taxi to play their first game of the season, against the Gazelles de Gouandé, on 24 February.

Players from the Dassari football team sing and dance before a match with the Gazelles de Gouandé, in Gouandé, Benin.

Two Gazelles strikers face ‘Beton’, the Dassari team goalkeeper, during a match between the two teams, in Gouandé, Benin.

Virginie (22) returns from training, accompanied by her youngest sister, Chantelle. She was one of the Gazelles’ first players, and is one of the few young women in the village to obtain her baccalaureate.

Sports - 1st Prize

Rise from the Ashes