Football Africa

Kabwe in Zambia - Cara Counselling with Sables

This was another Tackle Africa contact we had arranged to visit before we set off. We again wanted to film the work that was happening here and see for ourselves how football was being used to educate the local youngsters around the dangers and prevention of HIV. It wasn’t just a place for young people to play football though, as the site is used as a drop in centre for local children to use to meet each other, get counselling for a variety of issues, learn computer and gardening skills and be given food.

We were shown around the place and it was clear that the local community were benefitting from having a place like this for the young people to come to. The children were certainly thankful as many of them spoke to us about how important it was for them to get emotional and educational support in an area where HIV was so prevalent. It was also a place where they could get something to eat which was vital as for many of them, it would be their only meal of the day.

We filmed and spoke with the local coaches, who were using the Tackle Africa coaching manual to teach the young people about HIV. I think we all agreed that this was definitely one of the best examples of how effective the manual can be in educating young people through football. The head coach (Geoffrey Msiska) was amazing at communicating the football message from each drill but then explaining how this relates to HIV. It was a real privilege to watch him talk openly with so many youngsters and to see them respond so positively to the information they were being given.

We also went to see the health centre – many of the patients there are suffering badly from the effects of HIV/AIDS. There are also newborn babies whose mothers are HIV positive and many elderly who are struggling to get by each day. What was clear from walking around and speaking to people was the positivity they felt from being there. The nurses helped them so much to feel cared for and looked after – they also helped in counselling so many of the patients who had suffered from the stigmas surrounding the disease in their different communities. The health centre also had a nursery school attached for HIV orphans to go to school. We only had a brief chance to walk round but again it was clear how happy the children were to have a place like this to go to.

Finally we visited another CARA site where they had an educational support programme for HIV positive people. The idea was to educate HIV positive people in a variety of skills, including business, carpentry and agriculture. They then could take the skills they learnt here and use them in their different communities. This then helps to show how HIV positive people can do the same things as everyone else and that there is no need for them to be marginalised from the communities they belong to. We knew many of the students there from playing football with them the day before (match report to follow) and it was great to see such enthusiasm from all the students there.  Many of them told us about how much their lives had changed as a result of being on a programme like this and how they were learning to live positively from day to day.

As I said we went there to film and report on Tackle Africa’s work and to see how the manual was being used. To see that it was being used really effectively was extremely heartwarming – to then see so many other parts of this organisation making such a valuable difference to people living with HIV was truly amazing.

Andy

New signings inspire Nkharta Bay victory...

We arrived in Nkharta Bay (which I have to say is a beautiful place to pitch a tent!) with a guarantee of a game of football from a local man. He told us the local team would be happy to play with us so we turned up at their ground (mixture of sand and reeds) with the hope of playing a quick game. We were greeted by 2 drunk men who told us they were the coaches of the youth side (thankfully this was a lie) and wanted to play with us. At this point we were a little alarmed but there was nothing to worry about as in the far corner of the ground a group of players were getting changed and their coach was calling for us to go over and meet them.

It turned out that we weren’t going to play a game with them as they were an actual Super League team (the Super League is the top league in Malawi) and this was their training session. So we were asked to join the session and take part in each exercise. The session was a mixture of 2 touch passing, zone training and keep ball. It lasted around 2 and a half hours so we were pretty tired at the end but they all seemed suitably happy with our performances and asked us to come back the next day........

 

We turned up to find that they had organised a game against fierce local rivals, Mzuzu, where we had actually stayed 3 days previously. They were using it as a friendly match as the season starts next month and they wanted to give some of the fringe players a runout. They unfortunately couldn’t play all of us from the start but promised we’d all get to play at some point. I started upfront and played the first half which ended goalless. I had a few nice touches but nothing of note. Ed and JJ came on in the second half and Ed produced a wonderful through ball for one of the strikers but he got too excited and blazed it over the bar. The game ended 1-0 to us and the coach was delighted. We swapped some ideas on the beautiful game and they asked us what we thought they needed to work on. We left them some of the footballs and also gave some more to the local youth side.

It was a very rewarding couple of days as we got to play for a proper Malawian football team but I certainly feel sorry for a lot of these players as the pitches are really difficult to play on. Oh and by the way one of the drunks who greeted us at the start, fell over with his first touch and badly damaged his knee ligaments! Serves him right though as he was a proper idiot.

 Andy

Build Malawi

We spent many days trying to get hold of Tanya Clarke who is the head of Build Malawi. It just seemed her phone number would never work and we would pass through Mzuzu without getting to meet her and see the work she has done in the area. I found out about Build Malawi through her cousin Paul Clarke who runs the Great Football Giveaway. He told me it would be definitely worth a visit to see what she has achieved there. He was right.

We eventually got the number and arranged to meet Tanya at the project the next day. The project’s main aim was to build a school in an under developed area to help support the many children who had to travel really long distances every day to attend the nearest school. So Tanya, through sheer determination, hard work and the kindness of others was able to build Chipala School in Chipala village.  We drove up some pretty scary roads to get there but once there, we were astounded by what she had managed to achieve. It was a brand new school with a library, working toilets and dedicated staff. We walked round each classroom (some of the classrooms had been built by older students!) and spoke with some of the teachers. 

We then interviewed Tanya about what inspired her to do something like this (she was part of the Great Football Giveaway team that travelled through Malawi) and how long it took to achieve. We also found out that they have just been given permission to build a brand new sports field behind the school which will host football, netball and volleyball teams. The funding still needs to be finalised but after seeing what they’ve achieved so far, it shouldn’t take too long. We then gave the headmaster some footballs which he gleefully received (he literally started dancing with the caretaker!) and said goodbye.

It was great to see how much can be achieved if you feel so passionately about something. Work still needs to be done but i’m sure Tanya will make it a success. She wanted to leave behind a self sustainable school which would need less and less help as the years go by. She really isn’t far from making this a reality. Please visit www.buildmalawi.org to read more about the work of Build Malawi and to contribute to this and further projects.

 

Andy

OSA - Orphan Support Africa

OSA or Orphan Support Africa is an organisation that supports community based projects all over Malawi and Southern Tanzania. Most of these organisations are looking after orphans or vulnerable children (ie children with substantial challenges). In total OSA look after over 45 organisations which in turn look after 44000 children. The support is primarily financial, allowing the projects to support children through education.  This means buying uniforms, footwear, schoolbooks and paying tuition fees. Without this support the children would not have access to education. 

 

The OSA is principally financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The OSA will only attribute funds to projects after a rigorous assessment.  Projects request for funding on the basis of community requirement and the OSA with evaluate their claim. The contact we met was called Mabel and had been an orphan herself. She spoke passionately about the challenges faced by orphans and was very proud of the way she was well placed to help children from a position of knowledge. Mabel took us to a community meeting where we learnt about the importance of engaging the village elders.  Village elders control every decision and nothing will get off the ground without their backing. We piled into a room where we were introduced to12 elders responsible for controlling 12 different villages. It was a very formal introduction and we suitably privileged to have an audience with them.

 

After the meeting we were shown a new piggery (which is a word), newly installed by the villagers using OSA funding.  Pigs were chosen because of the size of their litter (typically 12-14). Once these pigs reproduce two pigs will be sent to each other village and their progeny will develop further food for the villages.  The purpose of the meeting we attended was to ensure the elders gave their buy in to the piggery programme. After the meeting we got a chance to see some community theatre. Along with sport, drama is a key way of disseminating information. Judging by the laughter everyone enjoyed being educated.  

 

Finally we went to a nearby school. We got to hear firsthand about the benefits the 40 OSA supported kids had received, from shoes to fees to books. The kids told us what they would like to be when they grew up, unsurprisingly lawyers and doctors were popular choices. Mabel shared with the children that she had been an orphan herself proving that with application these kids could be positive about the future.

For more information please look at their website - www.orphansupportafrica.org

e

Mzuzu and FOMCO

Mizuzu was our first stop in Malawi. It’s easy to get a bit blasé about how beautiful this continent has been. We’ve seen spectacular scenery so often that it could be taken for granted. I’m certainly not there yet. It is a gift that keeps on giving. Tanzania had been full of lush, green, rolling landscapes and Malawi simply picked up the baton and then threw in a beautiful clear blue lake (that is also massive). We’re in the country to visit the ‘Build Malawi’ project but we stopped in Mizuzu as the most convenient place to rest our heads past the border. It proved to be fruitful for many reasons. We had the opportunity to visit some unscheduled charity projects, meet some excellent characters – thanks to the tremendous Mizoozoozoo camp site which FAfrica heartily endorses, and see Andy Howie dancing in his own ‘unique’ style to ‘Killing in the name of..’ by Rage Against The Machine. Which I captured on video. Brilliant.

Never let it be said that FootballAfrica rest on it’s laurels. We’ve tried to take the initiative wherever we are, and find African run charities to continue to highlight their work and maybe raise a little more awareness. One such charity was FOMCO (Friends Of Mizuzu Community). It’s a very small setup. The project came to FAfrica’s attention when Andy went off hunting for ‘Build Malawi’, he came back with a young man called ‘Freeman’ who didn’t know the ‘Build Malawi’ project but was himself a volunteer with FOMCO. He asked us to meet Violet, who runs the charity. She explained that they have a small orphanage and school that looks after children in the community. It feeds them in the mornings for breakfast and lunch, gives them schooling and then returns them to their guardians in the afternoon.

FOMCO was in the process of building a better schoolhouse but had run into problems. Rains had washed away a lot of work and resources, and caused damage to the structure. They were looking for $12000 from OrphanSupportAfrica to try and start again, before any more rains came.

To be honest, this was passing me by a bit. Due to a technical error (we forgot to charge the batteries) we weren’t filming at this charity. Quite often I’ve been holding the camera when filming, so this felt like a bit of day off. The rest of FAfrica were chatting to Violet as she walked them round the school. I decided to sneak off to the orphanage and monkey around a bit. Being surrounded by these children can be addicitive. They’re so full of joy and excitement that it’s amazing to be around. They’re amazed to see a ‘Misongu’ and are fascinated, and just want to run around, jump about and have fun. I pulled out the classics; pretending to be a monster, lifting and swinging them round, hide and seek. To be fair, it’s a pretty easy audience. Like Cliff Richard doing a stand-up routine for the Womens Institute.  I then helped out with handing out breakfast and sat with the children as they ate.

To find out that 40% of these children had HIV was pretty devastating. Andy told me as I poked my head back through the door to say goodbye. Violet had been explaining this to him as I was larking around. And now it’s still going round my head. It’s not like this is anything new to us is it? We see it on the tele all the time. Every year we duly give our fiver to Comic Relief or Sport Relief, we don’t really watch Children in Need because it’s a bit bland and may have Gaby Roslin in it, or the cast of The Royal doing a dance routine to ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’. We know there’s people,  children, dying. All over the world, on our own doorsteps, amongst those we love and care for. I suppose this is just my chance to say that it’s better people help one another, because living your life can be tough. I don’t think I’ve become a hippie, and I stole that last bit from an Oasis song, but the point remains.

As we left, a volunteer at the project told us that god had sent us to help. I’m not sure about that. I would hope he’s busier then getting us round Africa (though all help is welcome). I’m not really sure how much we can help, we’ve seen so many who need support, but we can try. Got a little bit preachy today, I’ll be setting up another BandAid next. I won’t be getting Pink Floyd to reunite for this one though because I don’t think that really worked.

Lots of Love from the parapet,

 JJ FootballAfrica

Playin' for de Mango Tree, mah team an' me...

We were teamed up with some of the orphans from The Mango Tree to take on a local side from Kyela. I took up my usual striking position with Ed playing the anchor role in midfield, JJ slotting in at right back and Neil tucked in at centre half. The pitch was actually one of the better ones we’ve played on as there didn’t seem to be any death holes lurking around and we got to wear the Mango Tree kit which was definitely one of the best strips we’ve played in.

It was clear from the outset that it was going to be a tough game. The opposition was passing it around comfortably and it seemed we would be chasing shadows for the majority of the game. They deservedly took the lead around the 20 minute mark with a long ball over the top. The striker clearly pulled Neil to the ground but no foul was given and he raced on to slot the ball calmly passed our goalkeeper. I did my usual ranting at the ref but to no avail. The goal stood. Minutes later it could have been worse as the same striker was put through clear on goal but somehow managed to blaze over the bar.

We were let off the hook and it clearly gave us some impetus as we started to get a foothold on the game. We forced a couple of corners and then suddenly a high ball was lofted into the area, I managed to get a foot to the ball and lifted it up on to the hand of a defender. Penalty. I took the ball as I was feeling pretty confident and placed it on the spot. I ran up thinking that there was no way I would miss and then............one of the worst penalties I have ever taken, straight at the goalkeeper and quite simply disgraceful........but wait, the keeper couldn’t hold on to it and I raced in to lift the ball over his sprawling body and it to the net. 1-1. Lucky and relieved.

The opposition started the 2^nd half as they had begun the 1^st with attack after attack. Neil and JJ were doing their level best to keep it to 1-1 and Ed was running everywhere in midfield to cover the gaps that were being left. They made it 2-1 after the hour mark with another calm finish and again could’ve made it worst but for poor finishing. The game changed with 15 minutes to go as JJ and Neil ventured further up the pitch and we had more attacking options. We attacked non stop for the last 15 minutes but just couldn’t get the breakthrough. Neil had joined me in attack and JJ was helping Ed to take control of midfield and it was working. One minute to go and Ed lifted the ball over the defender, the ball bounced once outside the area and then I smashed it right in the sweet spot. I was thinking definitely 2-2 but then it smacked the underside of the bar and then down and in to safety. So a 2-1 defeat on another scorching afternoon but a brave effort against strong opposition.

Team – JJ 7, Evans 7, Ed 7, Andy 7

Andy

The Mango Tree - Tanzania

We had already seen the amazing work that The Mango Tree in Kenya was doing and so we were very excited to arrange to stay with Andilile Ibrahim who heads the Mango Tree charity in Tanzania. The Mango Tree in Tanzania was set up in 2004 by William Fulton with the aim of providing financial, emotional, healthcare and educational support to orphans. It is currently supporting over 13,000 orphans in the Kyela district of Tanzania.

We were taken to a local secondary school which had been supported by the Mango Tree for over 3 years. The headmaster told us about the amazing work the charity had done for his school including providing a generator so that students could stay at school after dark, desks, chairs and tuition fees for many of the students. We were also lucky enough to see some more desks and chairs being delivered to the school and were invited to take part in the handover ceremony where JJ helped to lift the first desk to hand over to the headmaster. I should also point out that the headmaster wore a short sleeved suit which any 80’s ballad band would be proud to wear (see below).

The next day we went to see one of the primary schools where out of 960 students, over half were orphans supported by the Mango Tree. As we stepped out of the car we were greeted by the children who were so excited that their screams made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. We interviewed the headmaster and filmed around the school. It was great to see some of the children the Mango Tree is helping to support here but they still need as much help as possible in a lot of the areas as the classrooms at this particular school were really under resourced.

We went back to the Mango Tree headquarters and took part in the monthly meeting where the 136 volunteers from around the area meet to discuss what’s been happening in their areas and to address particular issues that have been raised. The volunteers are vital to the success of the charity as they are the focal point for the orphans and villagers to talk through their problems and ask for advice. The volunteers take this information back to Andilile and his staff and they then try to offer solutions as best they can.

As with all the projects so far, we interviewed the main people involved; Grace (Health Department), The Pastor (Educational Support), Elias (Community Development) and Andilile (Director). They all spoke very passionately about what the Mango Tree here is trying to achieve and why they got involved. Once again we were blown away by the humility and kindness that we encountered by everyone involved and how much amazing work is being done there to help those less fortunate. As with the Mango Tree in Kenya, it has made huge strides in changing the attitudes of local communities to HIV and is helping to create a more sustainable future for many people in the surrounding areas.

. The Mango Tree is doing great work but still needs help and support to achieve their aims. If you want to find out more information or would like to contribute then please visit www.themangotree.org  - It is definitely worth a look.

Move over Massimo & the arrival of the Dubai Two.

A bonus on this leg of the journey was the appearance of ‘me old mucker’ Dave Hanson. Dave lives in Dubai now so we see him pretty infrequently but he’s got in contact t say he could fly over to Dar for a couple of nights to buy Football Africa a beer. Or two. Armed with his good friend, and all round top bloke, Mike Cook. The joined us the night before we were due t play a match against a team EMIMA had lined up. It was the youth team for Tanzanian Premiership team Simba FC.

We lined up for the game with quite a few guests that we’d arranged for ourselves. Dave and Mike were joined by Robbie and Adam, the volunteers from Sheffield whose house we stayed at. We were also joined by Nicholas from EMIMA and a lad he’d brought along who plays in the Tanzanian premiership. We’d also recruited a fellow camp site guest from Tanzania called Steve to play in goal.

It was a tough game from the off. They were a quick, young team but also tremendously strong to boot. The guy marking Andy must have been a couple of inches off ‘giant’ status. I personally started the game in midfield and initially thought I was having a pretty easy game. Ed was chasing his fella all over the park but my guy was barely moving from the centre circle. In hindsight the referee should wear a noticeably different colour from one of the teams.

Anywaaay, it’s always difficult in these games to find rhythm and keep a formation but one of our benefits this time was the predominance of English speaking players, though our Tanzanian Premiership guy ( TPG)  was remained pretty difficult to control. A left back by trade, a left winger in this game, he eventually seemed to decide he was playing up front leaving Adam at left back exposed. It also left the midfield pretty exposed with no left side and me marking the referee. We conceded two goals and although we’d hit the bar, hadn’t carried much of a threat going forward.

At half time we made some changes. I volunteered to go in goal. Having not really got into the game, at least I could get out of it with some dignity (hmm) plus Steve was struggling a bit in goal and I’d played there in my younger years. Dave dropped to right back with Mike and fan favourite Neil Evans continuing to hold back the onslaught at Centre Half.

It was only a few minutes into the half when they broke clear down the left, the winger fired a pretty innocuous shot at the goal and I stooped to collect it as it bounced of the turf/sand/stones.

With the benefit of hindsight I should’ve fielded it like a cricket ball, or trapped it with my feet. Alas, hindsight has 20/20 vision and I took up neither of these two excellent options. In my defence the ball just stayed low, but I was in no position to react and the ball flew into the net. I had become Massimo Taibi ( YouTube it, thats YouTube fellas). 3-0, the scoreline.

Then came the fightback. Adam had moved to the left wing and was playing a blinder with himself and Ed getting more of the ball in midfield. The defence was still being tested, with Dave’s right back position seeming like The Alamo at times. But he defended manfully and we were staying in it. Barnard played Andy in and a clinical finish made it 3-1. Then with 15 minutes to go a ball in from Adam and Howie controlled, left foot, ‘megged’ the giant and then slotted home. Howie describes at his favourite goal so far. A beauty. And the scoreline I dreaded, with my error being the difference. I’d even made a great save from a brilliant downward header but these things matter not in football. With minutes to go Adam smashed a brilliant shot from outside the box...crossbar. 3-2 was the final score. Sick as a parrot, gutted and all that.

A Spiritual 2-2 but sadly a defeat in reality. Thanks to Dave and Mike for coming along, it was great to see you guys. Football Africa will be back, and I won’t be in goal.

JJ Football Africa, still gutted.

EMIMA

As part of this journey™ (journey ™ is used to rather then trip to signify both the actual journey and the ‘emotional’ journey – like in X-Factor) we were asked to do a bit of scouting for Tackle Africa, not just visit existing projects but also to develop potential new projects as well.  They’d received a funding request from EMIMA, a project they had worked with before, and wanted us to take a ‘butchers hook’ at their ‘gaff’.

EMIMA is trying to develop itself along the same lines as MYSA in Kenya (see Ed’s article earlier in the blog). Getting the youth of the city into the communities and playing sports. Football is a key part of doing this. Tackle Africa have visited them before in some capacity and had the opportunity to work with the EMIMA coaches, showing them the HIV/AIDS drills. We went along to see how things were going now, going into one of the communities in Dar Es Salaam and helping with the drills. And in Andys case kicking a ball into a childs face.

We met up with Nicholas, one of those initially involved in the project, and one who continues to be involved at ground level, working with football as one of the key factors in gaining the support, and enthusiasm, of local kids. He spoke eloquently of his plans to help the communities in Dar beat boredom, poverty, and AIDS through participation in a more active lifestyle.

One of the coaches helping Nicholas and EMIMA to do this is Dunga. He loved the sport and did a great job of running through the drills with a number of different age groups. A number of the youngsters here are good footballers, and some even play in the Tanzanian Premier League. We didn’t need those folks to see ‘mad skillz’ on the pitch however, step forward myself and Andy to help with the drills. The first drill was a basic one to demonstrate communication. Andy was blindfolded and I had to talk him through taking a penalty.  I felt this was a chance to misdirect Andy and began to do so, but it was taking a while so I aborted this attempt at ‘hilarity’ and got him in front of the ball. He took a classic Howie penalty (a toe poke) but this time it skewed off his boot and flew into an onlooking kids face. The fact that all around were laughing certainly didn’t help the child take this wit a pinch of salt but he stopped crying eventually, and got some football cards. I added that last bit for ‘feelgood factor’, actually he was a bit sulky and went off with his brother.

The last incident notwithstanding, EMIMA was an exciting programme with aspirations of emulating MYSA, a charity described by Sport Relief as a perfect example of an African run charity, so we can only hope it matches it’s lofty ambitions. We also gave them a bag of Alive and Kicking footballs as they badly required resources.

A final word on EMIMA to say thanks to Alison, a volunteer with the charity who allowed us to stay in the house she shared with the other volunteers. There was a group of Sheffield Hallam students over as part of a coaching course, so thanks also go to Adam, Kylie, Robbie and Sam for putting up with us a for a couple of nights.

JJfootballafrica

Rivers deep, mountains high and a game of two halves...

As soon as we saw the pitch we knew this game was going to be hilarious. When Chris from Tekua had previously mentioned that the pitch wasn’t great we reassured him that we weren’t too concerned.

Africa has shown the definition of ‘football pitch will encompass almost any type of terra firma. Pastures complete with livestock, boggy marshland, beaches, boulder strewn sandlots, we have played them all. However, this pitch was special, audacious even.  It has been awarded the ‘Most Ambitious Deployment of Goalposts for Football Associated Activity’Award by Football Africa. 

 

It was cut against a hill on three different gradings, falling from right to left. Running across the pitch required a series of steps. Playing a one-two with the pitch was also possible. A stream ran cut through the right box and the corner flag which brought a new element to the play. XXXtreme set piecing. An attacking corner involved a winger jumping over the stream, taking the corner, and then leaping back over the stream to rejoin play. The rest of the right flank was covered in waste deep long grass. The ball would disappear and re-emerge again a few minutes later with 5 or 6 competing player’s flyhacking the bejeesus out of everything in sight. 

 

The left flank was crippled with potholes, toe-whippers and ankle snappers. So much so that JJ, who has had previous with his ankles had to limit his movement to a relatively secure spot in the midfield, roughly the size of a squash court. With sure footing JJ dominated his area impressively. No one passed through JJ Town taxfree. However the bad pitch certainly didn’t prevent barefooted players yet again launching themselves into everything with wreckless enthusiasm.  Whilst this was easily the worst opposition we have faced we still managed to smirk into halftime 3-1 down.

 

Eventually we clicked into gear in the second half. The pitch might have been bad but the goals were outstanding. Neil and Andy both grabbed a couple each. Neil volleyed in off a free kick and finished a nice move slotting in off Andy’s pass. Andy scored a boomshanka and a side footer to finish the game 5-3. A comical game overshadowed by an even more comical pitch.

 

E

 

Sun Star rating: Andy 8, Neil 8, Ed B 7, JJ 7, Pitch 9(out of 1000).