Football Africa

Chillin with the Maasai Massive...

This was our first opportunity to visit one of Tackle Africa’s partners since we arrived on the continent. It is important to us that we capture as much footage of the work Tackle Africa (www.tackleafrica.org) is doing as possible as they have been huge supporters of what we’re doing here. So it was great relief that we met Daniel Falau of the Simba Maasai Outreach Organisation in Nairobi who arranged for us to go and see how Tackle Africa’s coaching manual was helping to educate a local community (Oloshoibor) about HIV outside Nairobi.

We arrived very late in the evening after driving off the beaten track for a fair few miles. We didn’t know quite what to expect as we thought we would be camping in our tents outside the community but instead we were given mud huts to rest in. They had beds inside which were gratefully received as we needed a good night’s sleep.

The next day we interviewed Daniel about his work within the organisation. He is the manager and is responsible for different programmes designed to involve the local Maasai in a variety of issues, including health, environment and politics. We also interviewed a football coach (James Lamayian) who was using the manual to teach the young people about HIV. He had been coached by some of the Tackle Africa coaches who had visited the region last year. The outreach programme was set up to help integrate the Maasai community in to the region and to give them a platform to voice their worries and concerns about modern day Kenya. They also needed help in understanding HIV and how it works and this is why the organisation asked for Tackle Africa’s help as they believe sport is the best way of reaching the young people in the area. We also interviewed Michael Tiameati , who is a journalist trained by Reuters and a friend of Daniel, who spoke passionately about the problems the Maasai are facing in today’s world and what is being done to combat these problems.

We spent the day asking questions about the Maasai people and finding out how effective the manual has been in educating the local community about HIV. We visited a local school and filmed the coach using the manual with some of the young football players. 

It was a great insight in to how the manual is being integrated in to the community and to see at first hand how effective it is in communicating the messages of HIV. We were also privileged to learn a lot about the Maasai community here and how they are learning to adapt to the modern world. Unfortunately because of our schedule we could only spend a day here but it was definitely a very fulfilling one.

We then spent the rest of the evening watching Ed trying to find his phone in the dark which was very amusing but ultimately fruitless....................until the next day when it dropped down through the sunroof!

 

Andy

Bang.....Driving part 2

We knew getting through the dirt roads of Northern Kenya was going to be hard. There has already been a few challenging off road stretches on this trip.Driving from Wadi Haifi to Dongola in Northern Sudan and relying solely on the GPS to carve the road out of the desert was an exercise in trust. Scraping up mountain trails, choking on a diet of lorry dust was an unexpected ‘Welcome to Ethiopia’.

However, we always knew the 300 mile stretch between Moyale and Isiolio would be make or break.  We knew the dirt road would be abysmal but precisely how bad had been the subject of much debate amongst southbound overlanders in Addis Ababa. The morbid speculation about the jagged rockroads and relentless corrugations didn’t help and only aggravated the blister of apprehension. We chose to put speculation aside and rather focus on hitting unbroken tarmac in Isiola and free-wheeling the rest of the way through Southern Africa. 

Arriving at the Ethiopia/Kenya border we encountered a couple of South Africans, driving a resilient looking Defender, a veritable mudbull. They were pumped, looking bewildered and deranged with adrenalin.  We narrowly avoided some furious chest-bombing.

Nervously we told them we were heading to Isiola. Their initial reaction betrayed them. Wide eyed: ‘Sh*t bru, that sh*t was crazy, those roads are seriously insane’. Sensing our trepidation, and perhaps a sudden noxious smell, they composed themselves, reassuring us that we would be alright providing we ‘gunned those corrugations’. They then told us the journey cost their mudbull its steering bushes (car shrubbery?). The fact that even their brickmobile had stumbled was silently digested. We departed with a heartfelt ‘Good luck’.    

A bit of background now, in 1960’s the Kenyan’s and the Ethiopians signed a treaty to build a tarmac road between Addis and Nairobi. The project would create a platform for increased trade between these two massive centres of industry and commerce in East Africa.

Whereas the Ethiopian’s took this treaty as a literal agreement and built an actual asphalt road to the border, the Kenyan’s clearly interpreted it more creatively, more as a statement of intent than a real world obligation.  Now, nearly 50 years later only the intention of a real road remains, unfortunately the road to hell is clearly paved with such good intentions.  The analogy is appropriate.

The journey was broken into 2 legs punctuated by a stop in Marsabit, which I have already written about. Heading into the journey the cars were in relatively good nick, well, relative to how they emerged.  Only Jane’s brakes needed looking at. The old dame suffering from worn joints and was constantly leaking. It was a minor embarrassment and we opted to keep her topped up with brake fluid rather than draw attention and cause offense unduly.

 We tested the roads from the border for a couple of hours before bad light prevailed and we set up bush camp. This first stretch was regarded as the acceptable part of this road, before things got really tough.  In 2hrs we had travelled an acceptable 35km.   

 

Bush camp, proper African bush camp was real. We made our first fire, in which we disposed of our food waste and thereby ensure we didn’t attract any attention from baboons, lions or werewolves that roam Kenya at night.  At one stage a herd of cattle wandered through the camp whilst we were sat around discussing the day’s events.  Probably escaping the werewolves. So real.

 

Anyway, we set off the next day early, composed and determined. For at least an hour, before we got a flat tyre. Not a catastrophe, the tyre was balder than a …… well, it was proper bald. This did ensure we got dirty however, the earth, a bloody orange, copper colour now painted on our clothes.

Despite only managing a top speed of 15km p/h nothing further went wrong mechanically on that day. In hindsight it was merely a brutal form of foreplay for the second leg. The going was arduous because the roads were based on rocks scraped together.  They were small vicious, jagged rocks. Rasping at our tyres like coral menaces bare flesh. The simultaneous grinding of tyres and teeth as we prayed the vehicles were up to it.

 

We were driving through desert, but coated in billions upon billions of black boulders, as though God herself had seasoned the terrain with a giant bouldermill. And it was lonely. We passed 4 cars in nearly 10 hours of driving. We got the idea. No one used this road. Crunch, crunch, crunch and it went on and on. Bemused eagles watched the micro machines battle the rice crispies from above.

Eventually we arrived in Marsabit, only slightly tarnished by the journey with a residual rocky road sickness similar to the phantom swaying you get after you get off a boat.  But we had negotiated the worst road and drew encouragement from this.

Marsabitian’s had told us only a few mere corrugations separated us from the freedom of tarmac, from glory.  It was with a false sense confidence therefore that we embarked on the final stretch to Isiola. In our minds the war would be over by Christmas.

In what was the hardest going of this whole trip the next 12 hours smashed and rattled our poor vehicles in ways that were borderline perverse.  Relentless bumping.  Corrugations, we learnt, are the driving equivalent of leprosy, slowly eating away at the vehicles core constitution till parts just start dropping off.  Our vehicles that had negotiated a lot of punishment in the two months just lost their fire.

First to go was Jane, whose front right damper ripped off causing the shock absorber piston to smash up past the filter right into the bonnet.  To the rhythm of bang, bang, bang, BANG BANG, we soldiered on until we realised that the piston was actually dislodging the suspension coil.  Neil, one part of our welsh tour party and a Football Africa roadie had a lot of experience working on Landies and was the crucial voice of calm as he diagnosed how to rectify the situation. Using his high lift jack the damper was removed the shock absorber pistons and the coil was realigned to ensure we had some suspension if not the means to counteract the bouncing. This was the first of the four shock absorbers we lost.

We have come to expect Lady Jane to be a liability but when Robin started acting up we really started to lose confidence. We had to perform the same operation on Robin 4 hours later, removing the damper but this time the suspension coil just shot out and tangled up with our brake cables impeding any further progress. It looked like the moment we were all dreading had arrived. We were going to have to leave Robin (a complete surprise) on the side of the road and progress in Jane. It was unthinkable. 

Fortunately we managed to untangle the suspension coil with much fannyaroundmentation, thereby resting the left side of Robin on the thin bit of rubber between the chassis and the rest of the body. 

Robin had effectively had a stroke. We could drive but we were in dire straits. Then Janes battery started to play up.  Over reliance on the chiller meant she couldn’t even muster the charge to power the lights.  Now the sun was setting, we had only driven 110km in 10 hours, we were in bandit country (oh year and that, which almost seemed irrelevant) had one car with no battery (we had to stop and jump start her every 20 mins), no front suspension on either vehicle and no end in sight. It was grim, we were making roughly 10kms to the hour on absolute tenterhooks. In pitch black Andy was driving Jane with no lights on using Neil’s tail lights as the only guide. It was horrible.

Through sheer denial of the reality of the situation we managed to drive in the dark and scrape into a restspot called Archers post. It took us two hours of night driving to get there.  Everyone was mentally shattered, some physically wounded. Poisonous thoughts were being posted about the Kenyan Govt. We were all thinking the same thing, they had 50 flippin’ years to get this road built. Anyway I have been writing this for too long now.  Long story short is we barely made it, but we made it. It was truly heroic. Special shout out to Welsh Neil and his calm farmer’s head. 

When we finally arrived in Nairobi and the sanctuary of an overlander campsite Jungle Junction the owner, Chris, congratulated us and remarked that the North Kenyan road is the ‘difference between boys and men. That is where you earn your man points.’ Rugger.

 

Ed 

Alive and Kicking in Nairobi...

Before we set off on this project, Alive and Kicking (www.aliveandkicking.org.uk) kindly donated over 100 footballs for us to distribute to the different projects we would visit on our way. So far we have donated over 75 balls to a variety of worthwhile causes but our stock was running low. We’d been given a contact for Alive and Kicking in Nairobi who we called when we arrived here. Joel Kinuthia is the country manager for the charity here in Kenya and he agreed to pick us up from our campsite and drive us to the factory on the outskirts of Nairobi.

Alive & Kicking makes high quality durable footballs, netballs and volleyballs in Africa using African skills and leather.  They employ over 150 Stitchers across three countries (the others are Zambia and South Africa) and have produced over 180,000 balls for children across Africa.  Each ball carries a message on AIDS, malaria or TB. They are using a sports based approach to increase awareness and help alleviate the effects of these devastating diseases.

We interviewed Joel about the history of the organisation, how he got involved, what plans they have for the future and the problems they face. He spoke passionately about how the footballs have been used around Africa and beyond (80% of their profits are currently raised from exporting) but his main hope is that the footballs reach more and more African communities in the future. The main problem they face is that it costs nearly £10 to make a ball to cover all the materials used, staffing costs and overheads but this is still a lot cheaper than balls made by some of the big corporate giants. He spoke with a heavy heart about having to relieve nearly 70 staff from the payroll due to current economic climate. They are also still awaiting VAT exemption which is taking far too long to process.

We were also introduced to Roy Wekoto (Finance and Admin Manager) and Charles Mwaniki (Production Manager) who showed us around the factory and walked us through the process of making the footballs. They are currently hand stitching over 80,000 footballs for UEFA as part of the RESPECT campaign which is helping to keep them afloat for the time being. They are also hoping that a further order of over 100,000 will materialise in the build up to World Cup but nothing concrete has come of this as yet.

 

To walk round the factory was a great privilege as we got to see at first hand how these amazing footballs, which we have been handing out, are made. We also got to understand how the making of these footballs were not only creating livelihoods but how they were also helping to spread the awareness of many of these preventable but deadly diseases. Joel handed us a further 85 balls to pass on to more projects on our way (including a bag of balls funded by the Vice President of UEFA!) and posters with messages about HIV endorsed by some of Kenya’s most famous sports stars. We already know that these footballs and posters will be put to good use as we have lined up a variety of projects to visit very soon.

 

Up next is a visit to MYSA (Mathare Youth Sports Association – www.mysakenya.org). MYSA is a self-help youth programme linking sports with environmental cleanups, AIDS prevention, leadership training and other community service activities involving approximately twenty thousand young people. Then we head to visit a Tackle Africa (www.tackleafrica.org) project on the outskirts of Nairobi where we film Tackle Africa’s coaching manual being used with young people by the coaches based there. On Saturday we head in to Pumwani, which is one of the worst slums in East Africa, to film the work being done there to help some of the poorest people in Africa. We then head to Kisumu to film more Tackle Africa projects and then head to Kendu Bay where we be meeting up with the Mango Tree (www.themangotree.org) and find out all about the work this charity is doing to help over 10,000 orphans.  We will obviously be playing football as often as we can in this time and then we head to Tanzania to visit some more amazing projects. We will update you on the journey as soon as we can.

Take care everyone

Andy

P.S If you are a member of a sports club or a football/netball/volleyball team then please try and get them involved in buying some of the Alive and Kicking balls. We’ve been using them across Africa so far and I can honestly say that they are great to play with (as good as the best footballs I have used). Bags can be bought with 25 or 35 in them and would be cheaper alternative to the balls used at most sports clubs in England. They are made out of leather for the purposes of African terrain but synthetic ones can be made for the same price, which are more suitable to the conditions in Britain. Plus the money goes towards a genuinely worthwhile cause and will change a lot of lives. For more information and to investigate further please visit the Alive and Kicking website or contact me on [email protected]

There's been a late goal in Marsabit!...but which way's it gone?

To say Marsabit was 'a bit' of a struggle to get to, would be akin to saying that Cristiano Ronaldo is 'a bit' full of himself. It was brutal. But we were to be rewarded. As Ed has said, the meeting with Fatuma and the HODI project was inspirational. It also heralded a game of football. It was also to be our honour to eschew our usual Bicester pub or roofing sponsored kit and wear the colours of the Marsabit United team sponsored by the HODI initiative itself.
 Sidenote here - Safe to say that there aren't too many 'bigger boned' players (I toyed with 'plus sized model') in the Northern Kenyan football communities. As the Large size kit was passed over me I could feel the sense of dread wash over me. An African Large is about the same as a UK medium, something I seem to remember bypassing in my teens. Any pictures of myself in the kit do confirm the 'look' I was 'rocking' was somewhere between Aussie rules football and a nightmare I once had.  At least on this occasion I had shorts on. 

To the game, and just getting started became a massive event in which it became clear the struggles Fatuma must face on a regular basis. 'Chat' chewing local youth refusing to leave the communal pitch, another youth initiative demanding to play us and what seemed like hundreds of kids everywhere. It was a testimony to her diplomacy skills that the game kicked off at all.
 FootballAfrica had it's usual supects turning out. An 11 a side game saw us take our place alongside some Marsabit regulars. Neil Evans continued his run in the team. It also marked the debut appearance for FootballAfrica's Charlotte Kennedy. Charlotte joined myself and Neil in the back 4 with one of Marsabits regulars at left back. A European flavour (or Flava for those Craig David fans out there) in defence, hoping some steel at the back would ably support the African flair for attack. Ed Barnard continued his midfield role and Andy remained in his favoured forward role.
 The team we played, Samba FC, were determined from the off. Strong runners from all over the park. Ed was having a good game in midfield however and was beginning to put himself about a bit. In fact it was Ed whose ball over the top put Andy in the clear for an emphatic finish. 1-0 to the FA/Marsabit Select.
 Unfortunately Samba FC equalised relatively quickly. Too many runners flooded the midfield and left us exposed at the back.1-1.Thereafter though, the ship was steadied. Neil Evans, playing in an unfamiliar Centre Half role was a revelation throughout the match. Marshalling the defence, imperious in the air. Whilst we weren't creating lots up front, we were solid at the back. As Charlotte crunched into a tackle that would've made Graeme Souness wince, I was quickly realising that I was the 5th best FA player. And the only one wearing a crop top.
  Half time came and went and we could be pretty satisfied with our efforts. At this point some of the Marsabit players were rotated. Whilst Neil and I were remonstrating to the sidelines that we had no right back, a woeful kick off lest us in the soup.2-1. We finally alerted them to our 10 man plight and an 11th joined us. Our newish team wasn't quite gelling as well as the first half and we'd lost our influential no 11 in the substituions. However the FA spirit is ever say die-ish and we began to press.
 A phenomenal strike by Andy, a volley dropping out the sky, was saved by a keeper so far out of position he was in the right place to save it, and it looked like defeat was on the cards. However an attack from the left and a cross driven in at the keeper. 'Driven' is a bit generous really. It was going backwards. However Dr Handcuffs in goal fluffed it. 2-2. One of the Marsabit boys budled it in and we got the draw we'd thoroughly deserved.
 The HODI project is wonderful thing and we were all delighted to wear the shirt, despite my fashion issues. This trip continues to be a revelation. With every step we seem to find an inspirational character, amazing cause, and people with a tremendous resolve to change the circumstances they find themselves in. Even in the face of stubborn and unnecessary resistance. We hope they continue to fight and overcome.

FootballAfrica line-up: Johnson 7 Kennedy 7 Evans 9 SUNSTARMAN Barnard 8 Howie 8

JJ FootballAfrica

Shoot 2 Score, Not to Kill – Marsabit and HODI

We roll into Marsabit, the buckled knee of the truly horrific leg driving down through Northern Kenya, with only one thought, to get the hell out of Marsabit.  

The atmosphere was tense, distinctly unwelcoming, that of an outpost town in an old western. Ironically it represented relative sanctuary in the otherwise bandit rich, sympathy poor stretch of road we were hobbling through in our attempt to reach Isiola and tarmac.

To add to our headache Jane needed work (worn seals in the brake callipers meant she was losing roughly a litre of brake fluid a day). However, the need for braking on the road was almost redundant given our top speed of 15km/h. The type of progress a snail makes on a salt stack.

Nevertheless we opted for a central camping spot to ensure we could get everything sorted and turn around as soon as possible. At the Jey-Jey Centre (gratifyingly named in anticipation of Justin Johnson’s arrival, or so he claimed) we set up our tents. The fact that the modestly more expensive option of hotel rooms wasn’t even considered  reveals how used to camping we have become.  Football Africa’s Gypo army. 

Anyway after we had pitched up, the hassling or ‘motivated proactive friendshipping for commercial gain’ started in earnest, with people visiting our compound with an assortment of documents verifying their intentions, offering tours to local sites etc.

Kenyan sales pitches certainly don’t lack for enthusiasm. Any salesman though will tell you that building rapport is the key to a successful pitch. The main way to achieved this is by mirroring the mood, intonation and demeanour of your target (in this case us).  Fortunately the average Kenyan isn’t aware of sales theory, given the response of apathy and general irritation they faced with.  Our mood mirrored would have provoked nothing short of vinegar.

Despite this one fortuitous conversation led to us discuss what we were doing, travelling through Africa, looking to play football and speaking to football charities on the way.  A lad called Jamal suddenly became very animated and said we absolutely needed to meet a lady who was running a football related charity.  

He led us to meet a lady called Fatma (pronounced Fat-u-ma) and the discovery of an inspirational project called HODI or Horn of Development Initiative.  We set up an interview.

As a single female Muslim, a female Kenyan lawyer living in the small town of Marsabit and a part time ladies football coach Fatma is unique.  She is soft spoken but has a reassuring, calming quality that makes her a compelling subject. She gave us background on the situation in Marsabit, which in turn explicated the uncomfortable atmosphere we felt in the town.

Marsabit is in a region covering Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya dominated by tribalism.  People here see ‘Kenya’ as starting where the asphalt roads begin around 300 miles south of the Ethiopian border. The tribes of Northern Kenya constantly compete for resources and cattle and are frequently involved in violent exchanges.  Children are indoctrinated to hate other tribes as much as they love their own.  Violent sorties attacking other tribes, planned by elders, executed by young men, frequently result in death. For bringing death to other tribe’s young men are exalted and rewarded with women and respect.  Attacks result in revenge attacks and rather than any attempt at mediation the ‘tit for tat’ killing remains unreported by the Kenyan media until it results in a massacre, as in Turbi in 2005 where 85 villages were slaughtered in the culmination of an ongoing dispute.

This massacre elevated tribal mistrust to a new level.  But it was out of this atmosphere that HODI’s football work began 4 years ago.  HODI’s response to combating the hatred borne out of tribal segregation was simple; mix the youth (foot soldiers) of the tribes up into football teams that play other similarly mixed football teams. Use the irresistible pull of football to get people talking to each other, relying on each other etc. 

Their slogan, ‘shoot 2 score not to kill’ sounds almost infantile in it’s simplicity until you find out that this really matches their reality.  Fatma told us that teams comprised of former adversaries, kids who had actually killed members of their team mate’s villages. That took us aback. HODI’s aim was to celebrate a goalscorer in the same way the village elders would celebrate killing.

Currently 35 teams operate under the HODI project; the majority are under 12, integrating them when they are young. They play under the banner of Mars United FC, which is just cool. They keep the team colours devoid of tribal stigma, blues and reds are affiliated with tribes in the region so greens and yellows are preferred. There is also a successful girl’s team, which Fatma coaches herself. They play in jeans or trousers and scarves as per Islamic requirement. It is hard to fully comprehend the quantum leap forward this represents for Marsabit’s girls, a community which is totally dominated by male elders, where women have very little and very hard fought public representation. The fact that the girl’s team looked fairly useful too was less hard to comprehend. The keeper looked dodgy though.

The culmination of the HODI football calendar was the ‘Peace Tournament’, which by sheer coincidence was being played and watched by thousands whilst we were obliviously looking for somewhere to thrown down our tents. So our usual knack for timing everything perfectly, especially film-making we managed to miss this annual event completely.  This was really only a minor regret as Fatma managed to organise a team for us to play. Match report will be appended.

The motivational aspect for us was that by being there, by having a broken braking system, by needing to get to Tackle Africa in Nairobi thereby driving down through Northern Kenya and by talking to strangers about football we were actually able to do something that we had totally signed on for and learnt about a wholly different set of issues.   

We gave them kid’s football strips, kindly donated by Felton Fleet School in Cobham, and plenty of footballs which they were grateful for. We played football against a HODI team and we will hopefully be able to help them get funding for the next stage in their development, a non-partisan pitch.  The games are currently played in Marsabit which carries tribal connotations that keep suspicious tribes folk away. A pitch in a ‘no man’s land’ with good facilities should eliminate suspicions and allow the flow of players to HODI to increase. It’s going to cost them $3.5k which seems an eminently achievable target. They are also in need of website after the person they entrusted web development monies with did a runner.

Anyway, a genuinely fortuitous, rewarding encounter and it doesn’t end there. Now we are in Nairobi we aim to meet up with Fatma again as she is also here coincidentally.  All these coincidences...

Ed

 

From the beginning of this trip I have observed and wondered about the women of Africa.Whether it’s to do with religion, tribal/family values or societies beliefs, they do not stand equal to their male counterparts. Religion has women cover themselves from head to toe so that their husbands and family can only see their beauty. Tribal and family values make the women hard working both on the lands and in the home. Married off at a young age to a man who may already have a wife, is a trap that even an educated woman can fall into. But not Fatma, a single twenty-something, educated lawyer and founder of the Horn Of Africa Development Initiative (HODI), Marsabit. This inspiring young lady has already pushed for differences in her quiet town from the fact that she is young, single and female.

Striving to change the mind set of the tribal groups in and around her town she is using football as the foundation of this change. Growing from 4 to 35 teams, from all ages INCLUDING a girls team, she has already made a sound start to teaching that you should “Shoot to Score NOT to Kill”. The use of football means that words such as “attack” are transformed pitch side to collectively get boys (and girls) from differing tribes, to use teamwork to attack the opposing team and not one another.

I looked at Fatma and saw hope that Africa may actually be able to change. The young lady sitting in front of me was not only trying to make a change for tribes but also women by not only being a role model and putting herself in the firing line but also trying to get the Elder’s (whom are obviously male) to integrate women speakers into the community meetings. If this is the start of a new generation of Africa, then maybe a happy medium can be found, one that incorporates a mixture of the tribal traditions but allows a peaceful communication and an outer community that all can be a part of without fear. Fatma is yet another unsung, unselfish hero of Africa that I have met on this journey. This educated woman could have got out of her home town of and made a new and better life else where. However she educated herself so that she could educate others from her town and make a difference from the familiar surroundings of home.

 

For more information read and join the Facebook group: Friends of HODI

Charlotte

Godanaw.

 Godanaw was something we were very privileged to see. It is a small, African devised and run charity that operates in Addis on the front line of the troubles it faces. How we ended up there was the usual checklist of chance meetings with vice-consul's and trips to local football clubs named after large utilities. What we saw there was not. For many African based charity organisations the situations that Godanaw deals with may be all too familiar. To observe it first hand was as saddening to see, as it was uplifting to be in the company of people trying to make some kind of difference.
 Godanaw is a shelter set up in Addis to look after young girls and their babies. The reason they need this help is that they are young girls, street girls, who have found themselves pregnant as a result of rape. Girls as young as 11 years old forced into an extraordinary situation. Ordinarily they would have nowhere to go, no-one to turn to. Crude abortions, back street doctors that would leave permanent harm would be their best option, I couldn't guess at what the worst would be. This is why Mulatu Tafesse set up Godanaw in 1995.
 

Mulatu himself has a remarkable story. A man of faith, he had worked all over the world as an engineer before deciding to start working with charity organisations to put something back into the African continent. I do him a massive disservice to skip too much of his back story but the man is an article in itself. He finally found himself in Addis, helping young girls who were the victims of rape and were now pregnant. He helped them to get proper medically overseen abortions to ensure their health and safety. Eventually Mulatu felt he couldn't reconcile this with his faith. He felt that the best way he could help would be to help these girls to raise the child, to rehabilitate the girls with skills that meant they could work and, ultimately, look after their children.
 He also felt that it was important these children should stay with their mothers and not be adopted, that they would miss their mothers too much and the bond between a mother and child. So he chose to create a place to nurture this, to allow mother to keep child, and to begin the rehabilitation process.
 Mulatu didn't invite us with his hands out, looking for money. Godanaw does need funds, but it also tries to ensure it's survival with self sufficiency.They make their own clothes to sell using machines left over from the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in World War II.

They sew as well, all done with their babies a few feet away in creches. With the help of a Scandinavian gentleman called Olle they are looking at producing and selling a detergent to raise funds. Godanaw needs finance to afford more accommodation, for more girls to find a home there.
 Ideologically, especially to a Western way of thinking, Godanaw raises interesting issues. It raises issues that despite having been discussed and debated for years, are still enough to spark a room to life even now. Political, religious and personal opinions have all had a pretty vocal forum in the UK  ever since I can remember. Everyone who reads about Godanaw will have their opinions on the rights and wrongs of what's involved. What I've learnt of Africa is that it's very much either 'do' or 'don't'. Mulatu feels this is the best way to help, and he is the person who wants to help and throw his life into it. Mulatu is a man who knows what it is like to lose a child, and you can sense his sadness and fears at having to turn girls away due to the lack of funds the organisation has.

It was quite a personal experience for me. When I told Mulatu that I was adopted as a baby he told me I was lucky. And I was. There are arguments back and forth about whether those who are adopted miss out on something. All I know, all I've ever known, is that the parents who I've missed greatly over the past few months, are the same parents who've loved and cared for me my entire life, and are the same parents I'm looking forward to seeing again on my return to share a beer with one, and a nice cup of tea with the other.
 Godanaw is an amazing place. The work that the few are doing to help the unfortunate many is admirable and I would urge people to look at the work they are doing at www.godanaw.org. It made me think a lot about where I came from and how lucky I am to be where I am today, with a wonderful array of friends and family surrounding me. I'm sure it had a similar effect on everyone in the FootballAfrica team.

True to form, I'll probably ruin this heartfelt sentimentality with some kind of joke.

I blame the parents.

Unbelievable amounts of love, especially to all our folks.

JJ FootballAfrica

 

So there I was… staring in the face of a child. A child, holding a child. A beautiful child of fifteen years old that was holding her own baby. A baby that she had conceived through no other reason than a bullish man’s use of power to obtain satisfaction. And now this young girl had to deal with the consequences, by becoming a young single mother, not to finish her studies, certainly never to further them at university to have a chance of making something of herself. However this girl wasn’t dirty, street begging or struggling to feed herself and her baby. She was clean, smiling and content! How your puzzled brain asks? Mulatu Tafesse, Godanaw Rehabilitation Integrated Project or GRIP would be your answer.

On meeting Mulatu you will be awed by his story of being in a car crash, unconscious for 2 months, his struggle over the years to regain the use of his legs and his questioning of the church about what he saw in Addis and how he could serve best in this life, leading to his now, lifetime dedication to helping female rape victims. Starting from one container that he wielded himself, Mulatu has built a safe haven for these victims to turn to. With the moto “Begging hands can work” he teaches the girls that they can use their hands to make money for them by teaching sewing, candle making, tailoring and hairdressing. The girls also have their chance of schooling where there are classes on literacy, writing and computing. This is all while their babies are taken care of in the centre’s nursery and as the girls are rehabilitated and their children grow they attend the school that is also on the compound which in total was around half the size of a football pitch!

Providing sheltering, skills training, school education and health and nutrition care enables Mulatu to show these young girls that although they have to grow up pretty fast, they can be a good parent and follow in his belief that the biological mother is best for the child.

Visiting the project you are stunned by the amount of things going on all at once. The differing teachings and learning that should have been completed by parents are being taught to parents so that they’re children have the correct information. And then you look at the foundations of the project and the fact that if it wasn’t for the pure dedication and determination of less than a handful of people, this magnificent oasis in the centre of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, wouldn’t exist.

Charlotte

For more information visit:

www.godanaw.org or email Mulatu on [email protected]

Around and about in Addis...

We managed to get a hook up to relax for a couple of hours at the British Embassy in Addis. Turns out there is a really nice swimming pool and hot shower there which was really nice as we hadn’t experienced a proper shower for a very long time. As we sat there soaking up the rays, a man popped over from the other side of the pool to have a little chat. He happens to be the Vice Consular at the Embassy (Neil Morris), a massive football fan and well hooked up to the Ethiopian Football Association. He invites us to join him at the National Stadium to watch an Ethiopian league game between Electric and Hawasa and also tells us that there is a good chance we can have a chat with Electric’s team manager after the game!

I’m not going to lie and tell you that it was the best football match I’ve seen but we did manage to film some of it and I got to commentate on it which was a nice touch. The match finished 1-0 to the away side (Hawasa) with a nicely taken goal from their number 14. Saying that it is an absolute miracle that the Hawasan goalkeeper didn’t concede a goal as he was quite literally one of the worst goalkeepers i’ve seen play in any stadium! Anyway the quality of football wasn’t too bad at all but the tackling leaves a little to be desired (two footed leg breaking lunges seem to not warrant a yellow card in Ethiopia).

The best part about it all was Neil introduced us to Belay, who is the Electric’s general manager. He invited us to visit their training ground the next day for a chat and look around. So we met him at the national stadium the next morning and he drove us to a field on the outskirts of Addis. We talked for at least an hour about the plans for the future of Ethiopian football and the challenges that lie ahead (Ethiopia are currently banned from playing international matched by FIFA due to leadership issues). We also talked about Tackle Africa and how football can help in raising awareness of health issues, especially HIV. He enthused over the coaching manual and really believes that it could be used within the Ethiopian Football Association to help educate the young players in the clubs.

We then had a quick kickabout on the training pitch and tried a few crossbar challenges. We weren’t great but I managed to hit the crossbar (it may have just been inside the centre circle but it still felt great) and Belay was suitably impressed with our collective skills. I think we all know that he was just being polite.

He then drove us to the Godanaw project which is a charity run by a very dedicated Ethiopian man (Matulu). It was set up 15 years ago to help homeless women who had been raped on the streets and who now had children or were pregnant. Matulu encourages the women not to put the children up for adoption but to bring them up themselves and also gives them shelter and education. This is covered in much more detail in another blog but the reason we found out about it is because Neil’s wife (Maria) had worked there as a dedicated volunteer for many years. It wasn’t a football project but we found out about it through football and knew it was definitely worth visiting and filming the work there. It was to be another very humbling and amazing experience........................................

 

Andy

Unbelievable Geoff! In pure anger he’s gone and punched the referee...

We arrived in Addis Ababa with no idea if anyone from the contacts we had knew we were coming. Thankfully after a quick email, Fasil Abraham from the CRDA (Christian Relief and Development Association – www.crdaethiopia.org) rang us the next day and arranged to come and meet us where we were camping. The CRDA are an umbrella organisation that help over 350 NGO’s in Ethiopia with funding, resources, educational development etc. Tackle Africa had met them around 6 years ago but nothing had really materialised for future development in that time due to the political problems in Ethiopia. Anyway it was to be a really successful meeting as Fasil and his colleague, Belai, agreed that there was massive scope for HIV football projects in many rural communities around Ethiopia and wanted Tackle Africa’s help in co-ordinating this as much as possible. So far so good.

We then arranged a football match for the next day on a grass pitch (!!!!!) somewhere in Addis.................................................

We turned up at around 8am as it gets too hot to play much later than that. The opposition looked like they could handle themselves alright and looked tidy in the warm up. We already had our 4 players (myself – striker, JJ – Centre half, Ed- Centre Mid and Welsh international Neil Evans – right mid) sorted but needed their help in giving us some more players. We started the game with a player less and this was to get worse – more on that later.

It started badly as the home side took an early lead after a bad hesitation from our goalkeeper. At this point we feared the worst but we shouldn’t have because minutes later Ed has sent me clear and I smashed home the equaliser. The rest of the half was a stroll as 2 of the home-grown players and Ed took control of central midfield for our team and a lead of 4-1 at half time told the story.

The second half was far too easy for us as the home side crumbled under the long ball over the top. I bagged a further 4 goals (should have had more except for bad refereeing and one truly atrocious finish) and Welshman Neil bagged his first of the tour with a neatly placed header. This was before one of the most astonishing moments on a football field I have seen since Eric Cantona kicked a fan in the face........ Our number 8, Fanta, who had been playing brilliantly before this, tried to keep the ball from going out of play and thought he had succeeded before the referee blew for a throw in. In an unbelievable fit of petulance, Fanta smashed the ball a mile before marching towards the referee to let him know how he felt. The referee stood his ground and they both screamed at each other before Fanta let fly with a mighty blow to the referee’s face. Cue absolute bedlam and a temporary stop to the game as the referee refused to continue with what seemed like a broken nose and stormed to the side of the pitch to find a rock to repay the damage done to his face. Thankfully this revenge mission was halted by a melee of players. Obviously Fanta got his marching orders and the game restarted. Truly jaw dropping stuff!

So we ended the game with 9 men but still ran riot with a 10-3 scoreline. We had turned our fortunes around after defeat in Gondar and we had also secured a really good contact for Tackle Africa. Good work all round, apart from the referee of course.

 

Line up: Evans 8, Johnson 7, Barnard 7, Howie 8, Fasil 8, Others range from 6-8 but  FANTA– 10* (SUNSTAR MAN for a quality blow to ref’s nose and genuine talking point the world over)

Andy

We’re pitchside with Geoff Shreeves in Gonder...........

Ethiopia. Amazing country. At times it couldn’t seem further away from those images we saw in ’85 or in the bits we kind of want to fast forward during Comic Relief whilst we wait for the comedy and/or Lenny Henry.

We had come to Gonder to meet ‘Link Ethiopia’, a charity that does great work in helping Ethiopian Schools by linking them with UK based schools. Charlottes school is considering such a link and I would urge you to get schools you know to think about it too. For £350 a year, the schools will gain a mutually beneficial link and the UK schools will be able to help support an Ethiopian school in dire need. Bob Geldof bit over.

Whilst in Gonder we met a young man called ‘Million’. He was a truly great chap, who helped us with a multitude of things, not least getting us our second competitive game of football. 11-a-side. At 2500 metres. Against Gonder University. The current champions. Unbeaten in 23 games.

Yep, my arse went a bit too.

We lined up requiring some players, who Million was able to cajole into playing with us. I think they were other students. Frankly, I haven’t a clue. My Aramaic only rivalled their English.

So, we could not communicate with these players. We didn’t know ‘pass’ or ‘shoot’ , we didn’t know names and we couldn’t say numbers. The team talk was going to be a doddle. Especially as we decided on 3-5-2 formation. You may query the decision to use a less obvious formation but there was a massive reluctance for anyone to play at the back. This was to become a feature of the performance.

 

I have to say that the next bit was particularly Ace. The ground had a tunnel. Which we got to run out of. I closed my eyes and for a second it was Old Trafford, or Wembley, as we ran through it there was better news for the goosebumps. The grandstand was full. About 700 odd students were there and we were treated to a rousing reception. I was Glenn Hoddle, I was Bryan Robson, I was Roy Keane. Sadly for FA XI this was very much in my head. My body, as ever, failed to fall into line.

 

We started with vim and vigour. We had recruited a French goalie ‘David’ and he seemed solid enough. Fans of FootballAfrica will remember Welshman Neil who stayed in the starting lineup. I filled in on the left side of the back 3. Ed remained in midfield, and Andy led the line, up front with a player the local lads called ‘Shearer’.  More on that lesson in irony later.

We conceded first but thankfully not early. A darting little near post run and a scuffed fiish past our keeper. I saw the boy go, but he’s 20, I’m 31. The idea that there was even a contest belittles ‘contests’. But we rallied. We got our defence into shape and whilst we never got going as a team, we were treading water, and eventually creating chances. A few corners, a header well saved, then a crafted cross shot from the right with the left foot from our number 10. 1-1. Keeper no chance. We would hold this lead until half time. Speaking was hard. No breath at altitude and it as bloody hot too.

We wanted to sub ‘Shearer’ off but it was made clear to us that that wasn’t going to happen. Awkward. We went into the second half unchanged. Only minutes in ‘Shearer’ turned, his second touch as ever was a header, then as the ball bounced awkwardly, and from about 35 yards out on the angle, he felt a shot was appropriate. This skewed some 30 foot into the air.

As I watched this ridiculous piece of decision making, open mouthed, I noticed Andy shuffling around by the goalie. Was the ball going to drop in play?! 2-1 to FootballAfrica! A good striker always follows up and Andy put away a tricky volley.

Now I’d love to end the story right there. Victory against the top University team in the country, a home crowd respectfully risen to it’s feet, a slow handclap that turns to tumultuous applause and the approval of the Ethiopian president. Basically the end of Rocky 4. Sadly this wasn’t the case.

The university team, a little/lot wounded fought back. Subs were made. A few of our lads decided that, basically, defending simply wasn’t for them and the Gonder team struck back. We held 2-2 for a while and then succumbed. Myself and Neil, with poor David, found ourselves very much alone at times as 6 or 7 of the Gonder team steamed forward.

They rolled out 5-2 victors in the end, but we are rightly proud of our efforts. We led one of the best young teams in Ethiopia and though tiredness and talent eventually told, we earned our sleep that night. Everyone shook hands and the atmosphere was amazing. Also a massive thanks to our sponsors at Bicester Roofing Co Ltd. Suffice to say our use of the old Bicester town kit was brilliantly baffling to the Ethiopian students.

 

Line up: David 7 Neil 7 Johnson 6 Barnard 6 Howie 7 Others 3-8 ( No 10 was SUNSTARMAN)

God Bless you all, The right honourable JJx

 

 

 

 

Linking Cranford to Ethiopia

Hi, Charlotte here. I must admit I wasn’t quiet sure what to expect when I said I was going to try to set up a link with my school in Hounslow, SW London to a school in Africa. The images I conjured in my head were nothing of what I saw and although on the outside you see a designated area, a school sign and a structure of a school site when delving into the reality of an Ethiopians child experience of school is quiet another story.

 

A Cranford student would (in their eyes) be rudely awoken by an alarm clock or parent, get dressed probably leaving the house without breakfast (because they chose to) getting on a bus and getting into school with a whinge about the early start to the day. Five lessons with break and lunch then meander home to snacks, telly and homework. I know I‘ve probably over analysed this but in all it’s a good education with the latest technology in every classroom and chance to succeed in many areas.

On the other hand an Ethiopian pupil goes to school in either the morning (8-12) or afternoon (12.30-4) because there are not enough schools, space or teachers to teach all of the pupils in a school day. Either side of the school day, regardless of going to school in the morning or afternoon, the pupils help with household and farming duties. The classes are crammed with 3 pupils to a desk a teacher and a chalk board. The classes are immaculately silent and the pupils have to share resources to complete their work.

 

Prospects after school differ hugely too! Around 85% of students at Cranford both male and female complete their GCSE’s and A levels with enough points to go to university. In Ethiopia, out of the 3888 students who go through the school life, only 230 will take the equivalent of GCSE, A levels and continue to University. It will also be a higher percentage of males than females that complete these exams.

Suffice to say that things are “tougher” for those pupils who study in Ethiopia but it doesn’t mean that the system doesn’t work and that there aren’t many success stories. It’s brilliant that organisations like Link  Ethiopia exist and can create these learning curves, financial aid and link between different people in differing continents.

,

	Cranford Community College (guestimate)	Ghion Community and Preparatory School (audit)
No of Students	1400	3888
No of Teachers	150	45 per ½ day
No of classrooms	120	38
No of Computers	300	28
Internet	Broadband	None
No of taps	100	6 taps/3 working
No of toilets	Separate male, female and teachers totalling around 50 toilets	NO WATER 1 male house = 6 holes 1 female hole = 6 holes 1 teachers = 4 holes
No of students in a class	Average 28	70
Government funding per pupil	£20	10 birr (15 birr = £1)