The Sunday News
SPORT has always been useful in reaching out to the youths through messages of hope and awareness the world over. An example of such an initiative is the Homeless World Cup run in South Africa every year. The focus of the South Africa Homeless Street Soccer is creating developmental opportunities for youths living on the streets as well as those in very difficult circumstances within informal settlements.
Each year the youths participate in the Homeless World Cup with the view of giving opportunities to those less fortunate. SAHSS also partners with a similar organisation called Oasis “Reach for Your Dreams” to offer accommodation to participants before and after the Homeless World Cup, with emphasis being on working out an exit plan.
In Bulawayo, Bulawayo Baptist Church, under some of its ministries, runs a soup kitchen every Tuesday and Friday where the under-privileged are served a hot meal. After these meals, children living on the streets usually hang around for a game of soccer playing against their “privileged” colleagues from the church.
The games have also proved a platform for the church youths to reach out to their less fortunate colleagues, impart hope and inspire them to be courageous in the midst of their dire circumstances.
This past week, an effort to use football to bring hope and encourage these young people in the faith was implemented with youths from the church gathering to play football with children living on the streets at the play grounds opposite Eveline High School’s Langdon Hostel.
A 24-year-old Joe Shoko, a former bungee boy from Falcon College usually co-ordinates the soccer matches at the church, but last week’s programme was different because of the presence of 22-year-old Jake Reimer, a student at the Southern Methodist College in Dallas, Texas.
Reimer, who is spending his summer in Bulawayo, has reached out to young people, sharing hope in Jesus through various initiatives with soccer being one of them.
Studying a double major in Finance and Political Science, with a concentration in Risk Management and Insurance, Reimer said sport was an effective way to bring people from all backgrounds together.
“Soccer is a great way to just connect with anyone from the world and we are using it to reach out to these youngsters from the church’s soup kitchen. We have also been playing with youngsters from the church too. It’s been a great time out here,” said Reimer, who also plays American football.
Although small, the initiative could be a starting point for something great in the future.
“It is my desire that because I am only here for a short time, Joe and the others guys would have these clinics on a more regular basis. They just run and become something that is available for young people to look forward to,” Reimer added.
Various initiatives of huge scale have been witnessed across the world which has been useful in reaching out to young people. An organisation called Slum Soccer was registered as a non-governmental charitable trust organisation in India, governed by the Public Trust Act of the state of Maharashtra in 2001 under a board of directors.
Slum soccer promotes development through the medium of football on a daily basis.
It provides youths a chance to play football and will not only enhance their fitness but also skills like team-building, self-esteem, friendship, togetherness with the society, self-confidence and creativity. Organised coaching sessions with various trained coaches are conducted touching as many as 700 hundred children everyday.
“Our intentions with the soccer after the soup kitchen are to have a platform where we can encourage these young men and make sure we teach them the right things. Although this might not be enough for people like street kids who have really huge needs, we believe it’s a starting point in society’s efforts to rehabilitate them and help them in their needs,” said Shoko, who works regularly with the homeless youngsters at the soccer field.
Last year, media reports revealed rampant abuse of drugs and sexual abuse on the streets in Zimbabwe. The Consortium for Street Children, an international member–based network dedicated to promoting and advocating for the rights of children living on the streets, said there were multiple factors that led to children living and working on the streets. The consortium pointed out that unemployment, ravaging effects of HIV and Aids pandemic, family poverty, persistent droughts, family breakdowns, crime, neglect, physical and sexual abuse led to some children finding themselves living outside the family environment.
