A kick-start for street kids
A charity is using football as a platform to not only boost the self esteem of street children across the globe, but to offer them protection and opportunities that they are entitled to.
A charity is using football as a platform to provide street children across the globe the protection and opportunities they are entitled to.
BRAZILIAN World Cup winner Gilberto Silva knows what it is like to grow up without money. Still, it didn’t stop him from crying when he heard about the distressing story of a homeless child.
“I came from a poor background, but at least I had my family around me,” said the 39-yearold, a former midfielder who won the World Cup in 2002 and was also a key member of the Arsenal side known as the “Invincibles” that went through a season unbeaten in the Premier League.
“Of course there were challenges for me, but they were nothing compared to the stories I hear from the many street children I meet. One recent chat with a youngster reduced me to tears.”
Silva, who is now technical director at Panathinaikos, a football club in Greece, recently met up with the children at the Street Child World Cup, an initiative that hopes to end the stigma attached to children living on the streets from all corners of the world.
John Wroe, of Street Child United, a charity based in the United Kingdom, is preparing for its third world cup in Russia in 2018, and said homeless children gained feelings of self-worth through football.
“We can through our world cup for street kids, help break down barriers,” he said at the SoccerEx Global Football Convention in Manchester, England.
“It allows their voices to be heard on a level-playing field. Instead of being referred to in Colombia as ‘the plague’ or in Vietnam as the ‘dust of life’, they become people when they play football.”
The game helps boost their confidence and self esteem.
Wroe, who says the United Nations estimate of 150 million children living on the streets globally would make them the ninth-largest country in the world, believes children need three basic rights. “They want protection from violence, which was shockingly reflected at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when 14-year-old Rodrigo Celton, a street teen, was murdered a fortnight before the final.
“They must have laws in place and the right to have their births registered – if you don’t officially exist, how can you be protected? They must also have access to education, some are aspiring to be nurses, lawyers, but how can they if the system prevents them from doing so?”
Wroe said the Street Child World Cup he organises for street children is held on the same year that the World Cup is held (which is once every four years), and gives street children a rare global platform.
“The 2014 world cup had an audience of 200 million globally and it sparked really positive messages,” he said.
“We had people like Prince William and Pope Francis sending us messages.”
Wroe cited the example of Tanzanian youngster Sadaq as an instance of the Street Child World Cup “opening doors that would otherwise remain closed”.
“He met with the minister of sport ahead of the 2014 world cup and he told Sadaq, ‘I’m giving you a national flag because you are representing our country, you achieved this’. They went on to win the tournament (beating Burundi 3-1) and they returned home and were given an opentop bus ride and welcomed into the parliament. This is in a country that rarely qualifies for the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Wroe.
Benevolent side
Silva saw the charitable side of football when he was at Arsenal, which is renowned for its work in its community in north London and has engaged with Save the Children on several projects abroad – at a refugee camp in Iraq and an education project in China. But he said the Street Child World Cup offers something different through football.
“It shows the power a football can have. It can transform lives. The kids are focused and people tend to pay them more attention,” he added.
Wroe cited one example of the dangerous challenges facing children -- and how they are being slowly overcome. “One of the Brazilian girls simply known as Drika, lifted the 2014 world cup and created a ‘safe space’ for a pitch in the midst of a favela (slum)” he said.
“The surrounding walls were littered with bullet holes. When some of the boys turned up to play, they came armed with Kalashnikovs (guns).
“They were told that they could not bring them to the field. It was amazing to see the stack of various guns piled up behind the goalpost!” said Wroe.
He added that Drika, who has impressed many people with her project and was invited to Dallas by (the Olympic great) Michael Johnson this year, is using football to protect her community too.