NAMIBIA is to compete at the Homeless World Cup, an annual international tournament that provides an opportunity for homeless people to change their lives.
The sixth Homeless World Cup takes place in Melbourne, Australia, from December 1 to 7, and will include the first Women’s Cup in the tournament’s history.
Eight national women’s teams will participate from Cameroon, Columbia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Zambia, Liberia and Paraguay.
About 77 per cent of players involved in the tournament manage to turn their lives around – no longer using drugs and alcohol, moving into homes, getting jobs, education, training, repairing relationships and becoming coaches or players with semi-pro teams.
About 94 per cent claim to have a renewed motivation for life.
Michele da Silva played for Team Brazil at the Copenhagen 2007 tournament and was recently selected for Brazil U/21 women’s squad.
Cherie from Team Liberia has won a four-year athletic scholarship to an American college.
Mel Young, Founder and President of the Homeless World Cup, says women participating in previous Homeless World Cups have been successful in changing their lives.
‘They become change-makers and inspirational leaders in their communities. We want to invite many more women to participate and a partnership with Women Win that will grow as both organisations develop is great way to create effective lasting change,’ she said
The founder and executive director of Women Win, Astrid Aafjes, says: ‘Homeless World Cup and Women Win share mutual values and goals using sport as an empowerment strategy for homeless and disadvantaged girls and women worldwide. By working together we can further raise awareness and have a greater impact.
‘Women Win is proud to support the Colombia homeless women’s team this year. The position of women is very difficult in Colombia due to the years of conflict. Especially this group, homeless women, they suffer from gender related violence, low levels of education and are working on the streets from young ages.’
BACKGROUND
The Homeless World Cup is a world-class international football tournament that has triggered and supports grassroots football programmes in over 60 nations engaging 30 000 players who are homeless all year round.
At the sixth Homeless World Cup in Melbourne, 56 nations will be united for a tournament and a legacy of 30 street soccer programmes rolled out by The Big Issue magazine in Australia.
The inaugural Homeless World Cup kicked off in Graz, Austria, uniting 18 nations. Since then it has gained great momentum in Gothenburg, Sweden (2004), Edinburgh, Scotland (2005), Cape Town, South Africa (2006) and Copenhagen, Denmark (2007). It will be held in Milan in 2009.
Founded by world-leading social entrepreneur Mel Young, the Homeless World Cup is supported by UEFA, Nike, The Vodafone Foundation, Global Ambassador Eric Cantona and international footballers Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand.
To make a donation to the Women’s Homeless World Cup, visit www.globalgiving.com/womenscup
For more information about the Homeless World Cup, go to www.homelessworldcup.org and aboutWomen Win go to www.womenwin.org.
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