Back in Cape Town

Demetrius and I are back in South Africa. It all happened in a whirlwind sort of fashion, and now here I am, sitting under the beautiful Cape Town sun ready to share about our last few days.

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It’s been a little over three months and we’re back to catch up with the players from the 2008 Homeless World Cup team as well as fill in some of the holes in the story of our documentary film. It’s always an adventure! Many exciting things have happened in the last few months. The film was officially titled “Street Ball,” which we are pleased about, and is in process of being edited from over 100 hours of footage into a 120 minute doc. Thapelo has moved into an apartment and started taking classes at the University of Cape Town, Riaan has started back at school and is doing very well, Martin is in the final round of trials for the 2009 Homeless World Cup team and Rasta, Sandile and Thapelo are helping to coach the 2009 team!

We recently met with the leaders of what was formerly the Western Cape Street Soccer League. They have spent the last few months developing what is now South African Homeless Street Soccer or SAHSS. Seeking to work around the year both with the members of the Homeless World Cup teams as well as to use street soccer as a preventative measure to keep kids off of the streets, SAHSS’s goal is to grow beyond the borders of Cape Town and partner with organizations around the country who use street football as a means to build relationships and life skills with street people. Ultimately, the aim is to have a team for the Homeless World Cup that represents the many communities in South Africa.

After meeting with SAHSS, we interviewed Cornelia Finch, the Manager of Social Development for the city of Cape Town. She works closely with SAHSS and was linked to the Western Cape Street Soccer League, as well. She joined the team for the 2008 Homeless World Cup in Australia to offer support to the players. It was great to have her input on how street soccer is a meaningful tool to reach street people here in South Africa and why it is a worthy cause to fund.

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Yesterday, Gavin and Ricardo, two men who work with SAHSS toured us around several neighborhoods in Cape Town that we had not previously visited and introduced us to many community leaders and organizations working with street people.  Gavin took us to an overlook in Khayalitcha and Ricardo showed us around Elsies River where we met local shop owners, activists, folks who work for the ANC’s office there as well as the woman and son duo who run Tehilla, a home for former street people.

Gavin

Ricardo

With only a few days left in Cape Town, we are planning to pack in meetings with local News offices, professors, players, and coaches as well as gather some updated footage of locations, team trials, and iconic sites we have yet to capture on film. More videos with local artists are also on the agenda and then we’ll head to Knysna and Johannesburg to gather footage and stories there. All in the next two and a half weeks!