United Nations Association Film Festival
Stanford, California
Screenings will take place:
October 22-31, 2010. Showtimes: TBD
Welcome Home
Patricia de Lille and Lance Greyling with team
The players returned home to South Africa this week. While there were some bumps along the way, they are now all home, safe and sound. Soon after they landed, they were invited to Parliament and were recognized by Patricia de Lille, the leader of the Independent Democrats political party. Also, they were welcomed by Kgalema Motlanthe who served as President of South Africa between September 25, 2008 and May 9, 2009, completing the second term of Thabo Mbeki. He currently serves as Deputy President of South Africa and of the African National Congress.
These leaders spoke of how proud they were of the team for representing South Africa in Milan and for bringing home the Milan Cup, which Martin Afrika presented to Deputy President Motlanthe while at Parliament.
Kgalema Motlanthe with the team
Interviews for local news media
Taryn Aveley, FUWL regional coordinator with 2009 team captain, "Mabuthi"
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
SA Won!!!
Winners of the Milan Cup!
South Africa is officially the winner of the 2009 Milan Cup! This is the third division trophy and is a great victory for SA. They played a fantastic final game against Malawi. The crowds were chanting for South Africa, waving their flag–some of their friends from other teams even wore SA’s warm up suits in support of South Africa. They played a focused and solid game and won 9-1. It was a day to celebrate in Milan, completed by the first place Homeless World Cup victory, won by the Ukraine team.
As the players head back to South Africa, the weight of unknown futures is heavy in the air. Some go home to organizations or family members yet others head back unsure of what will come next. The return from this amazing event is often challenging. In a world and economy that is difficult for all, these men are no exception. With trophy in hand and a deeper sense of self, they return to their home country to seek new opportunities for their futures.
I am daily overwhelmed and inspired by their resilient and hopeful spirits. As we head back to the States, their presence will surely be missed.
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
Winning Streak
South Africa has come back with a force! Winning today against the USA and Romania, South Africa is going on to compete for the third division cup, playing against Malawi! Tomorrow’s a big day….
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
Lewis Hamilton, San Siro and Germany
Posing with Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 racer
The last few days have been quite eventful including a visit from British Formula 1 racer, Lewis Hamilton, an excursion to San Siro Stadium and a day at the pool. Asanda was injured and after a visit to the emergency room, realized he won’t be able to play for the rest of the tournament.
Today the players entered the field ready to enjoy themselves against Germany and took the game! At one point, the team was left with only 2 players on the field when Martin was taken out of the game. Also, the goal keeper was pulled out for negative behavior and Ephraim was put in as a substitute. With Asanda injured, Martin out, and an unpracticed goal keeper, they managed to focus in and score enough to win in the end! Colin and Thulisile scored a series of impressive goals and Ephraim and Rushaad defended well against their opponent. Tomorrow they play Romania to compete for one of the lower level trophies.
South Africa vs. Ghana
Asanda is injured and must sit out the rest of the tournament
Ephraim taking over as goal keeper, helping to win the game against Germany
Lewis Hamilton visits the Homeless World Cup
Colin and Cheslyn at San Siro Stadium
Martin at San Siro Stadium, home of AC Milan
A break at the pool
Posing with the Homeless World Cup
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
Match Update!
Due to the outcome of several other team’s games yesterday, the South African team is still in the running for the first place Homeless World Cup trophy! Check back soon to see how they place!!!
–Christina Ghubril
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
Day 3: Life Worth Living
The South African team showed up this morning ready to play hard. After losing their first match yesterday, they need to win 3 matches in order to remain in the running for the cup. They were neck and neck with Wales during their first game but ultimately won 6-4. They went on to win their next game with Japan by a whopping 17 to 1. They’re ready tomorrow to play Kazakhstan and Hungary, hopefully to move on to the semi-finals.
Afterwards, Martin shared that their success on the pitch is important in revealing the team’s worth to their homeland. While they are forgotten on the streets, if South Africa would recognize all they have to offer, their country would be a better place. Drugs, he explained, are enticing on the streets because they offer a boost of confidence and a rush of adrenaline but playing and winning a game offers a buzz that’s even greater than drugs. If people on the streets were given opportunities like this more often, he thinks no one would turn to drugs and then confidently stated that he will never turn to drugs again. For one of the first times, Martin said he believed his life was worth something.
These are the stories we are honored to witness and look forward to sharing fully with the release of Streetball in 2010. Martin is a daily example of the power of hope. It has been amazing watching his and his teammates’ stories unfold.
Martin
Cheslin and Colin
Ephraim
Colin
Blog and photos by Christina Ghubril
Jitsvinger, Fruit Stands and Sandile
Fruit Crates in Stellenbosh
As our days in South Africa hint of ending soon, we are trying to capture all the missing pieces of this story. Find all the voices that still need to be heard, get all the shots that are needed for a solid film. It’s been a great few days for gathering some of the final elements of this project.
Yesterday we left early to meet with Jitsvinger (translation: The Dope One), a Cape Town based hip hop artist who has gained international acclaim for his music. Jits keeps all of his lyrics in his native tongue, Afrikaans. Told that he needed to rap in English if he ever wanted to make it past his own community, he took it as a challenge to prove everyone wrong and be the first internationally recognized Afrikaans MC. He has agreed to be one of the artists that appears in the film, adding to the texture and cultural landscape of this story on South Africa’s 2008 Homeless World Cup team.
Jitsvinger
Also important to Jits is being a positive role model in his community. After spending the day with Jits on his cousin’s fruit selling route, we followed him to his performance at the District 6 Museum, for a Freedom Day celebration (Freedom Day remembers South Africa’s first non-racial, democratic elections in 1994). Along the fruit route, we learned about different communities and about the fruit selling industry from the folks who sell the “third-tier” fruit. The “first-tier” is packaged and sent overseas to Europe, “second-tier” is packaged and sent to local grocery stores and “third-tier” fruit is gathered by local vendors and taken into the townships to sell to the community stands and shops there. The people who sell this fruit take pride in their work and in the knowledge that they are bringing healthy food into their communities and that they are able to provide for their families without resorting to theft, drug dealing or other desperate means.
In between fruit stands and concerts we stopped by the University of Cape Town to interview Dr. Cathy Ward, graduate professor of Psychology. Dr. Ward’s research is focused on issues of substance abuse and violence in local communities, particularly the ways in which it affects the lives of local youth. She was a wealth of knowledge and insight and her input in the film is greatly appreciated.
Today we visited the trials for the 2009 Homeless World Cup. Sandile was there, helping to coach the incoming players. We caught up and shot an interview with him, hearing how life has been since he got back from Australia. Full of ups and downs, he says. It has been a mixed journey for Sandile but he is keeping his head up and his goals set. I hold a great deal of hope for his story.
First days of the 2008 Homeless World Cup
Thapelo in Opening Parade
Sicelo in Melbourne
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We have now been in Australia for two days. As traveling usually is, it has been quite a whirlwind of events. There were several near missed flights with our crew running through international airports, Sandile spent a night alone in Johannesburg due to a flight mix-up, the second crew had trouble leaving the country and so missed their flight from Hong Kong to Australia and ultimately canceled the first day’s games. However, everyone is now safely in Melbourne and so far, having a magnificent time.
Players from India
Player during opening festivities
The opening ceremony was a special event. Local musicians and indigenous Australian dancers performed for all of the teams. Mel Young, the creator of the Homeless World Cup, spoke to the crowd, encouraging each player on their journey. The event ended with a drumming crew playing through the hall and many of the players from around the world dancing together on the stage at Melbourne University, where the event is being held.
I was moved nearly to tears several times during the ceremony. There are 56 countries from all over the world represented at this year’s event. It is a beautiful sight to see flags, country colors, jerseys and hundreds of excited faces from so many places and cultures. Multiply that by the scenarios these athletes have lived through and the hope that is inherent in their presence here, at an international competition, and I was more inspired than I have been even by the Olympics. There are some absolutely phenomenal individuals at this event and the city is buzzing from it all.
Portugal
Namibia women
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Melbourne has done what seems to me to be a fantastic job of organizing for the Homeless World Cup. Over 900 volunteers are coordinating all of the games, the crowds, the set up, etc. Local schools have assigned different teams to their various classes and so each team has a solid fan base and is being chased by kids who want the players’ autographs and arrive enthusiastically, country flags painted on their cheeks in each team’s colors.
Supporter of Ethiopia
East Timor
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The games began yesterday and every team showed up ready to fight. These preliminary rounds are the placement games. Because no one is allowed to play in the HWC more than one time, each year it is unknown which teams will be the strongest. Last year, Scotland won first place. From the matches I saw yesterday, many were close calls between equally solid teams. There were a few significant wins, however. In particular, the team from England is tough. They scored goal after goal and all of their players showed up with incredible strength and ferocity. From the sidelines with my camera, I thought I might lose my head a couple of times. Also, the women’s team from Kyrgyzstan did very well. Their team looks young and potentially passive but their skill and footwork was impressive and they won a solid victory against Australia, as well.
England (in White) Vs. Sweden
Players from England
Street soccer is a bit different than field soccer. Each team has 3 players on the court and one keeper/goalie. One player must be on their side of the court playing defense at all times. The court is much smaller and the games are 15 minutes each, played in two halves. The walls of the court are used to bounce the ball off of and pass it to other players so to win, one must be ready for a lot of fast running and brave handling of a ball that is being shot with great power around the court.
Thapelo signing autographs
South Africa supporter
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Our guys play their first game at 4:40 today. They are more than fired up and excited to get out there and play. They will be playing Chile, in this round. Tomorrow, they are up against Greece. Send up some good thoughts for South Africa!
