Features

Afrikit: speaking the universal language of sport

By Lauren Merryweather
Published: 17/05/2010

A love of football knows no borders, as Forge Press finds out from the five Sheffield student founders of Afrikit, a donation project with a difference.

Ronaldo. Messi. Rooney. The shirts read like an international dream team. But the wearers couldn’t be further from the indulgent luxuries, tangled private lives and multi-million pound transfers that are everyday routine for their heroes.

This is rural Kenya - probably not the first place that comes to mind when you think of The Beautiful Game.

But to say football is huge in Africa is an understatement. Despite an ingrained pessimism that accompanies the struggles of civil war and the AIDS epidemic, one thing that is never lost is a passion for football.

Like all devoted fans, the kids want to show their allegiance to their favourite team by tearing up the pitch in their strip.

Helping them show their support is a group of Sheffield University footballers who decided to make a positive difference to communities over 4,000 miles away by launching a shirt donation project earlier this year.

The Afrikit scheme collects unwanted football shirts and sends them off to children in Africa.

Co-founder and second-year student Terry Denness explained that many of his friends and fellow footballers had spare shirts lying around and wanted to put them to good use.

"We know how much football means to people in Africa - they’re so passionate about the game. So with the World Cup coming up this year, we thought it’d be as good a time as any to set up a project like this."

The sport’s legacy in Africa is as marred as it is triumphant. Earlier this year two Togolese officials and an Angolan coach lost their lives during a rebel attack in the middle of the African Cup of Nations.

The incident was a reminder of how volatile social unrest can be in the region. This year’s World Cup in South Africa is thrusting the entire Sub-Saharan region under the spotlight.

As the World Cup draws closer, the world waits with baited breath. But Africans are used to international scrutiny and are determined that the tournament will be a success. There is a great sense of pride in being given the opportunity to host such a prestigious and popular event.

But in the stark reality of their lives, what good is a piece of material to children who have so little?

"We’re not trying to change the world or end poverty," Terry explained. "These children have a passion for football; we just want to give them some enjoyment."

This is exactly what the shirts achieve. Football provides respite; it allows children the freedom to be children in a world that imposes burdensome responsibilities upon them.

By far the greatest challenge facing the Afrikit lads is the logistics of shipping hundreds of shirts to the world’s least developed continent.

As Terry says, "The project’s had a great response. We’ve spoken to Decathlon who has agreed to put deposit bins in their stores. But the success of the project is entirely dependent on distribution. It’s difficult to target areas and more a case of getting the shirts out to places we can realistically reach."

This is how one hundred shirts came to arrive in Marich, in the West Pocot region of Kenya last month, after two post-grad Geography students crammed them into their luggage en-route to their field trip.

One of the pair, Leo Roberts, described his experience of the Rift Valley as "hard"; "but we felt good about what we were doing.

"The shirts being sent out is a great thing. The developmental problems mean that money donated just isn’t getting to the right places."

A friendly match was organised between two local schools and the visiting students, which proved a humbling experience.

"It says a lot that the few English phrases the kids knew were to do with football.

"They play the game all the time; they’re just crazy about it. Some of them were really, really good. They always play barefoot amongst thorns and uneven ground that we could barely walk on in flip flops."

Like many others, Leo is concerned with the developmental issues for the forthcoming World Cup.

"I’m certain it will be a lot more successful than what its critics think, but I have reservations about how much it will contribute to communities", said Leo, before going on to say that investment needed to keep the long-term future in mind.

It may seem surprising that a pile of football shirts can bring so much joy, but it is understandable given the background and nature of the game.

"The kids were so chuffed when we handed out the shirts", said Leo. "The project may not be saving lives but it really does make the children happy."

It just goes to show that millions can be donated to a cause but sometimes, with a little thought and fun thrown in, it is the simple things that count.

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