football for everyone

 

So, our trip to Africa started off with a 14 hour layover in the Gatwik, London airport. Then a nights stay in the Gambia at a YWAM base there, which is a country in the middle of Senegal. In the morning we took a drive south for 3 hours to get to Zguinchor, Senegal. The base has runing water that we filter and most of the time, electricity. We wash our clothes like the locals, by hand. We rested for the first few days to get aclimated and then got to do our first ministry. There are over a hundred boys that come daily to the Talabi center. They are allowed to play football, (aka soccer) get some Bible teaching, eat the only meal that they will have in the day cooked for them by 2 very hard working women whom work there 5 days a week 5 hours or more a day for nothing. The ministry started because the oppression of Islam. The boys have al been taken or sold by their parents to be brought up as Muslims to men called Marabous. The parents think they will recieve a great blessing if their son is brought up this way. They learn the Koran daily in Arabic, but they provide little else.

The reality is that they are put out in the streets at 4-5 years old to beg money. If they don't come back with their daily quota, they are beaten. So, the center was created for these boys to have some joy in their lives. At the center, they are given soap to wash thier clothes, (what little they are wearing) take a shower, talk with friends, play football and feel safe.

In the morning when they enter, they are required to give the money for their muslim leaders over to the center for safe keeping until they leave. That way, at the end of the day, they will have met the quota the Marabou requires of them and this keeps them from being mistreated for the most part.

When they play football, they get to wear uniforms that some people have donated for the teams. You can really see that these uniforms are the newest clothes they have even seen and you can see the pride and joy when they get to put it on to play football. Some may have one shoe or maybe a sock or 2, but generally, they play barefoot or in sandals. It is rare that one would have shoes for both feet.

The center also works with the medical center down the street to provide them with some medical care, the only they would see otherwise. After the football matches, a Bible course is given, then they eat. The workers here are very patient but overworked. I can't believe how much they do and how few of them there are.

Pray for more workers to help ease the load off these volunteers that give so much. There is also a welding shop to try and teach the boys a trade, but there is no money for materials and they only get one meal a day, so this is not a priority at this point.