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UNHCR breathes life into Banda slum soccer project
For The Love Of The Game. Hundreds of slum dwellers watch action during the Slums Soccer Tourney final held at the Acholi Quarters Grounds in December 2019. The UNHCR has boosted works on the community field. PHOTO | GEORGE KATONGOLE
What you need to know:
- Ray Of Hope. It has been long since whistling referees, excited fans’ cheers and the sound of feet striking balls were heard across Uganda thanks to Covid-19. For Acholi Quarters, those cheers will be justified when action resumes.
Patches of white polythene bags paint most of the only playground in Acholi Quarters, one of Kampala’s biggest slums found in Banda, Nakawa Division.
Before the Covid-19 shockwave lockdown, endless dust blew into the shanty houses when children played from morning to dawn. It is the sad story of the playground, the only open space for the community on the hill between Banda and Kireka, extending all the way to the Kampala-Jinja Highway.
All is not lost, though, as a new ray of light bounces on the horizon for the community which is dominated by people who escaped the Joseph Kony insurgency in northern Uganda.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in partnership with the Ritah Aliguma Foundation have sealed a partnership to rehabilitate the playing field.
Rehabilitating the surface
During a ceremony to hand over an assortment of equipment that will be used to upgrade the field, the UNHCR country representative Joel Boutroue said the programme was aimed at using football to reduce stress among the children.
“Those children need opportunities to exercise. A decent pitch is what they need now,” Boutroue said as he handed over hand hoes, slashers, sickles, spades, axes and hard ground balls at the agency’s headquarters in Kololo on Monday.
The UNHCR says that Uganda remains the largest refugee host country in Africa with some 1.4 million refugees. But Boutroue explains that the motive to support the playground upgrade lies in the fact that slums in Kampala host many urban refugees.
“I was impressed by the passion and enthusiasm when the inter-slums tournament was held in the Acholi quarters last December. Since this is a community project, our support is a token of solidarity,” Boutroue said.
The Aliguma Foundation continues to support less privileged children, especially those in slums of Banda, by offering to uplift their livelihood through education and sports.
The Foundation organises an annual Slums Soccer tournament while also offering education opportunities to children from the slums.
Work plan sorted
Foundation director Ritah Aliguma, the former vice president of the sports journalists association, Uspa, said work will start with levelling of the pitch before grass can be planted.
The UNHCR also promised a net to limit the number of footballs lost in the neighbourhood. The hoes will also be used at a planned children’s home in Masindi.
This support is expected to be beefed by another handshake from European football’s governing body, Uefa. Uefa president Aleksander Čeferin personally offered sports kits during last year’s Slums Soccer tournament before committing to help in the improvement of the community ground.
It has been long since whistling referees, cheers of excited fans, and the sounds of feet striking balls were heard here thanks to Covid-19.
With these rehabilitation works, though, residents hope these lively sounds will be heard again, soon, in the Acholi Quarters.
