"Why are you doing it?” he asked, his eyes burning a hole in
my conscience. I held his inquisitive gaze for a moment before I asked him to
repeat the question. Not because I'd forgotten the question, I was simply
buying some time as I figured out how best to respond.
It appeared as though I had done or was about to do something
outrageous, probably cruel and most likely illegal. "No, genuinely, I want
to know why you are doing this?” my interrogator probed deeper.
I went all Billie Piper in my response, “Because I want to!"
Fingers crossed the life of wild debauchery and ill informed choices will not
be my lot too. Actually, wild debauchery doesn't sound too bad.
Alas, my friend's question is valid... and has stayed with me for
the six weeks since he pricked my conscience. Now, with less than a week to go,
I wonder, "Why am I heading off to coach the children in Malawi football
for a week in July?"
Don't worry Billie, I do want to, but there must be more to it...
and there is, I think.
These children are poor, but then what does poor mean? They live
in houses with mud for a floor, most cannot read or write. Among these children
prostitution has robbed them of a mother. Their families may earn as little as
fifty euro a month, yet petrol costs the same as it does here.
Yet they play, they play with anything and everything. Bits of
wood, broken glass, machetes... a ball made of elastic bands. I want to see
what they can do with their ball and given the opportunity what they could do
with a size 4 regulation football. Will their eyes fill with wonder as they
chase not one or two, or ten, but thirty brand new balls in a field? What will
happen if we give these children the opportunity to experience something kids
in our neighbourhoods take for granted?
Maybe nothing. Or maybe it will light a spark, not to become a
footballer, but to realise what they have is not all they must have and that
with a little help and a lot of effort change is possible.
I want to go so I can spend time with my friend. Our lives are
busy and time is precious. Social encounters in our world revolve around
weddings, birthdays, stags, nights out and a lot gets lost in the haze. He is
one of my greatest friends; he sees no boundaries, no obstacles, no
impossibles. He and his family gave birth to the Chifundo Foundation!
He's a teacher in a foreign land. I want to hear his stories from
that land as he teaches the children of Chifundo how to play the tin whistle or
sing a Beatles song. The man is one of the most deadly five a side players I
have ever seen, I want to play football with him and with every touch reminisce
of college days gone by. A week of memories to last us past the next wedding or
stag is what I want.
I don't have much but I have more than I need. These children
don't have anything and need much more than that. I'm no mathematician but it
would appear I have something to give. If I was in need would these children
come to my aid? They don't know I exist nor have the means. I know they exist
and I have the means.
Why am I doing it? Because I can help do something that might make
a difference, because I want to do something that might make a difference and
most of all, because these children want someone who wants to make a difference.
Or so I have been told...
"How much money do you give to charity each year?” my friend
asked his parents. They totted it up and realised if they pooled their
resources they could do something together. They asked a friend in Malawi what
they could do with this money and the response was simple...education. The
Chifundo Foundation started by sponsoring 5 children through primary school in
2007. To date they have helped in the education of nearly 50 of the poorest
children in Malawi.
Read all about it here! There's a
donate button just waiting to be clicked too, it's on the right hand side on
desktop and all the way down the bottom on mobile.
