Photograph by: Simon Mathebula
She will be remembered as a graceful pillar of justice, who maintained a strong commitment to her family and country throughout some of the most chaotic times in South African history.
Her legacy lives on through the Albertina Sisulu Foundation and Albertina Sisulu Multi-Purpose Resource Centre
Jabulani ball Photo: www.jabulaniball.com
Quite a lot of controversy has surrounded the Jabulani ball, designed by Adidas to be the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
According to jabulaniball.com regular balls are made with 32 hexagonal panels. The Teamgeist ball used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany had fourteen panels and the Jabulani ball only has eight. This makes for a very round ball.
Complaints
At the beginning of the World Cup in South Africa, Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano called the ball “supernatural”, because he thought it unpredictably changed direction when traveling through the air, according to Wikipedia. Some goalkeepers also complained that the ball was difficult to handle. The ball was blamed when very few goals were scored at the beginning of the tournament, but after Portugal beat North Korea 7-0, Portugal’s coach Carlos Queiroz said, “We love the ball.”
There have been some great goals by strikers and some great saves by goalkeepers so far in the tournament, so it seems that problems with the ball were either exaggerated, or that players have now gotten used to the Jabulani.
Balls for all
Alive & Kicking ball Photo: www.aliveandkicking.org.uk
While these Jabulani balls are being sold for about R1000.00 elsewhere in Africa a charity called Alive&Kicking is producing hand-stitched leather balls, so that children who have never gotten the chance to play with a real ball can finally do so.
The late founder Jim Cogan saw a man in Tanzania on the side of the road stitching a ball, stopped to talk to him and the concept was born of an organisation that would give balls to children, jobs to adults and health education to all.
Alive & Kicking employs local people to stitch soccer balls. Health messages are printed on the balls and some of the stitchers are trained as HIV peer councilors. The charity believes every child should have the right to play. In our post on street soccer you can see the home made balls that children in Africa make to entertain themselves. Alive & Kicking wants to give each child in Africa a real ball to play with.
And there have been no complaints about the quality of these balls! The website says: “Alive & Kicking balls are hand stitched out of local leather. They are tougher than imported synthetic balls, last far longer on rough ground and therefore give children in Africa lasting fun.”
Watch a video on how the Alive & Kicking balls are made:
Martin Africa, the captain of South Africa's homeless street soccer team
“Hope is the most important thing in life. If you give up on hope, you might as well die.”
These are the words of Martin Africa, the captain of South Africa’s homeless street soccer team that represented our country at the Homeless World Cup last year.
The Homeless World Cup was started in 2003 and has brought 4-a-side street soccer to an international stage. In each competing country, players are drawn from grassroots soccer initiatives that engage destitute people who would otherwise be involved in gangsterism, drugs and crime. A prerequisite for these players to represent their countries at the World Cup is that they have to get off the streets.
So, even though players are homeless when they are recruited into these teams, they have a little place to stay and perhaps a small source of income by the time they represent their country in front of the world. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for these people, something they will always remember, that shows them what is possible.
A documentary film about the South African team’s journey to the previous Homeless World Cup in Australia, entitled Streetball, was produced by From Us With Love. It was shown at, among other events, the 17th Annual New York African Film Festival, the Arizona Black Film Showcase, the Africa World Documentary Film Festival in Bermuda and Festival Cinema Africano, Asia ed America Latina in Italy.
Watch the trailer of the video below and as Bafana Bafana take on France today in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, remember to always keep hope alive!
Streetball – Trailer from Demetrius Wren on Vimeo.
Bret Jackelow (right) spoke at the breakfast and was thanked by Dani Janks (left)
“The question is how you can make a positive difference in the situation that you are in and not why you are in it.” Inspiring words by speaker Bret Jackelow, who recently completed the New York City Marathon and won a gold medal, despite being disabled after a severe car crash.
Jackelow spoke at the Mamelani Projects Women’s Fundraising Breakfast in honor of World Aids Day. He hoped to inspire those attending to make a difference in the lives of others, as he would not be where he is today, if it had not been for the support of ordinary people, helping where they can.
Mamelani Projects is a non-profit organisation that facilitates community development projects with the aim to improve the lives of people living in marginalised communities. They manage to reach 1000 women in a year, informing them about HIV/AIDS and access to services.
In a video shown at the breakfast, community members expressed their belief that Mamelani is a starting step to reducing the spread of the disease.
Valuing World Aids Day, the organisation saw it as an opportunity to promote universal access and human rights.
The Mamelani Projects Fundraising Breakfast was held at Coffee Time in Cape Town
They believe that every human being has the right and responsibility to have a basic understanding of how their own body works and what steps can be taken to stay healthy.
Through their programmes they aim to empower women, so that they can better their lives. You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.
Developments Works attended the fundraising breakfast and recognises the need to support those who have taken initiative in helping build healthier communities.
For more information visit the Mamelani Projects website.
