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Swedish soccer club helps Congo church promote peace among youth
By Raymond Bitemo
Brazzaville, 24 November
The Evangelical Church of the Congo has founded a soccer football school to promote a culture of peace among young people, many of whom are still suffering from the effects of a series of civil wars in recent years that tore the country apart.
"It is only through this kind of action that we can psychologically heal our children who have been traumatised by all that they saw, experienced and heard during the wars," said the Rev. Alphonse Mbama, president of the denomination, at the inaugural ceremony on 6 November.
The project cost about 90 000 euros and was financed by the Swedish first division soccer team from Gothenburg, BK Hacken, the Swedish agency for international development, the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden, and the Evangelical Church of the Congo.
BK Hacken will train the local soccer coaches at the soccer school which is aimed at young people 9 to 16 years of age.
The soccer school is called Gothia Cup Brazzaville after the Gothia Cup, a world youth soccer tournament held in Gothenburg, and it follows the launch of a similar project in 2000 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
In Brazzaville, the soccer school has been built in the district of Mfilou, at the southern periphery of the capital, an area where the majority of homes were destroyed during the civil war of 1997.
The sports complex occupies nearly two hectares of ground donated to the church, and includes three stadiums and a building including changing rooms, classrooms for theory lessons, offices and a shop. Nearly 400 children, boys and girls coming from the seven districts of the city are registered and train in the afternoon under the supervision of 14 coaches including two Swedish volunteers.
"This school will contribute to national reconciliation by linking soccer to socio-cultural activities to help children from different ethnic backgrounds," said Paul Mfoutou, one of the project managers.
The Congo sports minister, Francois Mbani, officially inaugurated the sports complex and said he was delighted by the creation of the school at a time when national soccer is in crisis.
The international football association federation FIFA places Congo at 23rd place out of 52 countries in Africa and at the 105th place in its world rankings.
Mbani said of the church project, "It is the first soccer school worthy of this name, but it is also a great first in our country to see a church investing in the field of the sport ".
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