Not a sandstorm, fasting for the month of Ramadan, nor the heat could deter our exceptional group of male and female candidates from completing the training for the opportunity to be selected to as coaches and leaders of the Refugees United Soccer Academy in camp Farchana. It was a challenge to pick only two men and two women from this group, but we’re excited to announce the four newest members of the iACT team who will soon impact the lives of hundreds of boys and girls in their community.
Aboubakar Issakh Ibrahim
“I like to sing for children so that they’re happy.” Aboubakar said, “I am very happy” about becoming a coach because he is “becoming part of the world.”
Fatna Abakar Ibahim
“I like playing soccer because it makes me feel stronger. And I want to teach children so that they dream of also being coaches one day.”
Mahamat AbedellKerim Ibrahim
“Sport is a bridge for communication. Through sport people can get to know different people, learn about each other, learn to be peaceful wth each other and learn to have more peaceful behaviors.”
Oum-Kaltoum Ibrahim Abdelleh
Oum-Kaltoum is “very happy” about becoming a RUSA coach because it’s a chance for her to play football—”because before girls did not play football,” she said.
Camp Farchana hosts 27,000 refugees from Darfur. The camp has four primary schools, one intermediate school, and one secondary school. Currently, no women or girls play soccer. Why? The coaches explained that nobody has ever encouraged girls to play. “They will be too excited about the chance to play,” says Coach Mahamat.