Football is not only a sport .It is a form of communication - of interaction - a language of
it´s own and a release of feelings. It is a powerful game, a game played all over the
world, not mentioning the strong impact of football on the economy. For many people it
means all that and for many others it has an even stronger significance.
In the following selection of photographs I portray juveniles who experience social and
urban extremes in different countries. Kids who are confronted with conflicts of divided
societies.
I would like to give these kids` personalities a platform to show the dimension they live
in.
In 2005 and 2006 I followed 4 different non-govermental organizations ( NGO´s )
streetleague, London-England - football for integration of former homeless and
drugaddicts, July 2005
street football for Peace and Tolerance, Skopie-Macedonia - football after war in
former Yugoslavia for communication and integration, September 2005
Craques Du Sempre, Sao Paulo- Brazil - football in favelas, prevention against
drugproblematics and youth crimes, October 2005
MYSA Mathare Youth Sports Association, Nairobi- Kenya - linking football with
enviromental cleanups and AIDS prevention Nairobi, December 2006
These organisations understand football as a medium to attract children from the streets
and offer support and motivation. Furthermore they help them create a perspective for
the future. They use the power of sport to transform the lives of some of the most
disadvantaged youngsters to enrich their lifes. Football presents a way of hope and the
possibility to change their living situation and allows for the personal development of the
young people and their communities.
Many problems have to be faced simultaneously in a high crime area like Mathare Slum,
Nairobi. Most of the children grew up on the streets caught up in a cycle of poverty,
drugs and violence. The AIDS scourge has been on the increase over the years and has
claimed the lives of many people. Daily life is about survival. There is no architecture, no
structure, as we know it; there are no choices.
The destructiveness of the conflicts is so overwhelming that I am in awe of these young
peoples’ power to withstand that force.
I am impressed by the teenagers and kids who give this struggle a face. I admire the
strength the young people have and I am fascinated by the different ways football can
stir the power to keep on going.
"streetfootballworld" supported my work in England, Macedoniia und Kenya; the series in Sao
Paulo, Brazil was supported by a scholarship of the Goethe Institut.