Refugee girls look for redemption in football
Girls enjoy a kick about. PHOTO/DEUS BUGEMBE
What you need to know:
Apart from imparting skills, the initiative is also aimed at motivating refugees and fostering peaceful co-existence in the settlement camp.
In June last year, Uganda Premier League side Soltilo Bright Stars and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Uganda made a trip up North to Pagirinya Settlement Camp in Adjumani District, home of over 30,000 refugees displaced from South Sudan.
The visit saw about 100 girls under the age of 16 take part in a soccer clinic conducted by Bright Stars players Alfred Onek, Methodius Jungu and Emmanuel Were.
Two months later, Pagirinya Settlement Camp was represented at the 2022 Women’s TICAD Cup held at the Njeru Fufa Technical Centre and they did fairly well.
This past weekend saw Jica, Bright Stars and Japanese volunteers revisit what they started, taking the girls through different drills. The results were encouraging and the beneficiaries were over the moon with the progress.
“More girls are now interested in playing football, the side has also improved. In future we hope sides in the FUFA Women Super League can take on some of our players,” said Pagirinya Refugee Settlement FC public relations officer Emmanuel Ira.
Apart from imparting skills, the initiative is also aimed at motivating refugees and fostering peaceful co-existence in the settlement camp.
Ira also believes that there has been a shift in cultural beliefs since the arrangement kicked off last year. According to him, more parents are open to the idea of letting their daughters play football.
Kemisa Aseinzo is mother to 17 year old Peace Malia, a senior two student at Pagiriynya Progressive SS, who plays as a midfielder for Pagirinya Refugee Settlement FC.
“I was really bothered by my daughter playing football when she has three brothers who don’t play. But the game has made her more disciplined and she still concentrates on her studies to perform well.” Kemisa, who brews local alcohol for a living, told Daily Monitor.
Malia is one of the stand out players and hopes to make it big with time.
The outgoing Jica Uganda Chief Representative Uchiyama Takayuki oversaw a ceremony where a set of jerseys was donated from Albirex Niigata Ladies, a side from the Japan Women's Empowerment Professional Football League, under the “Smile for All in the World” programme.
