In an interview, Carsten Altstadt from SV Pullach reports on his social project in Tanzania.
Pullach / Grünwald – Almost exactly a year ago, Münchner Merkur reported on an aid project by Matias Blasenbreu (36), former TSV Grünwald player, and Carsten Altstadt (29), ex-goalkeeper of SV Pullach, who is now a goalkeeping coach for the Raven has returned.
The two had collected money through the “Go Fund Me” platform in order to have a soccer field built for the Africa Amini Alama association in Ngabobo / Tanzania.
Instead of the planned June, the old town and blistering pandemic did not fly to Tanzania until mid-December because of the corona pandemic to officially inaugurate the square with a tournament.
Immediately before his return flight two days ago, Carsten Altstadt described his impressions in an interview with our newspaper.
You actually wanted to fly to Tanzania in June, but were slowed down by Corona.
It is now December.
Is the soccer field ready?
Everything in Tanzania went on normally until May, the place was already ready.
Then there was the entry ban.
Our flight with Turkish Airlines was canceled three days in advance, we rebooked four times until Turkish Airlines canceled completely in November.
And so we flew with KLM in December.
What kind of soccer field did you create?
A grass pitch is of course not possible there.
You have to imagine: this is an area in the middle of the steppe where it is extremely dry.
You had to remove the ground almost two meters, dragging stones weighing pounds.
We put tons of sand on it, but because it's a volcanic area it keeps pushing stones through.
The place looks bad by European standards, but the kids there say: It's the best place in the whole district.
And the soccer field is now the center of the community.
It was your first time in Africa.
Do you describe your impressions?
For me it was really exciting to see how much less people have compared to Europe, but how much happier they seem.
It was also impressive how warmly we were welcomed, the kids were happy, stood by the roadside and waved when we arrived.
I actually thought that the standard had already changed a bit there, but it was like that there was only one ball that was already run down.
Otherwise, they actually played with homemade fabric balls.
We brought 50 balls with us, hand-sewn from Kenya, so that we can really use every cent we collect on site.
However, we only had a few football boots with us and would like to send some there again and again in the future.
They hardly exist there and when they do, most of them are broken.
The kids play barefoot or with flip-flops, but that doesn't bother them at all.
Did you see anything from the country outside of the project?
We were on the road for two days, including in a village where the Maasai live in mud huts without any electricity.
A hole in the middle of the hut is used as a fireplace.
We have also heard that many children do not even reach the age of five because they do not have access to clean water.
Sababu Safaris, the company through which we booked this safari and which operates sustainable tourism there, has already been able to obtain 200 water filters and solar lamps.
How much money did your crowdfunding campaign actually raise?
We have collected almost 35,000 euros.
At the beginning of the Corona crisis, donations were pretty much zero, so the collection was then stopped.
Sabine Hoch from the HochHinaus Foundation gave us a larger amount.
In addition to the soccer field and the balls, we were also able to build a volleyball basketball all-purpose field.
Money should also go to a hospital project.
What can you say about it?
The hospital is now run by the state.
One child is born every day in the maternity ward.
There are no corona cases.
The pandemic has hit the country very economically, and many people are suffering very much.
We bought Covid aid packages for around 2500 euros, with masks or food, such as rice.
The Maasai live mainly from keeping animals.
In addition, some still work in tourism.
But because of Corona it came to a standstill, people have lost their jobs and are completely left to their own devices.
Unlike in Germany, there is no state support whatsoever.
In Europe, Corona means that people cannot travel, there it is about survival.
It was hard to see that.
What happens now?
Are there any new projects?
Will you be traveling to Africa again soon?
Matias and I want to fly to Tanzania every two or three years and organize a soccer camp.
We're at the Munich soccer school and will try to send two coaches over there every year to work with the sports teacher, who now has other options thanks to the new balls.
Up until now there was soccer training: warming up and then playing with one ball. But we also want to try to support the school there that Africa Amini Alama founded twelve years ago, because it is a sustainable project.
The first student from back then has now passed his master's degree in law.
For the older ones, who are now moving to high school, 80 children will follow.
We want to build a building for them that will cost 50,000 euros.
We already have a few ideas, but first want to wait until the corona pandemic will hopefully abate in three or four months.
Because people in Europe also have their worries at the moment.
How do you spend the holidays?
You will likely have to go into quarantine immediately upon your return.
It's going to be a lonely Christmas.
I drive home immediately after my arrival.
I already have an appointment for the PCR test for December 28th.
If that's negative, I can leave the quarantine.
But it was worth it to us.
The project has been going on for over a year, we just didn't want to wait any longer to see the square with our own eyes.
The interview was conducted by
Umberto Savignano.