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Bridge to Uganda: SC Weßling footballers support 18-year-olds in a project in East Africa

2022-01-27T07:28:10.896Z


Bridge to Uganda: SC Weßling footballers support 18-year-olds in a project in East Africa Created: 01/27/2022, 08:19 By: Christian Heinrich The SC Weßling footballers around (from left) Lukas Grosser, Alexander Hanitz and the initiator and sporting director Tony Wohlmann collected 555 euros for children in Uganda. © SC Wessling SC Weßling's district-class soccer players are supporting 18-year-


Bridge to Uganda: SC Weßling footballers support 18-year-olds in a project in East Africa

Created: 01/27/2022, 08:19

By: Christian Heinrich

The SC Weßling footballers around (from left) Lukas Grosser, Alexander Hanitz and the initiator and sporting director Tony Wohlmann collected 555 euros for children in Uganda.

© SC Wessling

SC Weßling's district-class soccer players are supporting 18-year-old Valentina Vetter with a project in Uganda.

For this they donate money - and jerseys.

Weßling – Kampala is closer than ever to the SC Weßling footballers these days.

Although the Ugandan capital is almost 5,700 kilometers as the crow flies from the Upper Bavarian community, the footballers in the first team are helping to alleviate the local hardship a little.

The third-placed in district class 1 collected 555 euros to support Valentina Vetter, who works for the Soccer-for-Life Foundation in Bweyogerere, a suburb of Kampala.

The 18-year-old from Wesslingen not only trains a U10, she also teaches the children English, German and mathematics.

It is a much-needed service as Uganda's schools have been closed for a year due to the pandemic.

Valentina Vetter from Weßling: “Just five soccer balls for 60 children”

"Every hour of education they get is good for them," says Martin Jakob. The Wesslingers' soccer department head immediately supported the fundraiser Tony Wohlmann had initiated among the first-team players. The sports director of the district class player was affected by the call for help that Valentina Vetter had sent to the players in her club. "Currently, for example, there are just five footballs for 60 children," she wrote in a short report published on the SCW website.

The bare necessities are missing: soccer balls, training cones and school blackboards are scarce in the country, which also did not qualify for the Africa Cup.

In the photos that the 18-year-old sent, children can be seen frolicking on a field that is less grass and more dust and dirt.

"It's just not the conditions like here," says Jakob.

"It looks almost like it did here in the post-war period."

High postage costs and customs fees when donating jerseys to Uganda

To help, the division head also sent a set of jerseys to Uganda.

However, the postage was extremely high, and Vetter still had to pay customs duties on site so that she could receive the donation.

"We are looking for a more cost-effective solution," announces Martin Jakob.

In his sports center there are enough jerseys and utensils stored in excellent condition that nobody needs anymore because there is so much surplus.

There are also enough football shoes that have become too small for the children.

Donations from Wessling to Uganda: good will, high hurdles

But how do you get all the material urgently needed in Kampala to Africa?

Jakob has already considered booking a plane to transport the desired equipment to Uganda in suitcases.

But there is no flight connection between Munich and Kampala.

The Federal Foreign Office also classifies the country as a high-risk area for Covid-19.

So far, only 22.6 percent of the local population have been vaccinated against the virus.

There are also warnings of terrorist attacks, which claimed several lives and injuries last autumn.

They are the work of the Muslim rebel militia Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which operates out of neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and is allied with the Islamic State (IS).

A bridge from Wessling to Uganda

Although the world is a global village, Jakob found that the boundaries between people are sometimes difficult to cross.

However, Valentina Vetter has built a bridge from Wessling to Bweyogerere that creates a connection that benefits everyone.

"With our fundraising campaign, we want to ensure that the children in Kampala can play football as normal and that Valentina can get everything she needs," Jakob explains the sports club's concerns.


(Christian Heinrich)

Source: merkur

All sports articles on 2022-01-27

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