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Inside Africa

Role of Sport in Lives of Africans

Aired May 09, 2008 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. And welcome to INSIDE AFRICA. I'm Jim Clancy in, once again, for Isha Sesay.
On our show this week, we're going to focus on sports and all of the good that can come from them. We'll meet some Kenyan soccer players who aren't letting gender stereotypes block their run to the goal. A young NBA star from Sudan, who believes in passing his good fortune onto others. Plus, a Tanzanian martial arts instructor who teaches young boys a few moves to a better life.

We're going to begin with 18 young women proudly representing Kenya on the athletic field. They just spent two weeks or so in the United States doing what they love most, playing soccer. Back home, their families and communities really don't necessarily understand their passion for physical competition. But these athletes undaunted by social norms that would keep them on the bench. And while many of them would be delighted to catch the eye of some of the American scouts that were out there watching them play, they're really focused on a larger goal -- empowering girls and other women in Kenya.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Out on the field, the Kenyan players wearing the black go on the attack against their American rivals. It's a friendly match that is lifting not just their game, but if their aim is right, their lives.

MARY NJERI, KENYA TEAM CAPTAIN: We're so inspired. Thanks to CARE, thanks to Nike, we're so much better (ph). I mean, without them, I don't know what we would be. We're so glad, we're so very happy we made it up to here, and we really want more and more of this back in Kenya.

CLANCY: There are 18 young women who make up this year's Kenyan- American soccer exchange, a project sponsored by the aid group CARE with funding and equipment furnished by Nike. The aim -- empower women, not only in sports but in life, health, careers and confidence. The Kenyans say they're impressed by the playing fields, the equipments, even the locker rooms. They don't have this kind of infrastructure at home, but they brought what they have in abundance -- enthusiasm.

The Americans have all the technical skills, but see something more in the Kenyan players.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, it's just something like that's fun to them. And it's fun to us too, but I think that we like she said, take it for granted more. It brings the love back into the game.

CLANCY: A large part of this Kenyan-American soccer exchange is, of course, about the games, and the Kenyan women have played in San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland and, of course, here in Atlanta. But it's also about teaching young women and girls.

The Kenyan team shared training tips and techniques with players from the Fugees. That's the local club in Atlanta made up of refugees now living in America. They concentrate on the girls.

NJERI: In Kenya, it's very different. Because parents even refuse us to go back to the field to play football. It's very different, because here parents are supporting, unlike our parents back in Kenya.

EVERLYN AJING AKIMYI, KENYA TEAM PLAYER: So, we're going to change that attitude. Because, you know, many parents, they think that the boys are the ones who are supposed to play football. It is meant for boys. But now, I can go and change that attitude by starting coaching younger girls, and making them believe that football is also meant for girls like us.

CLANCY: The Kenyan women see sport as empowering. It's emblazoned on the back of their jerseys. The message -- it is a power for life that goes far beyond the playing field. CARE integrates AIDS awareness and health issues in the soccer exchange program.

WAYNE LIFSHITZ, CARE: It's a really great success story in social change, because I think the traditional -- I mean, we all know that the traditional roles that are expected of women, sport is breaking down. It's working to break that down.

CLANCY: These women will help coach for boys and girls when they return home. They will share new confidence skills and solid values.

While the team has been playing in the U.S., several American women soccer scouts have been evaluating these players. Most know they won't reach the professional level, but they have other dreams.

NJERI: No, I would like to be a journalist, and I will encourage girls back at home to get inspired to play football to go for their dreams. They can make it. That's what I believe.

CLANCY: Believing in empowered women and themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: It was great to get a chance to talk to some of those young players. They say that they enjoy their travels around the United States, though not so much the cold weather up in the Pacific Northwest. Favorite stop on their tour, they said, out in Southern California. Where else? Disneyland. That exchange program is all part of CARE's "I am Powerful" campaign, which encourages women to become agents of social change.

Well, a young NBA star from Sudan is doing his best to be an agent of change. After a short break, we're going to meet Chicago Bulls' forward Luol Deng. And still ahead -- learning life skills through martial arts in Tanzania. Stay with INSIDE AFRICA.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to my favorite show on CNN, INSIDE AFRICA.

Luol Deng. Does that name ring a bell? Well, originally he is from Sudan, and he is now a rising star with the NBA Chicago Bulls. The 23- year-old forward has just completed his fourth season in the league, and he quickly earned the reputation for sportsmanship and generosity. His team failed to make the playoffs this year, but Deng has faced much great difficulties. When he was a young boy, his family, including eight brothers and sisters, fled Sudan to avoid the brutal civil war. Dent recently sat down with Nick Valencia and explained how his African heritage remains a source of pride and motivation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For many fans, too often professional athletes complain they don't earn enough money. NBA All-Star Luol Deng doesn't seem to get tired of giving his money away. Through a U.N.-led initiative called ninemillion.org, he pledged $50 for every basket he made this season to help refugees. The 23-year old Chicago Bull raised more than $31,000.

LUOL DENG: I know it's an organization that helps the refugees kids all around the world. And then I said, I wear the number nine and I'm a refugee, and it really makes sense that I really want to be involved with this organization and do something.

VALENCIA: Deng's haunting journey to get here makes what he does all the more impressive. At age five, the civil war between northern and southern Sudan forced him to flee to Egypt with his family. Many are familiar with the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, but since 1983, the north-south civil war and related famine has killed at least 2 million people. Despite a peace agreement signed in 2005, tension still exists between Christians in the south and Arab Muslims in the north.

(on camera): Do you think about the fact that you could be dead right now? That you can ...

DENG: I don't -- I don't think about it that way. You know, I just - - I just think -- just think the lucky part, you know, that I'm lucky. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of kids that are more talented than me, smarter than me, you know, that never had the opportunity that I had, and some of them are still there, you know, and will never get a chance to get out, and it's sad to think about it that way.

VALENCIA (voice over): What was that like, living in Egypt?

DENG: At the time, I mean it was rough, growing up in Egypt. Being young, there's a lot of things you don't know. You experience -- we experienced a lot of racism. You know, at the time in school you get hit. You know, the school that we went to, the teachers were allowed to hit you if -- if you didn't do your homework or if you got in trouble, you know, you missed an assignment. So at the time, I always felt like I was a bad kid.

VALENCIA: He says it was only after he left that he realized that was not the case. Deng used basketball as an outlet in Egypt. And at age nine, when his family finally found asylum in England, he continued to play there. At age 14, he says, he was recruited to play high school basketball in the United States.

DENG: I was 6'4''. I was a freshman, and, you know, right away, you know, we practice and the coach was like, you know, you're the most talented freshman I've ever seen.

VALENCIA: Deng promised himself that if he was ever in a financial position to help people overcome adversity, he would. And he has. Since joining the Chicago Bulls, Deng has also been involved with an aid organization called "Nothing but Nets."

DENG: "Nothing but Nets" is an organization that really -- that helps with fighting malaria.

VALENCIA: His team says he's donated more than $31,000 to the cause. Teammate Chris Duhon, who also played with Deng at Duke University, called him an inspiration.

CHRIS DUHON, CHICAGO BULLS: I had an opportunity to go to Africa with him, and you know, being in there, learning more about his culture, you know, it's just -- you know, a beautiful thing. That also inspired me to start -- not start -- to continue doing this charity stuff that I do.

VALENCIA: Deng believes being a member of Sudan's Dinka tribe makes him inherently giving.

DENG: It's all about family, the Dinka tribe. And I think I could be in the street and I see someone else from the Dinka tribe, and I probably never met him before, but we'll probably, you know, spend the rest of the day. I'll probably take him out to eat. It's just -- there's that kind of connection.

VALENCIA: Deng also credits former NBA player Manute Bol as a reason why he helps those in need. Bol, who like Deng is a Dinka, gave much of the money he earned in the NBA to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

DENG: A lot of things that I do right now, you know, I really, you know, came from what Manute was doing. You know, Manute always gave back, no matter what. And if you need Manute, he's always, you know, trying to give, you know, he's always -- he's a giving person.

VALENCIA (on camera): You've lived in a lot of places. And you're still very young, you've lived in a tons of different places. How do you stay true to Africa? How do you keep that in your heart?

DENG: I mean, this is -- Africa is my heart, I mean, really -- I think -- I just really feel like this is what I should be doing, you know, that I'm lucky enough to help, you know, I should be doing that. And I feel like the shape of my heart is, you know, is the map of Africa. It's just how I feel.

VALENCIA (voice over): Nick Valencia, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: A martial arts teacher in Dar es Salaam makes discipline fun, really. When INSIDE AFRICA continues, young boys in a tough neighborhood learning to fight for a better life.

And also ahead, a fistful of sand and it's on. A tribal tradition produces some budding young boxers in Ghana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Making business in Africa this week. The World Bank is harnessing some brain power and financial backing for his "Lighting Africa" campaign. Entrepreneurs and investors gathered with donor agencies in Ghana to discuss off-grid lighting for sub-Saharan Africa. The goal is to bring affordable and clean lighting to more than 250 million people cut off from the existing power grid by the year 2030.

CYRIL KATTAH, PROGRAM MANAGER, LIGHTING AFRICA: In Kenya, for example, 85 percent of the population is not connected to the electric grid. And in Ghana, it is as high as 65 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The event was the first-ever global business conference on off-grid lighting on the continent.

British banking giant Barclays is under fire in the British parliament for business dealings in Zimbabwe. A lawmaker accused Barclays of providing personal banking services to at least two members of Robert Mugabe's government, in violation of European Union sanctions. He said the bank used a local holding company to skirt the restrictions. A Barclays spokesman told "The Daily Telegraph" the bank complies with all E.U. sanctions, but will study the comments.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: You're with INSIDE AFRICA on CNN. Welcome back, everyone.

You know, children who grow up in tough, crime-ridden neighborhoods face all kinds of negative temptations, obstacles to their success in life. Many end up on a wrong pathway in early age. A martial arts instructor in Tanzania is trying to help young boys in his community choose the right path, and he's getting some good results. He not only gives them a haven from the streets, he provides lessons with far-reaching implications.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: It's 2 o'clock in Magamani (ph), Dar es Salaam. School is out, and students head home to sometimes difficult family lives in an area known for high unemployment, drug use and crime. Some, but not all. (inaudible) Hassan Mrutu and Bakari Ali take a detour.

This is the Way of Fighting center. Here, the 12 and 13-year-olds learn a distinct mix of Far Eastern martial arts, including Taekwondo, Karate and kickboxing. The boys are learning that discipline is at the core of all of these techniques. They're taught to work hard in school, shun violence, and show respect to their parents and peers. Mrutu says it's working.

HASSAN MRUTU, STUDENT (through translator): I do well in school now. I'm usually at the top three students in my class. If I'm less than that, I feel like I have failed. Before the training, though, I used to be at the very bottom of my class, constantly failing.

CLANCY: The man behind the Way of Fighting center is Gola Abdalah. He grew up in this neighborhood, and his modest home is the center for teaching the skills he learned in a decade of training. He earns only a small income from exhibition matches.

GOLA ABDALAH, FOUNDER, WAY OF FIGHTING CENTER (through translator): In a way, martial arts is like a religion, the whole way of life, and its followers can differentiate between what's right and what's wrong and chose to do what's right.

We have rules. For example, smoking, drug use or the selling of drugs is strictly prohibited here. This is because the training teaches these kids to be obedient and well-mannered.

CLANCY: Bakari Ali's mother is proud.

HAWA BAKARI, MOTHER (through translator): The boys have changed. They're good boys now, and the money earned from exhibitions also helps us out financially.

ZAINABU KIRIBE, MOTHER (through interpreter): Since my son began training, he has become very healthy and he's managed to avoid falling sick for a long time. He's also stopped stealing and mixing with a bad crowd of street kids.

CLANCY: Gola Ablalah says he's taught hundreds of students martial arts over the last 10 years. More importantly, he's taught them lessons about discipline and community, about overcoming adversity. These are skills not only for martial arts, but for life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: I like that story. We want to thank our contributors -- Seco Tengetane (ph) in Tanzania for her work writing and producing that report. Great name, too, Seco (ph).

Well, a different style of fighting is a cultural tradition for Ghana's Ga tribe. When INSIDE AFRICA returns, a look at street boxing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. We want to take a few moments here and take a look at some of the stories making headlines around the continent.

A new human rights report says large numbers of Somali civilians are being routinely raped, robbed and murderered. Amnesty International chronicles a pattern of attacks on civilians and estimates 6,000 were killed last year alone. Amnesty blames all parties to the conflict, including Ethiopian soldiers, Somali troops, Islamist insurgents and bandits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE KAGALI, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: War crimes are definitely being committed, and that crimes against humanity may be getting committed, and nothing is being done about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: The Etheiopian government calls the report categorically wrong and is demanding an apology.

Egyptians will have to contend with a government hike in fuel prices and taxes under a measure approved by the parliament that costs of certain grades of gasoline and diesel fuel will rise between 40 and 50 percent. Natural gas prices will jump by 58 percent.

Zimbabwe's largest farm union says government-backed militas have displaced 40,000 farm workers since the March 29 election. Union leaders based in South Africa say it's part of an effort by Robert Mugabe's ruling party to prevent the workers from voting in the presidential runoff.

Finally, there is an old proverb -- if you want an audience, just start a fight. In Ghana, members of the Ga tribe often draw a crowd by doing just that. For them, public fisticuffs are a culture norm that promotes social unity. And as Christian Purefoy explains, the practice has given at least one young Olympian a competitive edge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIAN PUREFOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gloves a few sizes too big for a fighter a few sizes too small. But this is no playground dispute, but a tradition among Ghana's Ga tribe, a fight for social standing.

To challenge an opponent, you fill one hand with sand. The opponent's answer then depends upon which hand he hits. To accept the challenge, he hits the hand with the sand.

And as the fighters get bigger, so do their ambitions.

22-year-old Haija Hamed has lost only four of his 68 fights. Enough to qualify for the Olympics in China. He's now training for the biggest fight of his career.

Like all the boxers here, he comes from a poor background, and he uses any money earned from his boxing to help send his siblings to school. But it's not the money he's after.

HAIJA HAMED, BOXER: I want to be a good (inaudible), because a good name is (inaudible). You do (inaudible), everybody knows you in the world. But (inaudible) you have money and you are rich here, nobody will (inaudible).

PUREFOY: And the grand dreams of this small club are not unfounded. Ike Bazuka (ph) quarterly trained here, and won the world welterweight championship in 1994. Sharing his experience, he doesn't suffer fools gladly. But Henry Thompson, the club chairman, believes this fighting spirit helps keep the community together.

HENRY THOMPSON, CHAIRMAN, BUKUM BOXING CLUB: There's no malice. It's friendly. Yes. If you are wounded, you come -- the other people will come back and console you. Oh, don't worry, this is -- you know, this is part of it and let's move on. Tomorrow, you might also win.

PUREFOY: And if the Ga lose this Olympics, there will always be tomorrow.

Christian Purefoy, CNN, Accra, Ghana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: And we have this reminder for all of our INSIDE AFRICA viewers. Now, if you see news happening on the continent, let us know about it. Just go to our Web site, cnn.com/insideAfrica. Click on the iReport logo. There, you'll find instructions on how you can upload your own photographs or video. Please, of course, be careful gathering images. We don't want anybody to be hurt or put themselves in danger. Again, that's cnn.com/insideAfrica.

That's it for this week's show. Isha Sesay will be back next week with a brand new edition of INSIDE AFRICA. We're going to leave you now with some of the photos we took during our shoot with the Kenyan women's soccer team. We had a lot of fun. Thanks for joining us.

END