The Olympic spirit soars in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps

DADAAB, Kenya, 9 August (UNHCR) – The cheering from their fans is
unlikely to have much effect on this football team drawn from the five
sprawling refugee camps at Dadaab: all the members of EL-MAN DEAF FC
have limited or no hearing.

That has not stopped them playing well. Earlier this month – showing
the Olympic spirit on a dry desert field far from the rain of Britain –
the team easily defeated a team of NGO and UN players 2-0. Tomoya
Soejima, a UNHCR Youth Officer who works closely with the team, saw the
victory as instilling further confidence.

The team is now ready to travel this month to the capital, Nairobi, to
compete in a national tournament organised by the Kenyan football
Federation of the Deaf (KFFD), in what for many players will be the
first time they have left the refugee camps of north-eastern Kenya.

“I always dreamt of participating in a tournament and of bringing home
a cup to my community,” said Hussein Abdulai, the assistant coach who
fled Somalia for Dadaab in 1991 and works as a primary school teacher in
Ifo Camp.

‘I remember the first ball we played with was made out of plastic bags
and scrap paper. We started training every day and sometimes even joined
the tournaments of ‘hearing teams.’

“Years later we heard about the national tournament for the deaf and we
immediately thought that this is our chance,” he said. “We contacted
Handicap International and asked for support. This is how it all
started.”

There are more than 12,000 people living with disabilities across the
Dadaab refugee camps, which host a population of more than 470,000. Most
suffer more than the average refugee and face challenges to access
services because of discrimination or practical obstacles related to
their disabilities.

“Very few agency staff and police officers know sign language, which
can easily lead to confusion and miscommunication,” said the first
coach, also called Hussein Abdulai but from Hagadera camp. “One major
concern is the insecurity in the camps with regular shootings and
explosions of Improvised Explosive Devices.

“If there is a bomb exploding or if someone approaches me from behind
how shall I know? I sometimes cannot fall asleep because I am afraid
that something will happen during the night and I will simply not hear
it.”

It is therefore even more impressive when a team such as EL- MAN DEAF
FC emerges, mobilizing supporters from all the camps.

“The players train once or twice per week in Ifo, Dagahaley and
Hagadera camps and on the weekends, they all get together from the
respective camps and have inter-camp tournaments, often also against
“hearing” teams – and they still win,” said Natha Yare Bashir, the team
manager.

Many organisations and private donors have helped refugees to develop
their skills in sports, including Nike, Right to Play, Handicap
International, CARE, Alive&Kicking and UNHCR.

UNHCR and its partners launched the Dadaab Sport Initiative 2012, which
reached out to more than 10,000 youths who were out of school to provide
training, workshops, and equipment. Across the camps women, girls, men
and boys play volleyball, football and other sports

Sport is important, not just for physical fitness but for strengthening
the bonds between people. In the refugee camps and surrounding areas
sport has become an important way to build peace and give people
confidence in their skills and worth as human beings.

“We wil
l give our utmost to succeed in the tournament,” said a smiling
Hussein Abdulai. “But even if we lose, we will still make Dadaab
proud.”

Source,

Bettina Schulte
Associate External Relations Officer
UNHCR Office of the Head of Operations
Dadaab, Kenya