imagined-community

Did you know about the Homeless World Cup? I didn’t. This soccer tournament brings together teams of homeless people from around the world. 500 players participated in this year’s World Cup, which was held in Cape Town, South Africa. The final match was today — Russia won, beating out Kazakhstan 1-0. One of the truly amazing things about this tournament is the impact that it has on the players lives:

Research conducted one year after the 2005 Edinburgh Homeless World Cup revealed that 94% of the players went away with a new motivation for life and no less than 77% reported that the event significantly changed their lives forever. This is down to the feeling of belonging, the challenge of working in a team, the process of regaining a health-oriented attitude towards life, self esteem and last but not least the experience of fun.

There are legacy projects for South Africa with a football factory, national street soccer league, pitches, and training in sports journalism for homeless people all underway. Meanwhile thousands of NGO’s both locally and globally are enjoying the benefits of raised profiles, additional energy and funding for street soccer programmes.

Supported by Nike and UEFA since it’s inception several world-class football teams support Homeless World Cup teams. Manchester United coaches England and Spain has links with Real Madrid, Portugal with SL Benfica. Worldwide recognition for sport making a major positive impact on social exclusion has come from UEFA with the 2005 Monaco Cheque - previous winners include the Special Olympics and Football against Racism.
–- The Story of the Homeless World Cup

The 2007 Homeless World Cup will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. If you would like to be involved, you can participate as either a player or as a volunteer. Or you can join the Homeless World Cup Fan Club, be a sponsor, or support the Homeless World Cup by putting one of their banners on your website. You can learn more about all of the above here.

Comments(2)

On Friday, September 22, Harvard students rallied in support of a Harvard janitor who was fired after his supervisor found him conked out on the job. Here is the gist of the situation, lifted from an MIT list thread:

HARVARD JANITOR FIRED FOR FAINTING!

Saintely Paul has been working at Harvard University for 6 ½ years. On June 27, 2006, Saintely Paul was feeling ill so he sat down on the couch on the 11th floor of William James Hall. As soon as he sat down he fainted.

HARVARD IS LYING!

On July 3, 2006, Facilities Maintenance Operations (FMO) fired Saintely Paul, claiming that he was sleeping on the job. This is not true! Mr. Paul had also fainted the previous week yet Harvard refuses to believe him despite his years of dedication to the university and spotless record.
Shouldn’t Harvard make an effort to support an employee with a medical condition instead of firing him?

RALLY TO DEMAND JUSTICE!

Join with workers and community members to demand that Harvard give Saintely Paul his job back!

If you attended the rally, or you were just a passerby, like me, and wondered what happened with Mr. Paul, here is some good news…The Cambridge City Council passed a resolution in support of Mr. Paul, calling on Harvard to rehire Paul and compensate him for lost wages and medical insurance. You can read more at the Harvard Crimson.

There hasn’t been a peep out of Harvard about all this…
And those students sure look all rallied up, don’t they? ; )

Comments(0)

Ok, here is something from the UK based band The Savage Jazz The band just formed this year. Their music is a blend of Reggae, Blues, Latin, Jazz, Funk, Indie and World music. Give them a listen…

Comments(0)