FOOTBALLS FOR PEACE

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A Peace Tournament at Casamance. PEACE TOURNAMENT CASAMANCE These three words put together in the same sentence is unique (because of the on-going fighting). A separatist war has been going on since 1982. As a result whole families are displaced. Belongings and wealth are lost, as well as a whole generation’s right to education. Crops lay in the fields unharvested and families flee for their lives. Whole generations lose their cultural heritage, since the elderly who have customarily transferred their knowledge to the young mostly die as refugees without fulfilling their responsibilities to the young…..

The people want to send out the message to the warring parties of their desire for peace in the region. The football (soccer) peace tournament is designed to serve that purpose. Each village sends a delegation of sportsmen and women, boys and girls, and elderly wise men and women from the villages’ civil society groups. This past season, the delegations conversed in the strategic village of Jondji for week-long activities. While young men and women took part in sports, the elderly and civic groups deliberated on peace….

Saturday, September 1, 2007, opened a new page in the history of Casamance in the village of Jondji. It was a big day and a sorrowful day in the sense that it marked the closing of the peace tournament and a memorial day for a Red Cross woman named Jeanne Fournier who was killed by a land mine. She was doing a great job. She even helped build a health center. The people decided to name the center after her. A big meeting was held at the village of Jondji. T-shirts were printed. Almost all the surrounding villages attended as well as some Senegalese government personnel. Red Cross workers from all over The Gambia and Senegal were present. The meeting was opened with prayers by the village imam. The Alikalos (village heads) first spoke and welcomed the people. The health worker of the health post spoke. He called on all people to come together. Isatou Seesay the director of FM-Foni Radio Station at Sindjang spoke and called all the people of Casamance to maintain peace in the region. She called on the women as well as the men to (work at) nation-building.

Ebrima Nyamo Sanyang spoke on behalf of MEHDA. He said MEHDA is a small NGO that is always grateful and happy to see people at peace all over the world. He called on youths, boys and girls, to work hard for a peaceful nation. “Together we stand, divided we fall. God made this earth and the universe at peace, so it is right for all living creatures on this earth to be at peace. This is very important for all of us to know.”….

Alpha Tamba the head of the organizing committee expressed his happiness to the people who helped and to all who attended the program. He thanked MEHDA and organizations in Senegal who helped in the funding. This is a well-organized program. Between 20 and 40 villages produce active membership for the peace initiative. Out of these, 2 persons are present from each village as representatives.

The 2007 event required 35 bags of rice, 4 bags of sugar, 20 x 20 liters cooking oil. 5 bags of onions, 2 to 4 head of cattle, footballs and officiating gear. Since the number of participating villages changes every year, the estimate given for 2008 will be the same, unless the number of participants increases.