Spread the word

The Olympic flame is currently passing through Britain. 


There's no flame for the East Africa Cup which is happening at the end of June, but what a journey it would be, though: taking in the coastline, plains and mountains of Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and Rwanda.

Through South Sudan, where last year a girl's team victory was the talk of the whole region; it might pass through one of the slums of Nairobi, where children get to play football throughout the year if they attend school regularly, with the EAC as a treat; it might pass through Burundi where the sitting volleyball champions from last year found that being a wheelchair user doesn't mean you can't compete against able-bodied youngsters.

For both the EAC and the Olympics, at this stage of preparation there are lots of very busy people working behind the scenes on making sure the event goes according to plan.

Are there enough skilled trainers for the workshops in things like first aid, refereeing and sports physio, conflict resolution and HIV and Aids prevention? Do all the referees have whistles? Is there enough food for three square meals a day for the nearly 2,000 young people at the event?

Security is important for these young participants (and their leaders) and we are lucky to have Ultimate Security offering assistance and goodwill. Their team do a great job in making sure the event is safe and trouble free, and the EAC is grateful for their long term support.

Of course there are always the unexpected issues which crop up - last year's Burundi sitting volleyball contingent nearly didn't make it due to a shortage of yellow fever vaccinations. There was the year when a snake found its way onto the team bus, and the moment when the wrong national anthem almost caused a diplomatic incidents...

But the biggest problem is money. Over the next few years, there's an added pressure on funding. Norwegian People's Aid, who have supported the event over the years and helped make the East Africa Cup such a successful and award winning event, are no longer able to commit financially as before.

So the EAC is looking for people to fund the event in the future, particularly for those teams who have to travel long distances. It might be a brand who share the EAC values of youth, sport, education, fellowship and fairplay. Or it could be a donor which sees the value and deliverable results achieved using sport, both as an end in itself and as a way to reach out to young people. Or it might be a corporation who take social responsibility seriously and who are looking for long term partnerships.

If you know people who might be able to help, please spread the word.

For more on the EAC sponsorship issue, please click here: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13422467

Unlike the Olympics, we won't be building any stadiums for the EAC, but we do help with the infrastructure of Moshi, because the money paid to the host schools goes towards building and refurbishing classrooms:
http://www.eacup.org/?side=venue