Amazing Soccer Day in Congo

Joe (in the crowd with Jenny Kremer a teacher at TASOK and co-founder of the organization Balls for All) and I went out to the way outskirts of Kinshasa today to witness an amazing event. The non-profit soccer program provides balls and uniforms for girls in underpriviledged schools. The area we went to today is very impoverished and 8 schools brought their girls to have a little tournament between each other. Thepicture below is great cuz it catches the great action of competition. Make sure you check out their feet...most had no shoes...some shared shoes (one on one girl another on her sister or friend), some wore socks or just 1 sock.....it was really amazing to me.It was great to see the teams compete and play their hearts out. The picture here shows one of the 8 teams....they used rented uniforms (2000 francs per team....about $4 a team)....and they were so proud of the way they looked!This girl below had a penalty shot which she made and you should have seen the girls rejoice and celebrate!!!!! It was worth the sweat from a super hot and humid day in the Congo. It was also worth the beating the TASOK car took attempting to get to this place. We definitely NEEDED a 4 wheel drive vehicle but made it in a little 4 cylinder Toyota corolla using my expert driving skills. Lots of times I didn't think we were going to....going thru some little creeks , almost high-centering on sandy roads, and over huge bumps created by rain and runoff. It was an awesome day spent with about 400 young Congolese students. By the way, if you look behind the goalie and to the right side of the picture you'll see Brad Kremer (Jenny's husband...with a camera up to his face) who is also a teacher at TASOK and co-founder of the program.