On August 15-16, 2009 a very popular English newspaper, The Cambodia Daily issued one article about the kids from Cambodia attend the Homeless World Cup in September.
Please read the whole article as the following:
Homeless Footballers Travel to Italy for International Tourney
By TIM STURROCK THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Six Cambodian footballers will travel to the world fashion capital Milan, Italy, next month to compete in the Homeless World Cup, the organization helping the load players, who all hail from very poor backgrounds, said on Friday. Five hundred players from 48 countries will - during the second week of September in the 7th annual tourney. The event brings homeless young people from around the world together to play each other in street-style matches. Cambodian team members were selected from the NGO Riverkids, which works with impoverished kids, and from the Center for Children's Happiness, which helps orphans and children whose parents cannot care for them.
Six Cambodian footballers will travel to the world fashion capital Milan, Italy, next month to compete in the Homeless World Cup, the organization helping the load players, who all hail from very poor backgrounds, said on Friday. Five hundred players from 48 countries will - during the second week of September in the 7th annual tourney. The event brings homeless young people from around the world together to play each other in street-style matches. Cambodian team members were selected from the NGO Riverkids, which works with impoverished kids, and from the Center for Children's Happiness, which helps orphans and children whose parents cannot care for them.
"It's very fantastic for them to have the chance to go to Italy and see what they can do," Pheakdey Khin, a site manager for Riverkids, said Friday by telephone. Two 17-year-olds and two 18 years-olds from Riverkids will participate this year, she said
Until they began receiving aid from Riverkids two years ago the teens weren't in school and were collecting cans on the street with little supervision, she said.
''If you don't help them they will go and take drugs," she said. The young men stay in the slum area near the Japanese Friendship Bridge. She said that hopefully after visiting Italy they will see a wider range of possibilities as the two young men did last year when they participated in the last Homeless World Cup in Melbourne Australia. ''After they came back, they were so proud of themselves," she said "It has changed their lives. They are stronger than before," she said, adding that the two became leaders’ and role models for other children.
Until they began receiving aid from Riverkids two years ago the teens weren't in school and were collecting cans on the street with little supervision, she said.
''If you don't help them they will go and take drugs," she said. The young men stay in the slum area near the Japanese Friendship Bridge. She said that hopefully after visiting Italy they will see a wider range of possibilities as the two young men did last year when they participated in the last Homeless World Cup in Melbourne Australia. ''After they came back, they were so proud of themselves," she said "It has changed their lives. They are stronger than before," she said, adding that the two became leaders’ and role models for other children.
Happy Football Cambodia Australia, the organization that is helping get the players to Milan, and which funned in 2005, picked this t year's squad on April 25, the organization said. Three support staff will travel with the six players, said Paraic Grogan, the HFCA chairperson. ''While it may be their only opportunity to visit another country, I hope it will inspire them to do t greater things with their lives," Mr. Grogan.
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