One World Week to host football for peace
-06/10/06
By Jordan Tchilingirian
Football,
One World Week to host football for peace
-06/10/06
By Jordan Tchilingirian
Football, like religion, is famous for rivalry, tribalism and at times violent passion. However the organisers of One World Week see it as something which can be a force for peace, understanding, respect and cohesion too.
The organisers believe that peopleís lives are transformed and enriched when they understand each other’s different perspectives and campaigners hope that football is the way to kick out antagonisms.
Working with Soccer for Peace, One World Week which takes place at the end of October, is hosting a Community Football Champions League later this month. The organisers hope that this will bring ëmainstreamí communities together with peoples and groups who are often found on the margins of society.
Andy McNeil of Soccer for Peace explains: “Games, activities and competitions help us understand more about ourselves and about our place in the world.”
“Soccer for Peace has brought together players from very different backgrounds and societies. They have trained together, played together, won and lost together, and in some cases they have studied and learned together.”
The Community Champions league event is just one of the many events which are being planned in the UK and around the world. This year’s theme is based around the theme ëMind the Gapí, referring to the gulf between individuals, communities and nations.
The football extravaganza is aimed at celebrating the diversity of cultures, ethnicities, genders and creeds in various local communities with the goal of recognising that we are part of one world in combating inequality and discrimination. It is hoped that participants will learn about the widening gulf between rich and poor and take informed action for justice.
It is also believed that this type of reflection will lead individuals to choose a lifestyle that reflects care for the earth and its resources.
Veteran One World Week campaigner Katie Orchel told Ekklesia that she was glad that the groups were finding new and inventive ways to bring serious global issues to people who may never otherwise be confronted with such challenges, though she is more partial to a game of hockey than football.
“One world week is about global issues and football is about as universal as you can get. It is a perfect way to get people thinking about others, no matter how far away they areî she said.
One World Week has grown into a mass movement of some 3,000 local UK groups. But its Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Fray points out that it operates on a global stage.
“By the time you take account of all the communities, schools, colleges, universities and places of worship taking part around the world that we only occasionally hear about, the scale is phenomenal” he said.
One World Week organisers have made rough estimates that this October’s events will see nearly half a million people taking part.
One World Week is not alone in seeing the potential for peace in sport. Two of the Westís major charities are promoting the idea of sport as a means for peace through their online Christmas gift programmes. Christian Aid is offering the public a chance to buy a ëBasketball for Peaceí for only £8.
They point out that sport ignores differences of religion, class, culture, and ethnicity. Christian Aidís work in Burundi with their local partners has seen the memory of the bloody and devastating conflict which raged between the Hutu and Tutsi people overcome by sports as the young of both tribes are given the chance to unite by playing basketball.
In the same spirit UNICEFís ëSport in a Boxí gift is not only used for conflict situations but also as a means to help children who have suffered trauma form war or natural disasters.
One world week takes place between 22-29 October globally. The Community Football Champions League event is on Friday, 27 October. Other events planned throughout the UK include Stories from the Separation Barrier in Israel/Palestine – A day conference in Salisbury with Jan Sutch Pickard of the Iona community at Sarum College on 23 October
One World Week to host football for peace
-06/10/06
By Jordan Tchilingirian
Football, like religion, is famous for rivalry, tribalism and at times violent passion. However the organisers of One World Week see it as something which can be a force for peace, understanding, respect and cohesion too.
The organisers believe that peopleís lives are transformed and enriched when they understand each other’s different perspectives and campaigners hope that football is the way to kick out antagonisms.
Working with Soccer for Peace, One World Week which takes place at the end of October, is hosting a Community Football Champions League later this month. The organisers hope that this will bring ëmainstreamí communities together with peoples and groups who are often found on the margins of society.
Andy McNeil of Soccer for Peace explains: “Games, activities and competitions help us understand more about ourselves and about our place in the world.”
“Soccer for Peace has brought together players from very different backgrounds and societies. They have trained together, played together, won and lost together, and in some cases they have studied and learned together.”
The Community Champions league event is just one of the many events which are being planned in the UK and around the world. This year’s theme is based around the theme ëMind the Gapí, referring to the gulf between individuals, communities and nations.
The football extravaganza is aimed at celebrating the diversity of cultures, ethnicities, genders and creeds in various local communities with the goal of recognising that we are part of one world in combating inequality and discrimination. It is hoped that participants will learn about the widening gulf between rich and poor and take informed action for justice.
It is also believed that this type of reflection will lead individuals to choose a lifestyle that reflects care for the earth and its resources.
Veteran One World Week campaigner Katie Orchel told Ekklesia that she was glad that the groups were finding new and inventive ways to bring serious global issues to people who may never otherwise be confronted with such challenges, though she is more partial to a game of hockey than football.
“One world week is about global issues and football is about as universal as you can get. It is a perfect way to get people thinking about others, no matter how far away they areî she said.
One World Week has grown into a mass movement of some 3,000 local UK groups. But its Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Fray points out that it operates on a global stage.
“By the time you take account of all the communities, schools, colleges, universities and places of worship taking part around the world that we only occasionally hear about, the scale is phenomenal” he said.
One World Week organisers have made rough estimates that this October’s events will see nearly half a million people taking part.
One World Week is not alone in seeing the potential for peace in sport. Two of the Westís major charities are promoting the idea of sport as a means for peace through their online Christmas gift programmes. Christian Aid is offering the public a chance to buy a ëBasketball for Peaceí for only £8.
They point out that sport ignores differences of religion, class, culture, and ethnicity. Christian Aidís work in Burundi with their local partners has seen the memory of the bloody and devastating conflict which raged between the Hutu and Tutsi people overcome by sports as the young of both tribes are given the chance to unite by playing basketball.
In the same spirit UNICEFís ëSport in a Boxí gift is not only used for conflict situations but also as a means to help children who have suffered trauma form war or natural disasters.
One world week takes place between 22-29 October globally. The Community Football Champions League event is on Friday, 27 October. Other events planned throughout the UK include Stories from the Separation Barrier in Israel/Palestine – A day conference in Salisbury with Jan Sutch Pickard of the Iona community at Sarum College on 23 October