GloKnoCo Trip to Berlin
Written by Anna Birakos (MA History, Durham University, Ishami Foundation Project Outreach Volunteer), and Erin Brady (MA Islamic Studies, SOAS University, Ishami Foundation Volunteer).
Alongside Eric Murangwa Eugene (CEO and Founder of Ishami Foundation), we attended the Global Sport for Development and Peace Knowledge Collaborative (GloKnoCo) conference in Berlin in early November. GloKnoCo was established three years ago under the Erasmus and EU programme. The trip consisted of a 5-day field trip which sought to explore the way in which sport can be used for social development and peace. It involved three universities: the University of Brighton (UK), the University of Paderborn (Germany) and the University of Olomouc (Czech Republic), along with three NGO representatives. The duration of the trip was spent visiting different organisations around Berlin, with the aim of understanding how these groups used football as a tool to empower communities.
The GloKnoCo trip was an exciting, eye-opening, and educational experience, which gave both of us the opportunity to learn, reflect and comprehend how sport can be used as an essential tool to create strong relationships, develop communities and create peace and unity. On our first day in Berlin, we visited Anna Worrmann (Engagement Global), and Moritz Voges (Lernort Stadion), at Hertha BSC sports complex and learned about the practical activities and methodologies for children. The trip was a fun, educational experience where we learnt how problem-solving activities with children can teach them innate values and morals.
Our highlights also involved visiting KickFair, a Street Football Youth NGO based in Berlin. This organisation visits schools around the city to help underprivileged children learn about the importance of developing confidence and skills through football, by teaching them the values of respect, communication, and teamwork. This aligns closely with Ishami Foundation’s objectives, which seek to merge testimonies of survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi with the active side of football. The session allowed us to reflect on how we can interact with young people in an engaging manner whilst simultaneously encouraging thoughtfulness and thinking skills. We hope to use these considerations to better combine football and storytelling in our Lessons From Rwanda programme, by working with underprivileged children in schools around the UK in the future.
Equally, visiting Hangar 1 was an enriching experience. Temelhof airport ground has been converted into a space were refugees and the people of Berlin can come together to participate in sport, culture, education and counselling – for free. Hangar 1’s vision is to provide a space where everyone feels included, an idea carefully curated right down to the activities they offer to the drinks they provide in the café. By founding the space on the principles of inclusion, cohesion and wellbeing, the importance of cooperation and integration through sport resonate with our mutual ethos at Ishami. During our visit, we were included in the Hangar 1’s community by participating in various sporting activities; volleyball, roller-skating and, of course, football! After our session, we sat down with Ian, a representative from PLAY!YA (an NGO concerned with sports as a social phenomenon), and discussed what we’d learnt about the way sport impacts communities. This extended to a conversation on how other methods, such as art and theatre, can be used to help and reconciliate both international and local communities.
Similarly, visiting Street Football World was an incredible opportunity to learn about the roles of professional footballers and their working relationships with different stakeholders. We met Thomas and Attah Jeph Okekwu and learned about their new, ground-breaking initiative ‘Common Goal.’ ‘Common Goal’ is designed to connect grassroots sports programmes around the world with international professional footballers. Key players donate 1% of their wages to the project, which enables more NGOs and sports organisations to bring the power of sport to underprivileged communities. Learning about the programme taught us about the influence of football, hope and collaboration.
Eric Murangwa Eugene, our CEO and Founder, also sat down with the students to give a powerful presentation about his life and the story of Rwanda. It was an incredible privilege to listen to Eric’s testimony, and it gave GloKnoCo participants the unique opportunity to reflect on some of the central issues that we face in the world today, in terms of division, polarisation and perpetual ‘othering’ in society. It also pushed us to consider the humanity and power of football and its effect on people’s lives.
Although the trip aimed to enlighten us about the different ways sport can be used as a tool for social change, we also enjoyed meeting other like-minded students, academics, and NGO representatives from around the world. After 18 months of covid-induced isolation, the opportunity to meet new people with a common interest was particularly wonderful! We enjoyed talking to different students, whose backgrounds ranged from Russian to Saudi Arabian to Indian, about their own areas of study and their cultural heritage; we were exceptionally lucky that the trip fell over Diwali so two students who celebrate the festival shared their traditions and practices with us. The group united through a common interest in sport, (in particular football), and we built friendships, discussed our ideas, and actively engaged with each other and the local community through our mutual desire to make a difference. This mirrors the values of Ishami Foundation, and we look forward to using the skills that we gained from the trip on the ground.
The trip took place between the 1st-5th of November 2021. There are plans for future trips to both Brussels and Paderborn in 2022.