Aid workers hope Africa will be real winner of World Cup

For New Zealand it was the first time their team had ever dared hope they could take on the likes of Italy and come out on top. After a less-than-impressive performance on the pitch, the Nigerian president took the unprecedented move of banning his team from international tournaments, and, until four weeks or so ago no-one outside of Africa had heard the vuvuzela.

It's also the first time the competition has been held on African soil and there has been much talk of the long-term benefits to a continent which so often makes headlines for poverty, famine and disease.

Only time will tell whether the World Cup will leave a lasting legacy, but while the pictures of children playing football barefoot against a backdrop of shanty towns is still fresh in the mind, aid charities are hopping to capitalise on the spotlight which has been thrown on the people who live there.

"The World Cup has brought a lot of attention to Africa and it has shown just how passionate and brave the people there are," says Sarah Dransfield, an Oxfam worker from Ilkley, who has just returned from visiting Rwebare Primary School in Rwanda, a country which just 16 years ago was torn apart by civil war.

Though the Rwandan team failed to qualify for the Finals, the arrival of the tournament was still seen as sign that Africa as a whole has turned an important corner.

"The only TV in the whole area was at the school, and people would gather there to watch it. Some must have come from 25 miles away."

Like much of the infrastructure in Rwanda, the school was destroyed during the genocide of the 1990s. Until five years ago when Oxfam stepped in, the children were taught on the floor of what was little more than a roofless, burnt-out building. Now, Rwebare has the kind of facilities which wouldn't look out of place in a British school and it's responsible for the education of 2,000 pupils aged between five and 15.

"There have been big changes in those five years," says Sarah. "All the children go to school now and it is a real lifeline for the village.

"There is a real sense of optimism about the place and the World Cup is all part of that."

During the tournament, the pupils at Rwebare played a match against another local school, which they won 4-1. Though playing in bare feet on a sloping pitch, "the passion they got from kicking a ball around was plain to see," says Sarah. "The children were so excited that so many famous footballers were coming to Africa and it wasn't just Rwanda where people were united by the event. It brought people across the continent together."

A few years ago, the people of Rwanda could only think of the future in terms of days and weeks. Today they are looking much further ahead and while some now dream of becoming footballers, others are keen to put their newfound schooling to more academic use. Speaking to 15-year-old schoolgirl Odette, who lost her siblings to malaria and other

illnesses, Sarah asked what she wanted to be when she graduated school. "A doctor" was her reply.

"Rwebare Primary is a shining example of what can be achieved through the use of foreign aid money," says Sarah. "But in other parts of Africa there are still many children whose future prospects are not so bright.

"More than 72 million children in poor countries lack access to a basic education and may never learn the skills which offer them the best chance of escaping poverty. That's why we need to capitalise on the attention Africa has been given during the World Cup."

In September, the UN Millennium Development Goals Conference (MDGC) will meet to discuss what can be done to further alleviate poverty, but funding is not easy.

"Nearly half of the world's richest countries actually cut the amount they spent on aid in 2009," says Sarah.

"It means that millions of people are being denied a new start."

To raise awareness of the reality of life in Africa, Oxfam has launched a new Don't Drop the Ball on Aid campaign and is collecting videos of people all over the world playing keepy-uppy which will be shown at the MDGC as reminder to some of the world's richest nations of their global responsibilities.

"Rwanda is an amazing place," says Sarah. "The country as a whole seems really optimistic and is investing in its young people which never seemed possible 16 years ago.

"What we now need to do is unite people the world over in supporting foreign aid for developing countries, long after the final whistle has blown in South Africa on Sunday evening."

n For more information on "Don't Drop the Ball on Aid" visit www.dontdropaid.org