The world game

Never am I more proud of my very cool husband than when he does the unexpected and goes where no one else dares, like on these two occasions when he simply walked into the middle of a soccer game between local kids and joined in, thrilling them with his big smile and big heart.

The kids in the top picture, who belong to the local witch doctor, play with neither shoes nor a real ball; their “ball” is a wad of plastic bags wrapped up in sticky tape. The other kids, whom we visited in Lesotho (a separate mountain kingdom contained within the borders of South Africa) were probably good enough to play on representative teams, if only the talent scouts would come this far into the townships to give them a chance.

Both groups of kids received gifts from our girls – new balls, chocolate, crayons and colouring books – and it was a lesson of the highest order for Annie and Molly, who may not remember these encounters specifically, but will hopefully go forward in life with what it takes to understand those who are disadvantaged, to feel empathy for them and to bring themselves to do something about that disadvantage.