LFC makes new friends

Friends like 22-year-old Themba Dan Chaute (pictured below) from South Africa, who became a proud Kopite this week after working with our coaches at a United Nations Youth Leadership Camp in Qatar.

Themba's story is one of tragedy, but also of remarkable resilience.

He and his four siblings lost their father seven years ago. Their auntie also died and left three orphans. All eight youngsters now live with Themba's mother under one tiny roof. None of them can find work and they live on a government grant of just $50 per month.

Desperate to create a better life for himself and his family, Themba began volunteering at the age of just 12 - teaching football to children his own age.

A decade later he is a volunteer director at Play Soccer South Africa and was one of 30 young adults picked by the UN to take part in a 10-day camp in Doha.

Whilst here he's been working with LFC Foundation coaches, who were asked to be the Premier League's representative for this project in November.

Several other sporting organisations from across the world have also sent people to coach the volunteers, who will take back what they learn to apply in their homeland.

"I am really trying to do something so my little brothers and sisters have an education and to make sure they don't give up on their dreams," Themba told Liverpoolfc.tv. "You should dream until you die.

"The camp is going to empower us, make us strong to carry on. I used to have 200-300 people playing football and with the skills I am learning I can go to a higher number - maybe 10,000!

"I'll have a lot of support now, and that's the thing I was most short of: resources. If you come (to my organisation) in six months, you will see it's very different.

"It was my dream to get out of my community and see how other people do what I'm doing, and it means a lot to have contact with Liverpool coaches. When I go back I'm going to tell the kids Liverpool was here and it's going to be a very big thing.

"What I've learnt here, the kids back home are going to get that information - and it's a motivation for them that people like me, from disadvantaged areas, can still meet the best in the world.

"Liverpool is going to be my team now. They're not just a team to me now - we are family. I know Liverpool is the biggest family - they don't only play football, they care for people.

"I will watch them and make sure I show them to other children so they can watch. Every day I'm going to be a big Liverpool fan."

The 30 participants are from South Africa, Kenya, Palestine, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana, Burundi, Tanzania and Namibia.

Each has their own account of a difficult past and their own reasons for becoming volunteers back home.

For Samantha Lukonde (pictured below), the motivation to play an active role in her community has been the gender inequality she perceives in her native Zambia.

The 22-year-old's journey to being recognised by the UN started in 2006 when she became a youth peer leader, working to combat drug abuse among high school pupils.

Now she is a volunteer for the National Organisation for Women in Sport, Physical Activities and Recreation.

"Participation in sport among women in my country is low, so we try to run programmes which encourage them," she said.

"My country has a society full of stereotypes - roles and responsibilities created by society. Men are told they should do this and women are told they should do that. Sport in my country has been defined as for men, and a woman's place is definitely in the kitchen!

"In our organisation, we're saying women should have the same opportunities as men in terms of sport and in the decision making process."

The UN believes sport is unique in its ability to change the path young people take.

Samantha concurs.

"I always used to sit at the back and would never speak - my family used to think there was something wrong with me," she added.

"Without sport I don't think I'd be a youth advocate for gender. It's lifted me up - sport is a platform for life skills."

One of the most enthusiastic participants in the camp is 24-year-old Jongi Mguga (pictured below), who lives in the Khayelitsha township in Cape Town, South Africa.

In his community, sport is one of the few alternatives to a life of drugs and crime.

This is the battle facing Jongi at the Tag Rugby Association.

"There is a lot of peer pressure around: gangsterism, drugs, crime," he said. "We do our best to get people away from gangs and drugs.

"It's an honour for me to be part of the United Nations. Whatever I learn here I'll take back to my community.

"It has been a fantastic experience. Growing up, I never thought I'd have a coaching session with the Liverpool guys - it's a dream and an honour to work with the Liverpool coaches."

As part of the partnership between LFC and the UN, five of the 30 volunteers will travel to Merseyside to see the work we carry out in our own community.

Another of those hoping to be in that number is Fidda Ataya (pictured below) from Ramallah in Palestine.

Unlike most of those involved in the camp, she had only a limited knowledge of football and of Liverpool Football Club before arriving in Qatar - but thanks to coaches Forbes Duff and Steve Hollis, she is a convert.

"I haven't played football before but I like it - it's fantastic," said Fidda, who volunteers for another of the camp organisers, Right to Play.

"I have discovered I can play football. I will play football back home now.

"I want to share the shirt Liverpool have given me with my brother and my friends. I will give it to my friend for one week, another friend for one week, and then my brother."

Although the camp, which is taking place at the Aspire Academy, is part of a pilot project, the UN hopes to organise four similar events per year in future.

While concentrating on young people from Africa and Palestine at this stage, they plan to roll out the scheme to other continents eventually. 

Click here to take a look at some more great photos from Doha>>