Cameroon takes home Women Win award

Each of the eight women's teams competing at the Homeless World Cup put forward an idea for a sustainable community project which promoted the development and empowerment of women.

Cameroon’s business model for a dress-making and hair-dressing salon was voted the winner by the other teams.

The uplifting presentation was complete with African singing and dancing, and the Ugandans joined in by adding their own bongo drum. But the aim of the award was not just fun and games, as each team addressed the serious and often frightening issues that women face in their communities each day.

Liberian player Veronica Davies’ heartfelt story illuminated the hardships faced by many women in her country.

“I was two years old when the civil crisis broke out in my country. My father was a general in the army. We fled when the rebels attacked our village. I had to beg for food. When I was 10 my father decided to take us back to Liberia. But when we returned, our house had been burnt down,” she said.

With nowhere else to turn, Davies’ decided to live with friends.

“I got a scholarship to finish my education and graduated in 2005,” she says. “I was selling mineral water on the side of the road when I saw people playing soccer. I started playing soccer again and then I got into university.”

The common theme throughout the presentation was the positive role that football plays in creating community bonds while providing a platform for women to develop their independence.

Paraguayan player Elisa Noelia Caceres Gamarra was optimistic about her team’s ability to make changes back home.

“We want to go home and teach other girls to play soccer,” she said. “We want to show them how to stay away from drugs and have fun with sport.”

Melinda Namafe from Zambia was also excited about the positive effect of soccer on young girls.

“Football has changed me in so many ways,’ she enthused. "I have finished school. I never thought I would. I want to change my life. We (the team) hope to play professional football. When I return home I want to show people how I’ve changed, what I’ve learnt, and how to become someone in life.”

For the first time, the Homeless World Cup includes a women’s competition this year, with the eight teams hailing from mainly from Africa, as well as South America, Kyrgyzstan and Australia.

Women Win is an international women’s fund that supports sport and physical activities to bring about social change and women’s empowerment.

“Sport is enormously powerful,” explains Women Win program director Cindy Coltman. “It can help heal communities.”