...the England football team visited a Cape Town orphanage today. "...it's heartbreaking to see their little sad faces with no hope..." said Jamaal (age 6)
My husband sent me this joke this morning! Ha ha!
Joking aside, World Cup Fever has certainly hit Kenya. Suffice to say, my husband came home with a huge flatscreen TV last week and he's not even particularly a football fan! Perfectly happy with our antique grey box that you needed glasses to see across the room ... I was horrified. The whole family is now on a diet of bread and water until the end of the month!
We went out to watch the England Algeria game on Friday night at a packed bar with an even bigger screen that the one we now have at home. More than half of the assembled crowd were supporting Algeria (whether black, white, green whatever, simply because they were an African side). For this reason I was kind of glad that nobody scored - but what a disappointment for England! As a rank amateur on the subject of football, my impression was that under all the fancy footwork, there is simply no substance to the England team. The UK side evidently are overpaid and worry too much about their hair and clothes endorsements.
Having said this, I understand that most of the World Cup matches so far have made disappointing viewing. Perhaps other teams have struggled with the dreaded Vuvuzelas that sound like the mother of all swarming wasps. Perhaps this noise is so deafening that critical team communication is failing to take place on the pitch. Watching the German/Italian/British coaches' agonised faces is always amusing though.
The best thing about the FIFA World Cup is that it's drawing the world's attention to not just South Africa, but Africa as a whole - and this time it's not just a flash in the pan; a coup here, a riot there, a humanitarian disaster. What a blessed relief! It's great to see those, French, US, English, German supporters etc. who have 'braved' Africa to watch the game.
Now the column inches on Africa are now rolling for more than one month worldwide and it's broadcasting hopefully positive feedback from the Continent for a change. A proud moment for anybody who is from here.
One thing I have noticed; Here in Nairobi we haven't had a single power cut since the World Cup started! Way to go KPLC (Kenya Power & Lighting)!! Shows they can do it when they want to!!
