SPIRIT OF SOCCER TAKES MINE SAFETY TO GIRLS IN IRAQ
April, 2012

Spirit of Soccer is taking its unique programme of mine risk education through soccer to more young girls in Iraq than ever before thanks to the addition of two new female coaches.

In early 2012 Spirit of Soccer expanded its operations into Khaniqin, Haweja, Baghdad and Basra, reaching boys and girls living at daily risk form the on-going violence.

Spirit of Soccer uses the power of soccer to help save the lives of children living at daily risk from landmines and explosive remnants of war in some of the most dangerous places in the world. Using a unique curriculum of Mine Risk Education (MRE) alongside soccer games and drills, Spirit of Soccer teaches simple and effective lessons that help children recognise and avoid landmines and explosive remnants of war.

"Spirit of Soccer gave me the opportunity to return to the sport I love at the same time as performing a humanitarian role, helping to protect children against mines and other weapons by educating them" says Serab Hassan, a Spirit of Soccer coach from Khanaquin. "We encourage them to play football instead of playing with weapons and to work for a better and safer life."

Iraq has been ravaged by internal conflict since the US-led campaign to remove Saddam Hussein in 2003. According to the UN, last year 194 children were killed and 232 injured as a result of on-going violence in the country.

Spirit of Soccer began operating in Iraq in the spring of 2008 and to date has delivered MRE coaching sessions to over 22,000 children, sometimes under heavy shelling. In keeping with our philosophy of local ownership we have trained 18 local Iraqi coaches to deliver our program, including three women, from a variety of different ethnic and religious groups including Arab, Kurd, Sunni, Shia and Christian.

"I lost my niece during the invasion of Iraq, so I decided to work for Spirit of Soccer so I could be able to educate as many children as I could and help them keep away from mines and weapons" says Peman, a coach from Sulaimanyiah. "I played for seven years with the Iraqi national team, but no-one knew who I was. Since I started working with Spirit of Soccer, I'm famous. Children recognize me because not only did I educate them, but I put a smile in their hearts through football".
PHOTOS

ANTI-TANK MINES KILL EIGHT IN CAMBODIA
March 2012

This month, eight farmers, including three teenagers, were killed when their truck hit two anti-tank mines in Banteay Meanchey province in north-western Cambodia. Spirit of Soccer has been working in Banteay Meanchey since 2006, and our Technical Adviser Li Heang was on the ground in the aftermath of the explosion to deliver Mine Risk Education to children in local schools. He sent this update from Cambodia:

"After learning about the landmine explosion in Banteay Meanchey, Spirit of Soccer knew that we needed to provide Mine Risk Education to children in the local villages. Together with Spirit of Soccer coach Um Chhoin, I met with the local commune chief and villagers to learn more about the accident before we went to visit the local school. What we learned from our discussions scared us. The accident happened only 150 meters from the main road - and on a road very similar to the one we had to use to access the school. After hearing about the explosion which left body parts scattered around the area we were uneasy about using dirt roads, but we followed some vehicle tracks and soon saw a mine-clearance team from the Mine Action Group (MAG). Spirit of Soccer works closely with MAG, both to support their mine-clearance with Mine Risk Education, and to use our contacts with communities to identify areas in need of de-mining.

We delivered our Mine Risk Education sessions at Mounh school. One of the students here, Smarn Korng, was on the truck that hit the anti-tank mine earlier this month. He was killed instantly along with 7 others, and the school was still in shock. Lots of the children wanted to talk about the accident and what happened.

In addition to our key messages about the dangers of landmines and unexploded bombs, we also stressed the dangers of using new roads when travelling to farms in the area. We told children that they should get off a truck that has strayed off the old roads onto new dirt roads, and encouraged them to stay in school rather than leaving school to work on the farms.

Corn prices have been rising recently, and many people are searching for new areas to plant corn - including venturing into areas which have not yet been cleared of mines. Many Cambodian kids leave school to work on the local farms because they need money, but we told them they could make more money in the long run by staying in school - and out of danger.

When we left, the school principal told us "Stay on the old road - there are mines in the forest around here". It reminded us of the dangers that people face every day here in Cambodia, and why it's important that Spirit of Soccer continues delivering vital safety education."


LEADING THE WAY IN CHILD PROTECTION
December 2011

Spirit of Soccer Founder and Director Scotty Lee delivered a series of workshops on Child Protection at the Beyond Sport Summit in Cape Town, South Africa. Child Protection is a vitally important issue to our Founder and in 2010 he formed a working group together with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), Beyond Sport, and streetfootballworld to promote a global charter for child protection amongst sport for development organizations consisting of a pledge and a code of conduct. Following the workshops in Cape Town, Scotty will be delivering a webinar for the streetfootballworld network on this important topic on January 23.
PHOTOS

INTERFAITH CAMP IN CAMBODIA
September 2011

Spirit of Soccer launched the first ever interfaith camp in Cambodia, bringing together 48 boys and girls for two weeks of soccer, leadership training, religious and cultural learning and mine risk education. The participants were divided equally between Muslims, Christians and Buddhists and many had never before interacted with youth from other religions or been involved in organized sport. The camp was a big success and Spirit of Soccer hopes to replicate the program in 2012. Rachel Haig, Senior Program Advisor, said "It was incredible to see the diverse groups from all over Cambodia playing soccer together. This was the first time most of the girls had ever played sports or ever spent a night away from their rural villages. They quickly realized that although many of their new friends were from different religions, their similarities are much greater than their differences."
PHOTOS

NEW PROGRAM LAUNCH IN CAMBODIA
January 2011

Spirit of Soccer is expanding our successful Sports Diplomacy/Law Enforcement program into Pursat Province of Cambodia. Six new police officers/soccer coaches will join the Spirit of Soccer team to continue using soccer as a medium to teach Mine Risk Education and Drug Risk Education.


ANTI-PERSONNEL MINE BAN CONVENTION
December 2011

In December Spirit of Soccer participated in the 11th Meeting of States Parties (11MSP) to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, a global meeting of more than 1,000 delegates from 158 countries, seeking to rid the world of landmines and cluster munitions. SOS demonstrated its MRE and soccer workshops for the delegate attendees. The Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen visited the SOS booth and commended the SOS staff on the life saving work we are doing for the children of Cambodia.