Sports coaches deliver football camp to Bosnian youth

Muhammad Ismael

EAST LONDONERS Abdal Ahmed and Emdad Rahman have returned to London after spending the weekend in Bosnia delivering sports coaching to young people. The sports coaches travelled to Sarajevo as part of an aid deployment to the city.

The objectives of the football camp focussed on promoting good health, nutrition, hydration and activities which encourage people to take regular exercise. There was a light training session and several games of football with both adults and young people.

In total Emdad and Abdal spent four days in Sarajevo. Their fact finding activities included meeting needy families which had been provided with a cow. These families had used the cows to generate income – and communities had become empowered as a result.

There was a seminar with local leaders regarding positive community action and empowerment through education and charitable activities. The two also fitted in a visit to Srebrenica, where genocide and ethnic cleansing of Bosnians took place in 1995 – the worst atrocity on European soil since the Second World War.

Both coaches are pleased with the results of their volunteering and commented, “We had a very short time to set up and deliver a football session, but we did well. The beautiful game is the easiest way to break barriers and unite people, and it was nice to see so many happy and smiling faces. The Bosnian people have witnessed so much heartache in their lives and we hope that activities like this will help them and their families to heal.”

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