Talented young people play football in the Menschen für Menschen children's home in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Who is their role model?
What makes a good male and female striker? The most obvious answer would be: "He or she has to score goals." But Berkume, 15, says something different: "A good attacker passes the ball to her teammate at exactly the right moment when she is able to score the goal."
Berkume Biya seems to be a team player. Perhaps this is due to the place where she grew up, together with 16-year-old Haileyesus Gobena: "I feel like I have many brothers and sisters," says Haileyesus.
The two teenagers live in the children's home run by Menschen für Menschen in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. The caregivers, called "mothers" by the children and young people, try to create a substitute family. 35 girls and boys who cannot grow up with their own parents live in the home. Some were left at churches as babies. In others' cases, the fathers shirked their responsibilities and disappeared somewhere in the huge country, 27 times the size of Switzerland. Sometimes the mothers are mentally ill, others have died of AIDS or tuberculosis or another poverty-related disease: those who are poor often die too young.
The children find a home in the Abebech Gobena children's home, named after the founder of the institution, financed by Menschen für Menschen . In the northwest of Addis Ababa, in one of the poorest areas of the city, where people crowd the alleys of the slums, the home is an island of security. There are flowerbeds, a vegetable garden and a yard where the children play basketball and football, with a real leather ball - not with homemade balls made of rags and plastic bags, like the children in the alleys .
Berkume and Haileyesus discovered their talent on the bumpy pavement of their home ground. They were soon playing on their school's teams. Their teachers selected them to take part in tournaments. These are where club scouts are present, looking for the most up-and-coming talent. Berkume and Haileyesus both want to become professional players. You can become famous in sport - they see that on television. Especially in running, since Ethiopian athletes dominate the long-distance races together with the Kenyans . But there are role models in football too. "I want to be like Loza Abera ," says Berkume. The striker in the national team is the figurehead of Ethiopian women's football. "She's fantastic at dribbling and passing," enthuses Berkume.
Later, she wants to play as a goal scorer in Japan. Haileyesus also dreams of a great career as a national player. But what if the dream doesn't come true? "Then I'll become a gardener!" says Haileyesus. He enjoys working on the flower and vegetable beds in the home: "It's nice to see something grow." Berkume could also imagine working in a clothing boutique. But her heart beats for football, and then she forgets everything else: "I'm just happy when I'm playing."
