Since we were introduced to Martin Tofinga, the President of the Kiribati Islands Football Federation, we have been in constant exchange with him about our plans for Kiribati. We were introduced by our mutual friend Trevor Johnson, who used to live in Kiribati, knows the situation very well and who is active in environmental conservation.
From the moment Martin heard about The Ball, he agreed with Trevor:
The Ball must come to Kiribati!
Kiribati is (unlike other Pacific Islands where Rugby is the national sport), crazy about football. On every free space there are kids playing football, usually barefoot on sand ground. Kiribati is a group of atolls existentially threatened by climate change. The highest mountain in Kiribati is 3 meters above sea level; on some parts of the islands the land above sea level during high tide is only a few meters wide. If global warming continues, and Kiribati continues to sink as it is now, most of the land may be under water in about 50 years.
As Kiribati is still a very traditional society, it also made sense to cover the topic of gender equality in meetings and workshops. There are many women and girls in Kiribati, who love football, too, so it was part of The Ball’s agenda to support gender equality and women’s football in Kiribati, too.
With all of this in mind, it was a no-brainer to bring The Ball to Kiribati. Martin constantly worked on organizing different activities, as well as to get funding for us to stay there. Looking at flight and hotel and transport expenses, we were in need for co-funding for The Ball in Kiribati. At the last minute, funding arrived through the German Embassy in New Zealand (for which we are very grateful – particularly to Debora Yaakoba whose perseverance to supporting our cause went well beyond just doing her job). Through Martin’s efforts, the Kiribati Ports Authority heard about our project and offered to support The Ball. Chairman Betarim Rimon said:
We are supporting women in sports in Kiribati and to help Kiribati be seen in the global sport stage. This is one great opportunity to showcase to the world Kiribati being in the frontline of the climate change calamity.
Many other local companies supported The Ball in Kiribati by printing banners, sponsoring events and locations.
We would like to thank all those who supported The Ball in Kiribati. Pine, the national football coach who is coaching also the Betio boys and girls, and is also the vice mayor of Betio. He brought men and women from his football teams to our workshops, and helped in organizing venues. Iris also led a football training together with him, at 7 am next to the beach in Betio.
Barry, who is the social responsibility coordinator and is coaching many kids in the OFC Kiribati Just Play Program and helped us lead our workshops and fairplay football sessions.
Eriati who organized our visit to the Police Day Celebration, helped during the Just Play Program visit and lifted our spirits with his kind and funny manner. Thank you, Hon. MP Terieta and Francis, Mayor of North Tarawa for leading us through North Tarawa and hosting us on this beautiful island.
