The healing powers of football in the DRC

 

Goma, DRC - The decades-long civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) divided communities that had previously coexisted peacefully.

But millions of young Congolese still have a lot in common, particularly their love for football.

Football is the most popular sport in the DRC and at the grassroots level interest in it keeps growing. 

The sport brings together children from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, encouraging tolerance, reconciliation and understanding between communities and building a sense of solidarity.

As a cheap and accessible form of entertainment, it also offers a momentary escape from the realities of life in a war zone. 

A statue of a football in the centre of the war-torn city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During the 1990s and 2000s, at the height of the civil war, Goma was the closest major city to the bushes where rebel fighters were based. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Children warm up before playing football on a cloudy day. Their coach, Amani Demata, a 37-year-old father of three, has been unemployed for years. He says he's volunteering as a coach to give back to his community and help children to remain stimulated. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Demata (at the back, wearing a red and blue tracksuit) shows the boys in his team some stretching techniques. 'We have a lot of problems here in Congo,' he says. '[But] when people watch or play football, they forget about all their problems." [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Demata's students, many of whom aren't enrolled in school, run before starting football practice. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

A boy plays with a ball he made himself on the football field. Many of the children learn to make balls from bundles of plastic bags. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Three boys get ready to play football in front of an abandoned high school building in Goma. In recent decades, rebels have taken control of the city and recruited thousands of child soldiers. Demata is aware of the vulnerability of many of the children and believes football offers a solution. '[Children in Goma] don't have after-school activities, holidays or courses,' he says. 'A lot of them don't even go to school. They don't have anything to do. A person might become dangerous if they don't have anything to do. But when children come here and play football, they don't go to the bush. They learn to play instead of fight.' [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

A team of adult football enthusiasts kick a football on the lava-soaked grounds of Goma, which is situated on the foothills of Mount Nyiragongo, one of the most active volcanoes in Africa. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Claire Kabongo, 36 (at the back, wearing a red football shirt), shows some tricks to her students on a dusty football field. She has been teaching football to children and adults for the past eight years. In the past few years, she says, she has seen positive developments on the field. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

'In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of girl students,' Kabongo explains. 'People are starting to understand that there's absolutely no reason why girls shouldn't play football.' [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Camille is a 14-year-old football enthusiast and one of Kabongo's students. She says people initially found it odd for a girl to play football, but that more and more friends have since joined her. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Children play football at the Bulengo internally displaced people's camp in eastern Congo. Since 2009, more than three million people have been displaced from their homes. Many reside in IDP camps on the outskirts of Goma. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

Football is often one of the only activities that can give the children living in these IDP camps something resembling a normal childhood. [Didem Tali/Al Jazeera]

A girl holds a football she made herself at the Bulengo IDPcamp.

Two boys practise warm-up techniques taught by their coach, Demata. Some of the children, such as the boy on the right, do not have matching shoes to wear. 'For these children, playing football isn't like playing football in the West,' Demata explains. 'Here, they don't have the equipment, proper nutrition or football fields. Most of them don't even have footballs or shoes. They play it purely out of passion and joy. Football gives them hope for the future