Saturday 24 August 2019

It takes a TEAM to win over Injuries......together we Shoot to Score





We are a team as HODI and they are vital lessons we need to learn from being in a TEAM Only when you are a strong 💪 and a #BEAST and being thrown out to the dogs literally once you get injuries. Now #VictorWanyama is no longer the beast and #Tottenham does not need him anymore!

“In the case of Victor, he suffered an injury and another player stepped up and took his place. We are in a team, we are not a charity'. The words of the Coach literally chocked and literally made me reflect on my on life with a ball and HODI as an organisation that uses football for social change. We are a charity yes! but what does charity mean in this context especially coming from a professional football looking the talent from Africa including our own Kenyans in the premier league and champions league. Ohhh I almost forgot to mention the African United Team that won the world cup. Lots of controversial debates going on but between Tottenham and Victor Wanyama who was doing who charity? I thought the beast was delivering until the injury now he is a burden just like his folks back home who wait for aid and charity. I just want to jump back to my football and forget about the whole debate of who is fooling who? Look at all the minerals being exploited from oil, wind power and even now wildlife conservation..............

This past week has not been easy! I celebrated my birthday and same day evening got some very shocking news! An accident in #Marsabit of one of #HODIs football player involved in a motorbike 🏍 accident on 21st August at around 7pm!

Then the long calls trying to get medical 🏥 help when in #Kenya2! Uhhhh we have great buildings yes in the name of Referrals but the facilities are wanting. I still remember my dad in 2016 could not get a #CTSCAN done ✅ forcing us to ferry him 600KM to NAIROBI. Getting the ambulance then took us literally 2 days! My Dad passed on 3 yrs ago in Nairobi at 64yrs.

But for this young boy who has so much potential ahead at only 16yrs! Having already represented us locally, regionally and even internationally I was sure he will be the next BEAST from 🇰🇪 Kenya!

But I am saddened by the fact that in 2019 he still had to make this long trip literally unconscious having suffered head injuries. Again no ambulance 🚑 was available in #Marsabit Hospital 🏥 and literally they had to wait for one to come North Horr??? It’s so hard to look another way and hope this will get to pass! 7pm to 1pm and there was no help until the Kenya Red Cross EPlus ambulance came to his rescue. But all this time he was never alone even if he was unconscious or they were both not speaking at all! Every single kid who has ever kicked the #HODI #FOOTBALL was there in solidarity and doing everything possible to get him on the road to recovery. We may not have the millions but we have a million hearts ♥️! We are #Resilient as a community and we always stand together during happy 😃 and sad 😢 moments! To borrow from #Liverpool ........You shall never WALK ALONE! I rem very well how they treated #MohamedSalah when he got injuries during the FIFA World Cup 🏟 Liverpool did not rush to sell him off instead they journeyed with him through the road to recovery. We are not Liverpool but the young boys and girls I have worked in the past 16yrs will never let you walk alone.

As I walked into the #KenyattaHospital emergency section I was literally talking to myself and expecting the worst. Indeed it was even worse than I had ever imagined. The ambulance got to NAIROBI at 7am in the morning having covered 600KM at a small fee. But the young man lay there outside the casualty ward with a swollen face that made him unrecognizable. Until 10pm he had no bed 🛌? Some street boys making noise about their injured 🤕 brother and threatening to burn the whole place down. But I loved the team spirit and how they fed the fallen soldier with scones and milk.

Then as I searched from one corner to the next! I see PEPE......Adesh was his other name! Immediately I knew that was the bed carrying the young boy from #Marsabit. He was their captain in football and not a nurse or Doctor 👨‍⚕️. That is what teams are for #Tottenham we don’t walk away when our player is down but we stand with him on the road to recovery. Yes we are a charity as #HODI  we do not even play your professional football Mr. #MauricioPochettino. We only #Shoot2ScoreNot2Kill while #BreakingTheSilence on issues of FGM, early marriage and beading. We are world apart I know you are in London UK 🇬🇧 while we are from a little know village up north in #Marsabit #KENYA! Ours is football for social change and impacting life skills to last the players beyond the 90 minutes of play! How I wish in kenya and the whole of Africa we start taking sports more seriously 😳! Invest in making the facilities available and creating more Jiddos and Victor Wanyamas. But hell no we have other important agendas and sports will never ever feature as a priority.

“I am making clear the answer is not about Victor, but we are not a charity – it is about performance and the coaching staff have a lot of different options to play different players! Mauricio Pochettino as he sent #VictorWanyama packing towards a £10million move to Club Bruges by saying his Tottenham career has gone “backwards” and shrugging: “We are not a charity.”

Ours is a STORY of Hope! That which transcends beyond tribe, religion or creed! We are changing our own destination and we are hanging on to the boots even long after the game is over. I quickly wiped my tears 😭 and had to be strong for the young boy! What have me the strength is the young boys on the bedside holding the drip! Another one holding the head and one at the back making sure his legs did not fall off. We are not making a move to club Bruges alone claiming Wanyamas career is gone backwards. It was beyond the professional call of duty! A passion that calls for sacrifices.

“In the case of Victor, he suffered an injury and another player stepped up and took his place. We are in a team, we are not a charity were the words of his coach. In #HODI we are always a team in high and low moments!

We are a team #HODI and they are vital lessons we need to learn from being in a TEAM Only when you are a strong 💪 and a #BEAST and being thrown out to the dogs literally once you get injuries. Now #VictorWanyama is no longer the beast and #Tottenham does not need him anymore!

This past week has not been easy! I celebrated my birthday and same day evening got some very shocking news! An accident in #Marsabit of one of #HODI football player involved in a motorbike 🏍 accident on 21st August at around 7pm!

The entire team has been with the young lad! From marsabit to the corridors of Kenyatta and now to hospital where he will go under the knife! #Jiddo you are not alone and together we shall overcome

He goes into surgery today morning!
Take a moment and say a prayer for this young footballer from #Marsabit. The next BEAST like Victor but whose team still walks besides him every single moment since the accident!

We are not VICTIMS but SURVIVORS! Together we #Shoot2ScoreNot2Kill! To them team! I only have respect for you and thank u for showing the world the vital lessons the rest of the world 🌎 can learn from you!

.......bear with me if its a little rusty.......been long since i blogged.....as the young boys make their little contributions and now at 3,500/= ...its not the MILLIONs that matter but having a Million reasons to give GRATITUDE! I am forever HODI United that is my DNA