Sue and Patricia, two VisionZambia trustees are in Zambia at the moment. This blog is from Sue.

Sunday is match day for the girls football team – the Light of Hope Divas – that we support in Linda. Patricia and I drove to the other side of Lusaka where the team was playing against the Amanda Queens. We arrived just before half-time when the score was nil-nil and we stayed for the final whistle with the score at 2:1 to the Amanda Queens; this score included an own goal scored by one of the Divas.

The girls told us that playing in the team helps them to be themselves and have a life of their own. They don’t feel so much pressure to get married and have babies too early; we saw the coaches encourage them to support each other in a disciplined way, to commit to the team, to keep up their training, to stay away from alcohol and boys, and to keep learning new set pieces. The coaches even held out the possibility of playing on the national team if they continued to focus on football.

At the end we talked with the girls, thanking them for the chance we had to see them play. We emphasised that the scoreline was not as important as the experience of playing together as a team, and we promised that we would continue to support the team with their transport, their boots, kit and balls and their registration fees. Without this donation from VisionZambia the team would not exist, and captain Doreen Mayenda thanked everyone who has made it possible. Today we were lucky enough to see that this is money very well spent.

If you want to support the girls football team in Linda with VisionZambia you can