The impact of Football: Eric from the Ivory Coast
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Eric, a 13 year old from Bondoukou in the North East of the Ivory Coast. We played football with 300 children and in doing so, sent a message to adults to respect our rights. We did sketches, wrote poems and sang songs says Eric.
Eric's Story
My name is Eric, I’m 13 years old and I am in my second year of high school. I live with my mother in Bondoukou in the North East of the Ivory Coast. In Bondoukou, many of my friends were never registered at birth and don’t go to school, especially the girls.Those classmates of mine who do not have an official birth certificate are not allowed to sit the Primary Education Certificate in July. As a special example during one single inspection of the Primary School at Bondoukou, more than ten thousand boys and girls were not allowed to sit the Primary Certificate exam because they could not provide a copy of their birth certificate.
UNICEF and the Football Federation of the Ivory Coast organized a four-day football tournament for boys and girls aged between seven and seventeen years here at Bondoukou and Odienne called “Right to Score” (“Droit O But”). We played football with 300 children and in doing so, sent a message to adults to respect our rights. We did sketches, wrote poems and sang songs. My team was called “The Unregistered Children” but didn’t win because of our goalkeeper. We still enjoyed ourselves though and I had the opportunity to tell parents that they should register their children at birth at the mayor’s office and to enroll them at school. I would love if all my friends from my class could follow the school curriculum like I do.
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