Posted on 07/18/2010 7:46:37 AM PDT by smokingfrog
Surrounded by barbed wire, amid hovels made of plastic, cardboard and sticks, children were playing an infectious game of soccer - using trash instead of a ball.
Those images of Darfur refugees on CNN "were heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time," said Tim Jahnigen, a Berkeley inventor, musician and music producer. "I saw children desperate to play, living in a world where nothing makes sense and they've been traumatized by irrational violence. In their innocence, they were willing to play with anything."
A narrator explained that the children's harsh environment meant that balls went flat almost instantly.
Jahnigen had a brainstorm: What if he could create a soccer ball that would last a lifetime, never need pumping and would withstand razor wire, sharp rocks and broken glass?
It took nearly five years and the help of the musician Sting for that vision to become a reality. This month, just as World Cup fever was at a pitch, Jahnigen and his wife, Lisa Tarver, introduced the One World Futbol, an all-terrain, extremely durable soccer ball made of closed-cell foam similar to that used in Croc sandals.
The ball's name is inspired by Sting's song, "One World." The couple's goal is to distribute 1 million balls over the next three years to children in places ravaged by war, poverty and natural disasters.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
This is true charity, I don’t know what Sting’s politics are but like Kevin Costner, they put their money where their mouth is.
Good idea he came up with—it’s nice that kids won’t have to worry about the fun going away because of a puncture. When I was a kid, my dad got tired of fixing punctures on my bike tires, so he bought me some “puncture proof” tires. Trouble is, they were not really tires at all—just hard plastic shells. Might as well have been riding on the rims! I think they lasted two days before I whined enough to get back to riding on air.
Ever heard of a NERF soccer ball? These things have been around for about 40 years.
Gooodeee!
Especially for barefoot Indian kids, they can play fooootbal on the broken glass fields surrounded by barbed wire!
“The couple’s goal is to distribute 1 million balls”
Start with the Republicans in Congress!
Good point. Maybe is will make the children more resigned to keeping the status quo since it isn’t so bad now.
Nicely done!
I don’t know. Somehow I envision an AID truck parked on a slum street in Darfur surrounded by dozens of starving, half clothed kids- then the back door opens and a smiling man tosses out ten indestructible soccer balls then drives away.
Sting is left of left.
I love the guy and his music, but I find it hard to listen to now. And I can’t bring myself to buy it any more.
“LOL!!! In pairs...”
Thank you! Thank you!
I try. I try!
Neat story.
Just getting ready for Armageddon.
“I saw children desperate to play, living in a world where nothing makes sense and they’ve been traumatized by irrational violence...”
Violence caused by whom? The Amish?
“Ever heard of a NERF soccer ball? These things have been around for about 40 years.”
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I’m sorry, but this is an ignorant, “ugly American” response.
NERF soccer balls go about 20 yards when you kick them hard. They soak up water like a sponge till they are about 5 times their normal weight. They are fine for four year olds playing under dry conditions, until one of them starts picking the ball apart like a ball of cotton candy.
Playing soccer with a NERF ball is like playing baseball with a NERF baseball.
That was a zinger! I loved it.
I believe these new balls act more like the inflatable kind, then the nerf ones do. The nerf balls are really not a substitute.
That’s more true, than one would think. The food and medical aid goes to the local govt, that’s why it isn’t being distributed like it’s suppossed to be.
The adults...
Now watch — someone will try to come up with an indestructible vuvuzela....
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