The fourth edition of the Street Child World Cup (SCWC) is being hosted in partnership with Qatar Foundation in Doha from October 7 to 15, 2022 and nine girls from Karunalaya, a shelter home for street children in Chennai will be representing India. The team is going to be captained by S Sandhiya who is in the 12th grade and plays the position of the defender in the team.
This event is organised by a UK-based non-profit organisation called Street Child United and it aims to highlight the challenges faced by millions of street children in the world. It is organised a month ahead of the FIFA World Cup and 24 countries including Brazil, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, USA, Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Egypt, England, Hungary, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar among others participate in it.
Like Sandhiya, her teammates too have faced hardships before coming out triumphant. For example, 17-year-old Priya has never met her parents. She and her brother lived in orphanages all their lives till she was finally brought to Karunalaya. The team also includes V Pavithra (14), Divya Darshini (15), goalkeeper Sadha S (17), Santhiya M (17), Silambarasi (15), Saranya (15), and J Mathumetha (17).
The whole process of getting the nine-member team to Doha was no mean feat. N Paul Sunder Singh, founder and secretary of Karunalaya Social Service Society in an interview mentions that it took him about one whole year to complete the formalities of getting passports. The biggest challenge was getting all the documentation including birth certificates and ID proofs in place.
Post their return back to India, the girls will continue their education as well as their sports practice and will take part in local football tournaments, explained Paul. They will also be sharing their experiences with other street kids to inspire them to achieve their dreams.
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