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    <title>Mercy Corps Sports Features</title>
    <link>http://www.mercycorps.org/</link>
    <description>The Latest Mercy Corps Sports Content</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <copyright>(c) 2007 Mercy Corps</copyright>
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<item>
	<title>Celebrating Peace with Soccer</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/india/2343/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Mercy Corps organized soccer matches in more than a half-dozen countries to celebrate the Sept. 21 International Day of Peace. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:54:12 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Laying the Groundwork for Peace in Iraq</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/iraq/2348/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[On International Day of Peace in Iraq, Mercy Corps celebrated by holding a soccer match between two groups of people who don't always play for the same team.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2008 07:13:07 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Regaining Her Smile, Dispelling Fear</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/peru/2212/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Nine-year old Maria survived last August's Peru earthquake — but life in the aftermath was often nightmarish. Mercy Corps helped heal her emotional wounds.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:46:38 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Using Sports to Support Youth</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/children/2151/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[It's not the classroom, or the doctor's office, or some other site where you might expect to find traumatized children receiving supportive services. But athletic fields and playgrounds, Mercy Corps and its partners believe, can be the place where innovative — and effective — approaches to emotional recovery take flight.

The Moving Forward initiative, a collaborative endeavor between Mercy Corps, NIKE and CARE aims to help youth emerge from the physical and emotional rubble of emergencies by stepping onto the soccer pitches, volleyball courts and dance halls of their recovering communities. The approach capitalizes on the capacity of coaches and teachers to use sport- and game-based methodologies to help youth recover from the trauma they experience during and after disasters.

As part of a pilot project initiated by Mercy Corps in response to the coastal earthquake in Peru last August, two dozen coaches and teachers were trained as mentors to work with kids in the most affected areas. Using sports like soccer, volleyball and dance, these mentors helped more than 300 kids cope with the psychosocial stress that follows losing homes and schools and living in crowded shelters.  

Twice a week, youth joined their mentors in community play areas to take part in soccer and volleyball matches and dance instruction to build their self-esteem, trust in others, teamwork and resiliency. Each mentor was equipped with a NIKE-outfitted sport bag containing all the tools of the sport-mentor trade: soccer balls, volleyballs, practice vests, cones, rope and so on.

The experience and tools developed will help the Moving Forward initiative develop a one-of-a-kind toolkit to help child-service professionals engage youth in sports and games after natural and manmade disasters strike. The toolkit will be refined by all of the partners as we learn more about how to best use sports and games to promote kids' psychosocial recovery.

Food, water and shelter are essential to disaster recovery. But the power of sports can't be overlooked in helping youth recover their optimism and hope.
]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2008 08:49:03 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Poverty Gives Himself to Others</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/sudan/1957/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Poverty Tabaan has risen above his name and become a role model for the youth of southern Sudan.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:58:43 -0800</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Basketball In the Land of Chinggis Khann</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/donate/materialaid/1934/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Don't be surprised if Asia's next great basketball prospect comes from the vast deserts where Chinggis Khann once roamed.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 12 Nov 2007 11:11:17 -0800</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Video Highlights &quot;Sports For Peace and Life&quot;</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/peacefulchange/1746/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Watch a video from Nike about Mercy Corps' work with the children of South Sudan. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 20 Jun 2007 07:19:05 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Using Sport to Teach AIDS Awareness in Sudan</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/sports/1717/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[A Youth returning to southern Sudan are learning about HIVIDS through a curriculum of soccer.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:37:41 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Soccer Fever: Goals Worth Striving For</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/sports/1339/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Three examples of where Mercy Corps is harnessing the power of soccer to change lives.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jun 2006 09:38:37 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Score One for AIDS Awareness</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/hivaids/1305/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[A As legions of soccer fans around the globe anticipated the opening whistle of the 2006 World Cup, Liberian youth such as Victoria were stepping onto the soccer field to learn about HIVIDS. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 23 Jun 2006 07:47:26 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Rallying Around a Goal</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/civilsociety/1320/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Nebil Mjeku wanted to build pride in their community and get citizens working together again.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 15 Jun 2006 08:07:57 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Safety Nets, Soccer-Style</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/children/944/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[In the dusty playgrounds of Darfur, children displaced from their homes find a safe, supervised space to play.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 20 Oct 2005 11:06:17 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>A Love Affair with Soccer</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/indonesia/823/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[Soccer is big in Indonesia. 

It's the nation's favorite game, and serves as the perfect icebreaker for any conversation.  Be prepared, though, that most Indonesians will know more about international teams and results than you do.  Sports sections in the main Indonesian newspapers can compete with the international news when it comes to size, and there are best-selling weekly magazines dedicated to nothing but reporting the latest from the world of soccer.  Most boys know the names of all players of their favorite team and have their idol's jersey if they can afford it. 

Aceh Province is no exception to Indonesia's love affair with the checkered ball.  So organizing a soccer league for schools as part of Mercy Corps' youth programming here was an obvious thing to do.  After all, it was guaranteed to be a success. 

Children return from their summer break to school in early August, but school only starts in earnest after Indonesia's Independence Day on August 17th.  As a result, the days before are the perfect time for a soccer tournament between schools.

The tournament Mercy Corps organized took place in Darussalam in Banda Aceh, where many children displaced by the tsunami have been going to school.  Elementary and middle schools took place, with children aged 9 to 13.  In all, 16 schools with 240 kids participated. 

The soccer field for the tournament was a simple large grassy area between trees, one used by several schools for sport activities.  Goals were makeshift structures of wooden beams tied together and field boundaries were marked by flags dedicated by Mercy Corps for the event. 

As befits any proper tournament, the games were started with a ceremony of speeches.  Members of the organizing sports union as well as Mercy Corps' Social Revitalization Program Coordinator in Banda Aceh gave short speeches.

The tournament was organized as a triple elimination system, allowing teams that lose in the beginning to continue playing.  A total of 34 games were played, with two games per day over the course of 17 days.  

At the end of the tournament, a simple ceremony for the winners was conducted, opening with traditional dance performances from students.  Winners received trophies and small prizes of cash.  Prizes went to the three best players and the team that won the tournament. 

Each game was followed by a group of spectators - girls from the same school, parents, teachers and the teams whose turn to play was yet to come.  Intense discussions on strategy, strengths and weaknesses of the teams playing could be heard in the crowd.  Deliberations ensued about how offside was being used strategically by one team, or how the other team needed to improve their defense. 

Mercy Corps organized this tournament as part of an overall sports program, aimed at providing tsunami survivors of all ages - especially children - with activities that would take their minds off their losses and ongoing difficulties.  These activities also help heal their trauma by encouraging positive social interaction. Nike contributed to this effort by providing 1,000 soccer balls. 

In a common, rousing love for soccer, everyday worries were forgotten, and everyone cheered their teams on. 
]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 26 Aug 2005 09:45:18 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Sudanese Girls Go for the Gold</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/sports/793/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[In the midst of the desolate and arid south Sudanese landscape, a jubilant stream of young women and girls burst forward. Some clad in athletic gear, some in traditional tribal dresses and many in rags, they punctuate the hot desert silence with their laughter.

Singing &quot;We are happy, so very happy!&quot; the girls storm a dusty sporting field in Akoc, South Sudan for the beginning of the girls' volleyball competition. They are an integral part of the fifth annual Twic Olympics, a sporting event designed to bring youths from tribes who have formerly fought one another together to resolve conflicts through sports rather than violence.

For most of the girls, the games are also an opportunity to play, make new friends and engage in normal childhood activities for the first time in their lives.

&quot;Until last year, I had never played sports before,&quot; says Monica, one of the star volleyball players at the games. &quot;I went to school when I was younger, but when the fighting got worse I stopped. This volleyball team is the only chance I have to play with friends. Most of the time I have to do chores.&quot;

Due to war, drought and a series of natural and man-made disasters, two generations of south Sudanese children have been deprived of schooling and a normal childhood. Girls have suffered the most, as they are typically kept at home to help with household chores and look after younger siblings, while boys are sent to school.

Without education, a chance to play and a normal social environment, they are doomed to inherit the deprivations of their parents and perpetuate their tragic history of strife and conflict. Education, sports and other normal childhood activities are critical for building self-esteem, developing decision making skills and learning social interaction skills.

The Twic Olympics were started five years ago by a local humanitarian organization, Sudan Production Aid, as a way to involve Sudanese youth in efforts to reduce intra-tribal violence, as well as to further childhood development - build confidence, improve communication and teamwork skills, develop a healthy attitude toward life and foster optimism for the future.

Mercy Corps has been an active partner in supporting the Twic Olympics for the past two years. At this year's games, Mercy Corps provided equipment from its corporate partner, Nike, including 2,000 pairs of shoes, apparel, socks and gym bags to the athletes, coaches and organizers.

&quot;It is essential to give youths the experiences that will equip them with the skills to respond to the great challenges that await them,&quot; says Lainie Thomas, Mercy Corps' Country Representative for South Sudan. &quot;Today, in light of the recently signed Peace Accords, it is critical that youths learn how to resolve conflicts in non-violent ways, how to cope with the economic, social and environmental dilemmas they will face and how to work together with their communities to solve their problems.&quot;

While the national Peace Accord between North and South Sudan proceeds, the effort must be supported by people-to-people initiatives at the grass-roots level. Much of the fighting in South Sudan takes place between or even within tribes. Therefore, while peace initiatives aimed at bringing the north and south together are essential, community peace-building activities are equally important and have a more direct impact on the lives of most South Sudanese people.

For Monica and her teammates, the games have brought laughter, hope and a little relief from the daily struggles they face.

&quot;I look forward to practice all day long,&quot; says Monica. &quot;I love to play volleyball, but more important are the friends I have made. Now, I have girls I can talk to about my problems and share things I couldn't talk to anyone else about. One of my teammates has gone back to school and I am thinking about trying to go back, too.&quot;

By bringing once-isolated youths together, the Twic Olympics provides an opportunity to form friendships and encourages children to talk about their experiences with their peers. The initial results are extremely promising: youths who participate in the games are more likely to attend school and have a positive outlook on their future. (According to a UNICEF survey, only 40% of South Sudan's one million primary school age children are enrolled in school and only 26% of these are girls.)

&quot;Most children in southern Sudan have spent their lives in a constant state of fear and stress, never knowing what will happen tomorrow,&quot; says Daniel Dhaal, the Youth Empowerment for Peace Coordinator for Sudan Production Aid. &quot;The goal of the Twic Olympics is to give them the capabilities, skills and opportunities necessary to build a better future.

&quot;Only then can they become part of the peace process that will end the repeated need for massive humanitarian relief - only then can the cycle of war be broken.&quot;]]></description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 29 Mar 2005 06:06:36 -0800</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Playing for Peace</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/sudan/511/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[On the dusty fields of South Sudan, sports is building bridges between youths of tribes in conflict.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 2005 06:38:29 -0800</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Making a Splash in the Community</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/children/487/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[It seems like most youth in Kursumlja plan to leave the municipality as soon as they can. Kursumlja is one of the most economically-depressed municipalities in Serbia and youth see no hope of finding their future here. 

The birth rate in the municipality is extremely low and it is becoming evident that only those who have no choice remain. 

For years, the only entertainment available to Kursumlja's youth was to hang out in the two or three local cafes and to watch people pass by. Then Mercy Corps, through the USAID-funded Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA) program, suggested that the town think of ideas for solving the problems of migration and hopelessness in the area. 

The Kursumlja Community Development Council and Municipality eagerly proposed the reconstruction of the town's swimming pool. 

&quot;We had a swimming pool before anyone else did,&quot; said one Krusumlja resident. &quot;It is too bad that nobody could pay for its maintenance. Now we really have nothing here.&quot;

Because the cost of the swimming pool was too high for it to be considered a CRDA project, the Municipality offered to pay for the reconstruction of the swimming pool itself as long as CRDA could help with the reconstruction of the changing rooms and bathrooms in the swimming pool complex. 

The project not only helped youth to have something to do for the summer, but it also helped the Municipality, community leaders and youth to learn to work together. 

The swimming pool is now open four months a year and is the place in town to meet people. Maybe the social fabric created in this swimming pool will help youth to fight for the revitalization of their municipality.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 08 Feb 2005 10:53:56 -0800</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Displaced Kids Return to School in Darfur, but Many Are Still Left Out</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/countries/sudan/428/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[After months of having no access to education, many children in Darfur's IDP camps are finally able to attend school. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2004 08:48:06 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>A Level Playing Field: Peace-Building Through Sport</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/peacefulchange/350/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[A three-day soccer tournament united Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb youth in their love of sport.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2004 07:50:19 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>Where Wars and Conflicts are Forgotten</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/sports/302/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[A soccer tournament works to alleviate social tensions, removes barriers and empowers community members to shape and improve the future. ]]></description>
	<pubDate>Wed, 22 Oct 2003 07:31:07 -0700</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
	<title>A Priceless Process</title>
	<link>http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/peacefulchange/170/</link>
	<description><![CDATA[With overwhelming support, one Serbian community unites to rebuild the town's sports arena.]]></description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2002 07:21:11 -0800</pubDate>
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