Existing comment:
Football for Life:
Amputee football has been the source of enormous hope and solace for one of the most marginalized groups in the country: young men, most of whom are victims of the war. That some of them fought in the war only adds to the stigmatization of the group.
Paul A. Tolbert, senior coach of the national amputee football team, describes how the sport has helped them:
"When you ask them how they felt after being amputated, most of them say that they wanted to kill themselves. Life no longer had meaning for them. Amputee football restores their hope. Take the guy who was named the most valuable player in the recent African Cup for amputee football. He was a very good player, but he lost hope when his leg was amputated. When I went to recruit him. I told him, 'You can make it. There is still a chance for you.' He has gained hope and, what's more, now knows that what he could not do, win a war when he had two legs, he is now doing on one leg." |