When a Goa sports foundation reached out to a Kerala village of footballers

PANAJI: Tucked away besides the Chalakudy river in Thrissur district of Kerala is Pariyaram. Today, this small village that has a rich sporting tradition with several families producing footballers, has lost everything. There are no houses, they have simply been washed away.
“Utensils can’t be used, clothing is not available, no buckets, mugs or even drinking water containers available. Wells are in bad condition, taps are dry. Children have lost all books and stationery. If food arrives, there are no plates, and if they wish to offer you tea, there is no cup,” says Kennedy D’Silva, the Goa-based founder of the John Paul II Foundation for Sports, an organisation that has been developing and teaching life skills through sports for the past eight years.

D’Silva chose to reach out to the people of Pariyaram because he knows several families there. Many of them were part of the Kerala football squad for the Agape Cup, a tournament that D’Silva’s foundation organises each year.

“We are trying to rehabilitate the village through sports. If every sporting organisation adopts at least one village, like us, we can so easily ease their pain. The trauma is just too much but we can do our bit to give them some temporary relief,” says D’Silva.

The foundation’s first truck that reached Kerala last week carried chairs, foldable beds, pillows and bedsheets. The next load of trucks would leave Goa on Wednesday and would carry essential items like lungis, sarees, night dresses and shirts.

“We are trying to set up 50 huts for the families who have been left with nothing. We will provide each family with four plastic chairs, plastic table, foldable bed, stools, pillows and bedsheets,” he says.

“We are trying to rehabilitate people. Each of the families in the slum community where the huts are being created has a sportsperson who has been associated in the past either through the Agape Cup, which is a national football championship, or some other sports-related leadership training,” says D’Silva.

Sport is a powerful tool that has been often used for development, peace and even social integration. Now, D’Silva’s foundation is using its power to provide relief to a ravaged village.