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In June of 2010 Michael Zuckerman embarked on a trip to Kampala, Uganda as a part of the "Kampala to Cape Town" project sponsored by UNICEF, Nike and Starbucks. The mission was to enhance global and African community by airing the games on large screens in even the poorest African villages.
What Michael found in Kyebando (a 200,000 slum on the outskirts of Kampala) was a story of soccer, plastic and a willing work force. What he created with the help of a local, Charles Nsawo, is now "The Buvera Ball Project".
Before The Buvera Ball Project
To paint a picture of Kyebando is extremely difficult. The slum is crowded, dangerous and filled with disease. People of all ages are desperate for work.
PLASTIC
Plastic (called "buvera" in the local language of Lugandan) is everywhere. If you were to grab a bite of street food, it will assuredly come in a plastic bag. If you asked the vendor if they had a bin to throw the plastic in, he would pound his chest he would be laughing so hard and tell you to throw it on the ground. If you asked if he cared about what his shop looked like with plastic everywhere, he would tell you that he will kick all of the plastic into the street. This is exactly what happened to the inquisitive Zuckerman.
SOCCER
In order to play their beloved game of soccer, children kick around bottles, sticks, stones, whatever they can find, in attempts to play a little soccer. Charles Nsawo; however, makes balls soft enough to kick safely, round enough to play skill-fully and durable enough to last years. He does so out of street-waste plastic.
The First 3 days of The Buvera Ball Project
When Michael met Charles, he saw a tripple-bottom-line solution. All they needed was some cash and Mazunga (white people) Magic. Michael started telling people in the community, that if they brought him a "buvera" ball, he would give them 1,000 shillings (American $0.50). The first day he received 3 balls, and that night, he made an announcement during halftime of the village's soccer game that he would pay $0.50 for each ball that was brought to him. The next day he had 8. On day three he had Charles and other local craftsmen and women (including great-grandparents) training people how to properly pack the plastic and provided the string to tie around the ball. At the end of day 3 he received 60 soccer balls.
THAT was yesterday. Tomorrow, Monday June 21st, Zuckerman and Nsawo will run a Clean-up to not only clean the littered streets of Kyebando, but to provide clean plastic for soccer ball production. Zuckerman wants to separate the pink plastic to make balls for the girls.
To properly distribute the balls, Zuckerman holds juggling and goal-tending competitions. The plastic balls are awarded to the winners of those competitions.
Flying Toilet: A Hilarious Hurdle for The Buvera Ball Project
When Zuckerman tells his story, it seems brilliant and seemingly impossible to mess-up, but the cultural differences between the west and impoverished Kyebando, made for some unforseable mishaps. For one, he received quite a number of cloth soccer-balls on the first day. It took him a while to explain to the women, that these were indeed, not what he was looking for. On the second day, he opened up a plastic soccer ball to find that there was poop inside plastic bags that were used to make the ball. The locals call these poop-filled plastic bags "Flying Toilets". Flying Toilets because at night, it is too dangerous for locals to exit their house to go to the bathroom. Their solution is to poop into plastic bags and throw them out their windows. Hence the term, Flying Toilets.
The Future of the Buvera Ball Project
As Zuckerman finishes his 40-day trip to Kampala, he will hopefully have created and distributed thousands of soccer balls, including pictures and rostered creators of every single ball. He will look to name local Charles Nsawo as the Executive Director of the Buvera Ball Project. When Charles was asked to name his salary, he said $3,000 / year would be a comfortable salary for him. Zuckerman, Nsawo and representatives from GreenLaces are working on pricing the balls, so that people can donate to fund each ball produced. For funding purposes, The Buvera Ball Project is considered a part of GreenLaces GreenYourGame, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to using athletics to improve our planet by inspiring action, connecting our communities and educating fans, of which Michael has long been an Ambassador and Board Member.
TURNING PLASTIC WASTE INTO SOCCER BALLS
