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| In some parts of rural Africa, handmade balls like this one are often made from old rice bags and tied together with fresh tree bark. Condoms are often used too -- they have a life span of three days when inflated to make a football. This picture was taken outside Pipeline FC, Nhambonda, Mozambique. |
A boy takes a condom.
He inflates it slowly, each breath meticulously measured as the creation begins to take shape.
He takes some plastic and
carefully wraps it around the condom, ensuring it can't be punctured
before using pieces of shredded tire and an old rope to tie around the
oddly shaped sphere.
This is football -- rural African style.
No grass, no shoes, just a machete knife on hand to chisel out the thorns which get stuck in the players' feet.
 |
| Footballs are made from anything from clothes to old bags. Often their lifespan is short despite being handled as precious possessions. |
Welcome to Chicome -- a
small village in Mozambique, located 150 kilometers off the beaten track
and an eight-hour drive through the bush.
Chicome exists without electricity or running water -- instead it lives off the "Three F's": farming, family and football.
"Having less is interesting because it makes us see things in a different way," renowned international photographer Jessica Hilltout told CNN.
"What I know is that everyone says the same thing, how can people be so content?
"Happiness is a state of
mind. You see people with so much who are buried in their belongings
and burdened by their attachment to possessions.
"Those who have less also have less worries and are more focused on what is essential."
Chicome was one of the places where Hilltout's photos spoke loudest.
Football is what keeps the village breathing. Every evening a match takes place amid noise and a carnival of color.
At 4pm each and every
day the whistle sounds to signal the start of play with people arriving
from all sides of the bush onto the field.
"It was a moment of
magic," Hilltout said. "They forget the hardship of the day and people
just had fun. Not just for the players but for fans, the wives, it was
real delight.
"It was a real African
match. Bare feet, getting thorns, cutting them out with machetes,
dressed in individual fashion. It was fantastic."
Hilltout is well
qualified to explain the attitudes and role of football in rural African
society following the success of her "Amen" project.
In her father's
Volkswagen Beetle, Hilltout traveled across Africa, documenting in each
and every shot just how crucial football is to the survival of those
battling against the odds.
"It wasn't easy at the beginning. I was sitting in my tent, crying, why am I doing this?" she recalled.
"I hated football. It's such a male world, then there is a little white woman, and everyone was looking at me.
 |
| A makeshift goal is set up in Jamestown, Accra, Ghana. Photographer Jessica Hilltout captured several such scenes during her trip around Africa. |
"With time on the
terrain I learned that the best thing for me was to settle in an area
where I felt a good vibe. I wanted to use my senses, feel, talk to
people, make friends, see the fields and spend time with people to
explain the project and gain their trust.
"People are suspicious
because white people take photos and make money off the back of it. I
had to break that. I think that people saw I was putting love into my
log books they saw it wasn't a commercial project.
"They saw that when I was stopping to write their names down and put some memorable quotes in that there was more to it."
Hilltout is no stranger
to Africa. Her tour of Madagascar in 2007 whetted the appetite for
something which delved deeper into the everyday lives of those living
across such a vast and enriching continent.
It was while spending Christmas with her father in South Africa five years ago that the idea of a football project was born.
"I love Africa and my father loves football. He did the design of the book and I took the pictures and the traveling," she said.
 |
| A player wears a hand-stitched Vento Inha FC shirt, in Pacasse, Mozambique, with the name of former Brazil international Ronaldinho emblazoned across the back. |
"I'm not a football fan at all. I did watch the World Cup, but I'm really not a big fan.
"During my travels through Africa
I had often seen handmade balls which I thought were beautiful and
symbolic of so much. But I thought there was something wonderful about
showing what life is like in Africa through football.
"I wanted to do a study
of football in its purest sense, without all the corporate sponsors,
television and stuff which goes with it.
"I wanted to show people playing just for the pure pleasure."
Hilltout spent a total
of nine months traveling throughout Africa, taking in Lesotho, Malawi
and South Africa on her first trip before visiting Ghana, Ivory Coast,
Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Benin.
"Every time I stopped
somewhere, I found someone who could speak the dialect and English or
French and they would be my link to the population. I wanted to have
fun," she said.
In Kumasi, Ghana, another story was brought to life through the lens.
"I'm OK, I'm OK," said Sani Pollux, manager of the famous Anokye Stars side.
 |
| "Am I kicked, beaten, used, crushed and trampled? Or am I strong, resilient, determined, unbeaten, proud?
"I am both. I am proof that with so little we can do so much. I am proof that simple pleasures are enduring. "I am a ball. I am an African ball." |
Pollux, a quiet and
humble man, has been training children since he was 14 and has been
responsible for unearthing some of Ghana's most talented players.
The club, which is made up of 150 boys, has teams in several age groups and survives by selling players to the bigger teams.
The likes of Milan's
Sulley Muntari, former Leeds striker Tony Yeboah and international
midfielder Isaac Boakye have all passed through the Anokye Stars set up.
Kids from across the
country flock to attend trials, as Pollux runs the rule over "these
young dancers in the dust," according to Hilltout.
"The boys look after Sani, and he looks after them," she said. "He lives in a 10 square meter home, in old Suame neighborhood.
"On the roof is a huge
satellite dish with all the sport channels. The living room is the
center of this house. Here they listen to his massive old-fashioned
radio, eat and watch football.
"The place is an
organized mess with footballs hanging up, old photos of successful young
boys, old boots, cups, trophies and a dangerously low ceiling fan."
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| This trophy was won by Etoile Brillante d'Eburnie, a team in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Hilltout said: "I think this must be one of the most beautiful football trophies I have ever seen." |
The project has sparked
reaction from across the globe with hundreds of people donating both new
and old equipment, while Adidas has also contributed.
"It has gone beyond all expectations," she said.
"I was always attracted
to the world of image. I assisted photographers to make sure I actually
wanted to do it. I did a trip in a Land Rover from Brussels to Mongolia
and then up to Africa when I was younger.
"It really formed my way
of seeing the world. I wanted to see the imperfect, the banal and all
the simple things in life which we sometimes forget about.
"For anyone, whatever
their passions is, when you give a project everything you've got and
push yourself that bit further, there's always some kind of magic that
happens."
Amen to that.
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