Seriously, Would You Want to Come Back Here?
While in Sierra Leone I made a friend that worked for a sports ministry. He came from England to teach cricket to the local youth. However, when the Salonean cricket "powers that be" saw his skill, he was asked to help coach the national cricket team. I know very little about cricket and that I do know comes from the attempted explanation by my Indian coworkers using broken nacho chips as props. In any regard, I respect men that can wear sweaters in the African heat for 8-12 hours at a time. The fact that they're moving around to play a sport only adds to my respect. But I digress …
Back in March of this year, the volunteers from his ministry met with the Sierra Leonean national football (soccer) team to pray with them before they went to Australia for the Commonwealth Games tournament. During this visit he beseeched the team members to return to Sierra Leone when the games ended. None of them made any promises to do so. In fact, at least one turned to him and asked, "seriously, would you want to come back here?" My friend was left speechless. The heartache, the despair, the lack of hope, the hardness of the situation – would he really want to come back here if he didn't have the opportunity to leave? Once in Australia, at least fourteen members of the team sought asylum, refusing to return to Sierra Leone.
The question posed by the futbolista strikes at the heart of the hopelessness of majority world nations (2nd & 3rd world nations). If you have the opportunity to better your position in life, you take it no matter what the cost. Even if doing so adds to the hopelessness of all those you leave behind. National sports teams have the opportunity to raise national pride and hope, motiving their fellow citizens. When they leave on terms such as the these, it perpetuates the impression that the current situation in Salone is something to escape from rather than work to improve. The cycle of hopelessness continues.
Do I have answers? No. Do I condemn these fourteen men? No. I cannot say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if I were in their cleats. They wanted hope, just as all do. Unfortunately, they may have been able to provide that which they sought to many more if they had returned to their home country.
Recently, Australia offered ten of the fourteen asylum. The verdict is still out for the remaining four.