Enginie smiling her way to success
|“I love to smile and dance and my mother always says, you have nice teeth, you must smile!”
“We are not here to have problems; we are here to have fun.”
Enginie represented Namibia at the Africa Women’s Cup in Arusha, Tanzania from 29th-30th June.
Football goes hand in hand with dancing at the Africa Women’s Cup – as soon as the music starts, the players start to dance and the Namibian team are often at the heart of the action.
“I love to smile and dance and my mother always says, you have nice teeth, you must smile!” says Enginie Dadina, who represented Namibia at the African Women's Cup in Arusha, Tanzania.
When you see the team dancing, you could easily think that they don’t have a care in the world. But this could not be further from the truth. Life in Namibia’s capital Windhoek is tough for Enginie and many of her teammates.
“I sleep in a house where the doors don’t lock and the windows are broken,” she says. “What happens if someone breaks in? The next day, there's nothing to eat – nothing for the kids, no water and no electricity.”
Things like football can look like a luxury which many can’t afford: “Sportswomen in Namibia don’t get paid, and I have two boys to feed, so every day I play soccer, I don’t have anything for them.”
As well as looking after her sons, Enginie is also caring for her mother who had a stroke last year and spends all day in bed. Family life can be a struggle: “I have to go from door to door to get something to eat. It’s very difficult. I have nine siblings but nobody works.”
Enginie thinks unemployment is one major cause of Namibia's problems: “Youngsters can't get jobs and it's hard to start a business. Then you give up, your hope is gone – you give up on everything and you just want to stay at home and sleep but you can’t because the next day, what will you eat? What will your family eat? What will your mum eat?.”
“Sometimes, in my house, it’s like a scary movie”
Some of her siblings have become addicted to alcohol and drugs after struggling to find employment and one of her younger brothers can become violent – Enginie points to a couple of scars she got when he came home and attacked her. “Sometimes, in my house, it’s like a scary movie,” she says.
For Enginie, finding somewhere safe isn’t as simple as just 'going home,' and because of her dangerous living conditions, her ex-partner has taken her eldest son (seven years old) to live with him. “Now it’s very difficult to see him but I have to accept it,” says Enginie.
Coming to Tanzania for the first time, one of the things that surprises Enginie is how late the shops are open. “You can’t walk around at night in Windhoek because there are a lot of people out to hurt you.”
Drugs and alcohol play a big role in the rise of violent attacks. The drugs are unregulated, dangerous concoctions, and Enginie tells the story of one man who killed someone and had no memory of what had happened when he came around.
“Young people in Namibia are suffering – even if they look for work, they don’t find anything – they just give up on life.”
As a teenager, Enginie became pregnant, her teachers forced her out of school. During her first maternity appointment, Enginie found out she was HIV positive. Her boyfriend had hidden his status from her, so this was the first time she found out about it.
“They expected me to cry but I was OK. My mother was with me, and she was the one who was crying. And I was like, why are you crying? I’m not dead. I’m still alive. Since then, I accept that I am sick. It’s not something big for me.”
Many young people where Enginie lives drop out of school. The knock-on effect is that many young people have nothing to do and are easily dragged into addiction. “Some youngsters drink a lot and smoke weird stuff. Every day is the same. They fight a lot and carry knives. They're slowly dying out and old people are left alone in their houses.”
Enginie’s second chance
|Enginie (L) and Bertha Uiras (R) who runs the women’s programme for Second Chance Soccer
Joining the Second Chance Soccer Programme was the first time someone looked out for Enginie and gave her an opportunity in life. And through her involvement in the project, Enginie travelled to Lesotho in 2023 and in 2024 came to Tanzania.
“My coaches are the biggest stars – I love them. They're always there to support me and if I don’t have anything to eat, they often help me out, because in my house I’m the only one who doesn’t drink and smoke. Sometimes I feel like I’m carrying my whole family on my shoulders.”
Enginie now supports other young mothers through a foundation which offers them training in various skills like cooking and driving. They also help them to improve their CVs and find work.
“It’s very difficult but I don’t give up. What I went through, the violence I went through, it isn't the end of the world. I tell the girls that as long as you drink your medication you will be strong and play soccer like me.”
Enginie dreams of setting up her own foundation where men and women learn together for free about gender-based violence, gain skills to seek employment and access free medication. Cost, Enginie explains, is a barrier to people who need this kind of support.
“In Namibia, everything you want to start is all about money, money, money. If you provide free training or food, everyone benefits then they go looking for work, but no one is focusing on this. I want to change things.”
People also need to be offered an alternative, says Enginie: “You can’t just come to me and say 'stop smoking,' you have to come to me and show me something more.”
Enginie also wants the government to change its approach to tackling gender-based violence: “They just put men in prison and when they come out, they just do the same thing again. If they go to prison, they must come out changed.'
Travelling to other countries in Africa has been a great adventure for Enginie – looking down on Kilimanjaro from the plane, and sleeping in luxurious hotels. “People tell me, one day you will not come home to Namibia! But for me, I don’t think about going abroad – I’m thinking about building up the futures of my people. I want to help others and one day I'll be like my coaches.”
The Africa Women’s Cup took place in Arusha in Tanzania from 29-30th June 2024. Enginie played for Namibia which is represented by Second Chance Street Soccer Project.
The tournament is part of a two-year FIFA Foundation funded programme which is bringing together four African Homeless World Cup member countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – to raise awareness of gender-based violence and develop and implement a new curriculum to help protect vulnerable women.
Words and Images: Rebecca Corbett
Editor: Peter Barr