“I think that my dad, wherever he is, will feel very proud of me”
Image: Daniel Lipinski / Soda-Visual
This year’s Homeless World Cup welcomes a women’s team from Peru for the first time, and among the players chosen to represent the side is Eva Llacta Triveños from Cuzco.
The circumstances surrounding her upbringing are among the most traumatic that any child could have possibly had to face.
Yet her story, and her journey to the Homeless World Cup, ultimately serve as incredible and compelling reminders of how a small round ball has the ability to both shape someone’s life and provide the necessary means of escape that someone going through the very toughest situations is looking for.
“I had a very sad childhood. At a young age my family and I migrated from Antabamba due to the death of my father at the hands of terrorists in 1988. My mother and my family had to move to Cuzco from there because we were being persecuted and followed. The terrorists were going to kill all of us.
“My mum opted to go to Cuzco and we went to live there with an uncle. He accommodated my mother, myself and my eight brothers and sisters.”
Without her father to help her mother look after the nine children, times were extremely tough for Eva—times that ultimately led to her to find sanctuary within football.
“With nine children my mum became a widow, and it was very difficult. We didn’t have anything to eat. My childhood was a very unhappy one. As a result of this I sought refuge in sport and, in particular, football.
“It was very difficult because my mum would leave for work alongside my older brothers to put food on the table for our family. I was around five or six years old and we were left at home by ourselves without anything to do. Me and my brother had to go out on to the streets to look for food. And it was then that I started to learn to play football.”
The necessity of heading out on to streets coupled with the need to pass the hours until her mother and family members returned from work meant that football began to find itself play an ever increasing part of Eva’s life.
“When I was playing football with my friends out on the streets I forgot about everything. I forgot about hunger, about the fact that I didn’t have a father and our economic situation. Everything.
“Football changed my life.”
Years later, here in Mexico Eva finds herself representing her national side with her team mates as part of Peru’s first ever women’s team.
And doing so has definitely made a big impact on her.
“The Homeless World Cup is a wonderful project that includes everyone and doesn’t discriminate whether you are tall or small, heavy or dark skinned. This made an impression on me at the beginning and continues to do so.
“I’m very grateful to be able to share the experience with everyone else here. We are all brothers and sisters who are playing with fair play in mind, and we are all enjoying ourselves.”
Central to Eva’s enjoyment of the tournament has been the ability to share in the different cultures, and the different languages spoken by the players from their respective countries—and the companionship that that fosters.
“The experience of being able to exchange music, culture, and to exchange words and hear the languages has been wonderful. For example, I’ve learned to say ‘As-salāmuʿalaykum’ (‘Peace Be Upon You) in Arabic thanks to the Egyptian girls, and I’ve also picked up some English words.
“God intended for me to come here and meet all these wonderful people—people who have problems with alcoholism, discrimination and drugs. Problems similar to that which the girls in my own team have faced.”
Traveling out with her native Peru for the first time to be greeted by so many people from so many countries took Eva a little time to get used to it. But the generosity of other participants has helped smooth out any initial apprehension.
At first being here came as a little shock, but now I am happy because everyone comes up and hugs you and it takes some of the weight off your shoulders. They say: “Ah, you are from Peru. I’m from another country. How are you?
“And this is very nice that through football we have been given the opportunity to get to know so many wonderful people who are all so full of love and companionship.”
Eva’s inclusion in the Homeless World Cup squad is thanks to Hecho Club Social, a platform that uses football to provide an opportunity for the inclusion and integration of vulnerable people in Peru. And she is keen to sing the praises of the organisation that brought her here.
“Hecho Club Social came to Cuzco in March this year, and I played in some tournaments with them and really enjoyed it. Only that … the pitches in Cuzco are totally different from the ones we are playing on here at the Homeless World Cup.
“To join up with the organisation and come to participate in this tournament is a real luxury for all us, because we have never been to a tournament of this magnitude.”
And having been introduced to her fellow players back in March at the selection tournament, the spirit of unity among them is another aspect to her participation in the tournament adding to her enjoyment.
“We have known each other for a long time now and, although of course there are occasions where we bother one another, we are here to cheer each other up and hug each other and remind and tell each other that things are ok. And if we lose a match, we lose. And if we win, we are happy. It is very harmonious. We are a family.”
Once the tournament is over and she goes home from Mexico next week, Eva will continue with an added determination to spread the word about her positive experience as part of the Peruvian side.
“When I return to my city of Cuzco I will continue to put into practice what is companionship and inclusion with my fellow cuzqueña citizens and friends. I feel very blessed and will continue to support the programme as much as I can.
“I’m studying at the moment to become a Teacher of Physical Education. That’s what I’m preparing for at the moment. I have two years of study left before I graduate. I like sports, so for me I had to study something that I leaned towards.”
An experience that has filled her family with immense joy at being able to see her compete alongside her teammates in another country while wearing her own nation’s colours.
“My family are very proud of me as it’s the first time I’m taking part in a tournament of this big magnitude—a world tournament where I get to meet so many new people and get the opportunity to be in this beautiful country in Mexico.
“The games are being shown on Facebook and they have gone online to watch them. The same goes for all my team mates’ families. They are also very happy to see us participate in the tournament.”
Speaking of her family, she feels that her father would be especially proud of her where she finds herself if he himself were able to be witness to it.
“My dad should feel proud. I feel proud of him. As I said before, my life has been a little tough. But thanks to football I was able to avoid going down a path towards delinquency, addiction and becoming a bad person.”
“And I think that my dad, wherever he is, will feel very proud of me and all that I have achieved through using football to change my life and through becoming part of my country’s programme.”
Words: Craig Williams
Images: Daniel Lipinski