Public Health Goals: Gender at Play in World Cup 2010

Read Part 1, Public Health Goals: What Has the World Cup Cost South African Women?

PART 2

Originally from Kenya but now residing in Cape Town, single mother and avid runner 45-year-old Ruth Kamau manages Ikhaya Lodge, the bed and breakfast where I’m staying during my monthlong visit to the Rainbow Nation to run the 85th Comrades Marathon and see the World Cup. Ruth’s daughter Jessica is six years old. Ruth shared with me one evening that Jessica had been watching her twelve-year-old brother play Sims and the video game began simulating sex between two characters—obviously inappropriate for a child her age. She particularly stressed how harming it is when girls are exposed to sexualized content at such an early age. Instead, she leads Jessica toward games like Scrabble and she also shares that, “Jessica accompanied my son and me to Tae Kwondo classes and it is already clear she will enjoy some form of martial arts. A runner, I am not sure, but she loves dance. We attempt to do Yoga together and she enjoys going for walks with me.”

Public Health Goals: What Has the World Cup Cost South African Women?

Cape Town, South Africa.

PART 1
A rainbow that could rival a fairy tale arcs above Table Mountain as I prepare to run Cape Town, South Africa, the country known as the Rainbow Nation. I take video and say aloud, “This is what South Africa hopes for: a pot of gold.”

Just two days before the commencement of the 2010 World Cup, I run through the Company Gardens on Government Avenue near Parliament to see how life plays out for the everyday citizen of Cape Town. My first stop is to help a young mother who is trying to carry three bags and a tired baby.

“They become heavier when they’re asleep,” she explains as I hold her things so she can shift weight. Behind her is South Africa’s National Gallery.

I wish her luck and keep on. I started my journey in Johannesburg, then flew to Durban to run the 85th Comrades Marathon on May 30 for Girls on the Run International through their charity, SoleMates. I finally arrived in Cape Town for the World Cup 2010; I chose Cape Town because it is the city that hosts the least soccer games yet most natural beauty. By noon, vuvuzelas are blazing in a city-wide practice round. The roar sounds the passion Africans have for this incredible sport. Still, I can’t help but wonder: what can the World Cup bring to this country (other than the 350,000 plus fans coming to watch the games)? Better yet, what can it do for African women and girls?