Houkami Football Club

Today I arrived at my hotel in Cote d'Ivoire and ended up having the afternoon off; so I decided to find my own photo assignment. I've been wanting to shoot a soccer match since arriving in Africa and saw my opportunity across the street from the hotel. I was a bit concerned leaving the grounds with no local escorts, but decided to chance it anyway. The hotel grounds actually look more like a prison than a comfortable place of lodging; complete with barbed wire, guards and metal gates. But, this would probably be my only chance and life is all about taking a chance. So I headed out with a backpack filled with roughly $15,000 worth of camera gear and some broken French. I walked across the street in a light rain and found a spot to shoot from on the sandy field. I only got a few frames off when I was approached by a man speaking rapid French, but with a welcoming smile. We made our introductions and I soon found out he was the president of the village football club, "Centre de Formation de Football Houkami." What a name! Sylvain, the president, then called each and every one of the two dozen players over so we could all be introduced. We ended up speaking (in French I can proudly say!) for about 15 minutes until the formalities were over and the match got under way. The rain let up and the sun burned its way through the clouds. I shot for maybe an hour until I noticed it was past time for me to take my anti-malarials. So I said goodbye to everyone and started to walk back. But Sylvain wanted to make sure I got back safely so he (and about 4 others) escorted me back to my door. Cote d'Ivoire is the poorest country we've been to and one of political turmoil and instability. But so far its people have been the friendliest.