CURRENT AFFAIRS
Auma Obama
BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM
IT'S BEEN A GOOD OR BAD MONTH FOR: SAMSA FILM
The Luxembourg production company came away from Cannes with two prizes for Les Géants (photo), which had been selected as the closing film for the Quinzaine des réalisateurs section. Bouli Lanners’ teenage drama won the Prix SACD for best French-language film and the Art Cinéma Award presented by the international confederation of art et essai cinemas. www.samsa.lu
LAKSHMI MITTAL The Indian owner of ArcelorMittal was still number one on the Sunday Times Rich List, even though the paper reported that his estimated fortune had sunk by some 22 percent to 17.5 billion pounds over the past year. NI XIA LIAN The veteran table tennis player qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games by ranking 25th in the world. She has twice previously competed at Olympics for Luxembourg-in Sydney in 2000 and Beijing in 2008--and has one team world championship (with China) and two individual European titles to her name. www.cosl.lu
WHOPPER FANS Burger King opened its first franchise in Luxembourg, some 58 years after the company served its first fast food meal. The franchise is situated in the Aire de Wasserbillig service station on the border with Germany. A second franchise is expected to open in Foetz later this year.
AUMA OBAMA WITH GIRLS TEAM: football matches are more about participating than winning
CARE
Versus production-Samsa FilmHaut&Long - Patrick Muller
CARE is bringing several young Kenyans to see the Grand Duchy this month. The US president’s sister says the visit is about more than just the scheduled football matches.
More than a dozen Kenyan girls aged 12-14 will visit Luxembourg June 28-29 as part of tour organised by the NGO CARE. The youths will play friendly football matches against local girls their age, visit cultural attractions, and even meet Grand Duchess Maria Teresa. The project is led by Auma Obama, technical adviser at the CARE Sport for Social Change programme, and older sister of the US president. AG: Why did you want to work for CARE? AO: To make change happen, you have to work with children and young people because they don’t have an agenda yet. Typically we don’t really see them until they grow up and become adults, and then we missed the moment. If we want to make an impact, we have to touch their lives when they’re young. AG: Why focus on sports for these girls? AO: We use sports as a metaphor for real life situations at home, at school, in the political arena. We’re trying to get away from this handout mentality.
We want to give them self-esteem. Sport gives them a different kind of confidence. It gives them exposure to possibilities and options. That’s why this trip to Germany and Luxembourg is important. To let them know if you work hard, if you’re focused, you can improve your life. Maybe you won’t have the standard of living as in Luxembourg, but you can improve your life within your own community and own country. AG: What else would you like to come out of this trip? AO: To show those who support CARE what they can do. Some girls don’t go to school because of school fees, often for a school uniform which costs about four euro. AG: Has your brother been able to contribute to CARE’s activities? AO: My brother supports me as a brother. As long as I’m happy and able to do good work, he’s happy. But we don’t mix personal and professional life. He’s AG got enough on his mind. www.care.lu
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08.06.2011 14:35:28 Uhr