City Supporters Send Leicester Kit To Africa
- Leicester supporters take kit and equipment to a remote area of Zambia
- Foxes forward Patson Daka signed memorabilia which was sent to the country
- Fans Martyn Holmes, Mick Garnett, and Jacob Garnett made the trip
- Daka also separately visited the camp, delighting the young children from his homeland
The trip, undertaken by Martyn Holmes, Mick Garnett, and Jacob Garnett, saw the trio take in excess of 110 kilograms of equipment to a nursery and secondary school based in a rural area between Livingstone and Kazungula, located in the south of the country, which is over 750,000 km in size and has a population of almost 19M.
Holmes and his family have been supporting Mandia Basic School since 2002 and purchased LCFC merchandise, including new kit, footballs and tennis balls, as well as fresh fruit for the younger children. Several trees were also acquired and taken for the children to plant, in order to grow fruit to be sold to the local camp in the Islands of Siankaba.
Revered by the local residents in the country, City forward Patson Daka recently returned to his homeland and visited the camp himself.
Holmes commented: “The children were very pleased to receive some Leicester City kit, and Patson Daka was kind enough to sign a couple of shirts and a football and you can see in the pictures how much this meant to the children.
“While the people in Zambia do not have an awful lot, they are the most welcoming, gracious people we have ever had the privilege of meeting. Even though they do not have much, they always have a big smile on their faces which is wonderful to behold.
“We hope that the kit taken over to them will help provide them with some light in their lives and enable the youngsters to fulfil their dream to become like Patson and a professional footballer and hopefully play for City at some time in the future.”
The adult workers and village members also formed their own football team - The Siankaba Black Eagles – with new kit, hoodies, tracksuit bottoms and polo shirts provided for both school pupils and the Black Eagles team, as well as helping the less fortunate members of the local community.
A game of rounders was organised too, allowing the older children to learn the rules and enjoy a fun-filled day.