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Sport can change the world - just give it a chance

Ros Atkins Ros Atkins | 13:18 UK time, Friday, 21 September 2007

Hi there from Windhoek.

Here are some questions for you that our guests in Namibia would like you to answer:

1. Does every child have the right to have access to sports facilities?

2. Can sport change people and their society in a way that goes beyond the playing field? If it can, how? Has it happened to you? Please send us your examples.

3. Do you want your government to spend more on sport, even if it’s at the expense of investment in healthcare and/or education? Or if you want to play, should you and your family pay?

4. Is sport over or under-rated as a positive force in your country?

(We're especially keen to hear from you if you're unconvinced about sport, as the vast majority of our audience will need no convincing.)

THE BEAST OF B1
The papers here in Windhoek have made gruesome reading since we arrived. The Namibian Sun’s front page has a picture of a decapitated head and two arms that. As there’s a man going round shops in Grootfontein telling cashiers that he’ll do the same to them, understandably people are worried and talking about it.

They’re not talking about whether the photo should have been published though (it certainly a different way of glancing through the papers over breakfast). I’ve asked a couple of people who just shrugged and made me feel very Western in my outlook. ‘We’ve more important things to worry about,’ was the gist of what they told me. Fair enough.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I arrived in Windhoek yesterday and I’ve never been here before. Fueled by the excitement of watching the sun-set behind the mountains that flank the city, I got in last night and tapped away furiously about some of what I’d seen.

ED MOSES TAKES MY JOB…
…which would be fine if I was transformed into an all-conquering hurdler for the day. Sadly the only hurdles I’m jumping at the moment are the large plates of meat that keep appearing in front of me.

Ed, along with a trainee teacher from Zimbabwe called Caroline Kondo, and Wesley Vries from NBC will be your hosts today. (That’s the Namibian Broadcasting Corp. for those of you in the States who have an NBC of your own.) As much as possibly I’ll be keeping out of it, so please make them all feel at home.

COULD SPORT HELP OHIO?
I was talking with Ed Moses last night. He’s from Dayton, Ohio, a place he tells me has been through some tough times since the car industry took a downturn. He’s convinced sport has a key role to play in getting Dayton and Ohio back on track. We’re not short of listeners in Ohio thanks to WCPN – and I’d be fascinated to hear some of you talk with Ed.

Could better sports facilities make a difference to Cleveland for instance? Send us you r comment and number if you’d like to come on air.

SPORT – EMPOWERING TOMORROW’S LEADERS TODAY
That’s what it says on the freebie water bottle I’ve been given by the organizers of the Next Step conference which we’re visiting. There are several hundred people here, and they are all convinced in one way or another that sport can change young people and make them happier and more able to contribute to their country and community. We’ll put that theory to the test on today’s programme.

Can sport really help provide a higher quality of politician, businessperson, judge, teacher and doctor?

It's very exciting to be here and hope it proves a decent show to listen to as well (else our excitement levels may drop considerably). Speak to you later.

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