More Than Just a Game
2022 Impact Report Edition
FLO | 6 August, 2022 | San Felipe, Mexico
The first time we met Olf Mouyaka was in 2016 when he reached out about a trip he was making back to his hometown in Mbaya, Republic of Congo. Ever since he arrived in the United States as a Refugee in 2009, he was determined to take supplies back to his small village where his relatives still lived. Needless to say, Olf delivered. After many hours, numerous flights, and a suitcase full of Luci lights, Olf lit up his hometown!
Since then, Olf has been working hard on a different mission; to empower the youth and communities through football. His organization, FLO (Football Leadership Opportunity), leads clinics that teach meaningful leadership skills and provide resources to support education, health, and safety for under-resourced communities while promoting opportunities on and off the pitch.
In August 2022, Olf and three friends returned to San Felipe, Mexico, where they had previously distributed Luci lanterns to the remote community of the Mazahua people. Olf was so welcomed by the community he knew that he would return with more. After waiting three years due to the pandemic, Olf was able to make the trip back to San Felipe with more Luci lanterns, school supplies, soccer supplies, and 4 football clinics planned. Working with 250+ boys and girls aged between 4-19 years, the FLO team sought to build a safe space where participants could freely express themselves, learn from one another, be part of a team, be empowered to lead their own lives and discover that around a football we could all be happy and together.
Speaking with the families in the community, Olf was told that “where we live, the power goes out often. Since receiving these lanterns we have depended on them to help our children with schoolwork at night when we lose power. It also helps us prepare meals for the kids, some of us have young babies, and these lanterns allow us to play with our babies.” One person said, “I sew, make clothing and bracelets, etc, for my children, and I have been able to use the lanterns to do that when it gets darker”.
Speaking of his trip, Olf says, “I am an African boy who grew up in a place that had the same issues as my friends do in Mexico. These solar lanterns are more than just lighting up a classroom or a home. They are giving people hope. For me, it is to see the smile on a face, for a parent to see their child safely go to bed, for them to now be able to stay up late at night to cook, read a book with their children, sew together, or make bracelets. Lighting up every classroom in San Felipe and hopefully every home is my goal, but I know that I can only do this one lantern at a time.”
To support missions like Olf's, Give a Light to our Give Luci Luci program, and light up communities around the world!
