Sport against poverty

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Fall tastes better with better ingredients from whole foods market. No added growth hormones are antibiotics in their meat department. Means slow braised short ribs are even more satisfying. All-sea food is well caught, like their vibrant sockeye salmon, or verified responsibly farmed. And all sweets, including fall-themed cookies, are made without high-fructose corn syrup. Spice up fall at Whole Foods Market. Check engine, ABS or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly VeraScan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASC certified master technicians. And if you need help, we could recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly VeraScan today! O'Reilly! O'Reilly! This is a download from BBC Learning English. To find out more, visit our website. Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Sam. We all know that sport is great for our health. And if you're talented, it can make you rich. Many great champions have found a way out of poverty through their sporting ability. Think of someone like Footballer Maradona. But in today's programme, we're not looking at the superstars. Instead, we'll discuss how sport can change the lives of young people from some of the poorest toughest backgrounds on earth. And of course, we'll be learning some vocabulary on the way. Many projects around the world use sports to change children's lives, improving mental health, challenging stereotypes and giving hope. Among them is the Ebony Club in Brixton, which uses sport to help young people in London's most disadvantaged communities. But which sport, that's my quiz question. Is it a, golf, b, tennis or sea horse riding? Well, I can't imagine there's enough space for golf and horse riding in the city, so I'll say b, tennis. Okay, we'll find out the answer later. Just now, we were talking about London, but sporting projects like the Ebony Club are happening all over the world. In Cape Town, South Africa, British surfer Tim Conneber, noticed how kids from poor townships hardly ever went to the beach. So he started giving them free surfing lessons. Tim founded the Waves for Changes project, and now hundreds of kids go along each week to get surfing therapy. Not only is surfing giving them a buzz, it's helping to improve their life chances. Here he is talking to the BBC World Service Programme, People Fixing the World. Surfing also is quite difficult, so you're learning a very challenging skill, which takes a lot of confidence. Are these very small successes that children have when they go into the water? It is a really big emotional response. So if you come from a background of trauma, quite often you'll have a negative self-image, and being able to try something new, achieve something new, be recognised by a coach or a mentor, there's very, very good for your confidence as well. Most of the surfers have experienced trauma, emotional pain and shock caused by very distressing experiences. This has given them a negative self-image, the way a person feels about themselves, their ability, personality, and value. Surfing helps kids improve their self-image, because it's challenging, difficult in a way that tests your ability and determination. So challenging, in fact, that the children have a mentor, a trusted advisor who gives help and support to a younger or less experienced person. Tim believes that the concentration needed to surf makes the children's other problems disappear, at least for a short time. And the results so far have been optimistic, with a significant reduction in violent behaviour reported among Cape Town's young surfers. Surfing is quite well known in South Africa, but what happens when you take a completely unknown sport into one of the least developed countries on Earth? In 2007, Australian Oliver Perkevitch was travelling in Afghanistan with his skateboard. The children there were fascinated, so he started showing them how to skate. The idea grew, and a few years later, he founded the organisation Skaterstand, giving free skateboard lessons to children aged 5 to 17, with a focus on those with disabilities from low income backgrounds and especially girls. Here's Skaterstand volunteer Jessica Faulkner, explaining how skateboarding reinforces positive educational messages, which Afghan kids don't always get at home. There's a few things that the skateboarding does as a kind of function. It is really quite challenging. It's not an easy sport for anyone, whether you're young or old, and that means that it also teaches quite a lot of life skills. You have to fall off a skateboard quite a lot of times before you get better. And it really helps children with things like goals setting and resilience and determination. Also, and really importantly, we do believe that children should have fun. Like surfing, skateboarding is challenging and difficult. It requires effort, and Jessica believes this teaches children important life skills. The basic skills needed to solve problems commonly encountered in everyday life. One important life skill is goals setting, deciding what things you want to achieve and how you plan to achieve them. Along with other skills like determination and resilience, this helps kids improve their outlook on life. And to experience one of the most important things, having fun. Which reminds me about the kids at the Ebony Club and my quiz question. Remember that I asked you which sport the club uses to support disadvantaged children in London? Yeah, and I said B, tennis. But in fact, it's C, horse riding, a sport normally associated with the elite. In this episode, we've been discussing how sport can help improve the life chances of young people from tough backgrounds, many of whom have suffered trauma, severe emotional pain and distress. Such pain damages a child's self-image, how they see and value themselves in the world. This can be improved by taking part in sports like surfing, skating and horse riding, which are challenging, demanding and testing of your abilities. Often kids are supported by a mentor, a trusted, more experienced friend who can offer help and advice. And with this support, they learn life skills. Basic skills, everyone needs to cope with everyday problems. One important skill is goal setting, deciding what you want to accomplish and planning how to do it. And of course, sometimes the most important goal is just to have fun. That's all we have time for. Join us again soon as we discuss more topical issues. Bye for now. Bye. Book A Loved by Guest Property with Verbo and you get a top-rated vacation rental that's loved for all the right reasons, like being in a great location or having great amenities. Oh, I love my Verbo for the view. Good reason. Ooh, and the sauna. Sweet. Another good reason. And that it's one of those good saunas with the hot rock thing? Oh, love a good hot rock thing. Fancy. That's also a reason. Don't worry about surprises. Book A Verbo you'll love with The Love by Guest Filter. If you know, you Verbo.