Umupira/umupira: Soccer balls and T-shirts

In Kinyarwanda, umupira (oo-moo-peer-ah) means both t-shirt and football (the game and the actual ball). In honor of the World Cup, here are a few pictures of each.

Those who can’t afford soccer balls make them out of string, banana leaves, plastic bags, foil cracker wrappers, and other materials. They’re bound on the outside with yarn (left, diameter ~6”), banana leaves, or strips of fabric (both, right – diameter ~4”).

This kid at Day of the African Child had the biggest homemade soccer ball I’ve seen – it may even be regulation size.

Here are some action shots:

And here are some of the more random t-shirts I’ve been able to photograph. I assure you there are far more random ones that make their way here through the second-hand markets, but I can’t always get a picture.