The first time I tried to play soccer at my secondary school in Niger, one student called me “Gaida”, which means stranger. A classmate I knew for one month called me Gaida. He then said, in French “tu es gros, tu ne peux pas courir? As a child, I was fat, and at the age of 12 I had 80 kilograms. This sentence broke me and pushes me to be reserved in a certain way. Exercising on fitness was a practice I was ashamed to do because anytime I exercise people will throw comments like, “Le gros Bedel veut maigrir” the fat boy is trying to lose weight. This bizarre insult made me lose confidence and avoid approaching people when they were playing soccer. But still, I remembered the voice of my father about the game.
When I played soccer with my
When I played soccer with my