LIHU‘E — When posed the question, “Do you know anyone with soccer shoes?” Nicky Lucidarme knew she wasn’t just facing an impending inquiry. She was facing the perfect opportunity. For her son, that is. Nine-year-old Sova Lucidarme-Musika, an avid soccer
LIHU‘E — When posed the question, “Do you know anyone with soccer shoes?” Nicky Lucidarme knew she wasn’t just facing an impending inquiry. She was facing the perfect opportunity. For her son, that is.
Nine-year-old Sova Lucidarme-Musika, an avid soccer player, is collecting cleated athletic shoes and soccer equipment for orphans in South Africa, as a summer project.
“A lot of them have no homes or parents, and the only thing that makes them happy is to play soccer. But they have no shoes,” said Lucidarme-Musika. “I am also collecting used soccer balls, shin guards, and used AYSO (American Youth Soccer Organization) uniforms. Oh, and money, if people are willing to donate.”
The Island School third-grader is no stranger to being a good Samaritan, as he continually participates in many other community-minded projects, such as collecting bottles and ridding the Kamalani Kai Bridge area of litter.
The question, which prompted Lucidarme’s epiphany, was brought forth by friend Dr. Claudia Brown, of the Kauai Medical Clinic in Lihu‘e, whose affiliation with Designing Hope, a nonprofit organization whose leaders aid the unfortunate in South Africa, impelled her to seek out volunteers.
Currently active in mission work with the organization, Brown travels every other month to Piggs Peak, Swaziland, a northern town in the rural South African country with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world.
Being a frequent traveler to South Africa, Brown brought the first shipment of collected shoes along with three other boxes containing clothes and toiletries with her in mid-May.
The parcels are usually shipped by plane, as opposed to the slower and less-expensive boat option. Packages shipped by sea take a few weeks to arrive at their destinations.
Another volunteer immersed in the international goodwill is daughter Laura Brown-Clay, a recent Island School graduate, who will bring the next shipment of five to 10 boxes of shoes and other goods with her on Saturday.
“This will be my first time to visit the clinic at Piggs Peak, and I will be bringing meals to the people,” said Brown-Clay. “The condition in Piggs Peak overall is terrible. There are hundreds of orphans living in one-room shacks, starving and sick, and afflicted with HIV and AIDS,” she said.
“Many of them are uneducated about AIDS and sexual health, and lead sexually promiscuous lives. In their country, it is taboo to talk about such things, and get tested for HIV/AIDS,” she added.
“Some of them are even thrown out of their homes if they get tested at the clinic.”
According to Brown-Clay, her mother began working with Designing Hope officials in January. “My mother has a friend from Paris who does a lot of mission work, and she was the one who introduced her to the organization.
“I think the clinic is great, because not only do they educate women and children about the truths about diseases as a learning resource, but they also provide them with donated contributions, and have them make crafts to sell and profit from, all of which is redistributed back to the clinic.”
Brown-Clay also mentioned the great involvement of many residents of European countries and fashion designers who recently designed thousands of original light bulbs and auctioned them off at expensive prices.
Mass-produced recreations of the original light bulbs are currently in the process of being distributed for sale throughout Europe.
Most of the shoes and goods collected by Lucidarme-Musika and Brown-Clay have been through their own efforts and, of course, by word of mouth.
“You’d be surprised how much calls and e-mails we’ve been receiving about this project,” said Lucidarme. “The interest is great and inspiring.”
The mother-and-son team is, of course, not without a plan of promotion. During the upcoming summer AYSO season, the two, of the AYSO Region 940 (Lihu‘e to Kekaha), will station donation boxes and fliers at every game.
“We are still in the process of finding a parent or parents in the AYSO Region 941 (Wailua to Ha‘ena), to help us with our efforts,” said Lucidarme. “Hopefully we will be able to also collect a lot of old uniforms. If you calculate, there are about 1,100 in each AYSO region (940 and 941), so that’s roughly around 2,200 uniforms that the kids would be able to contribute to this effort.”
“Every kid needs a pair of soccer shoes. You wouldn’t be a kid if you had no soccer shoes,” said Lucidarme-Musika. “My project will make those children happy, and Jesus told me to share.”
For more information, or to make a contribution (shoes, goods, monetary), please call Lucidarme at 821-0505, or e-mail sova423@yahoo.com. Island-wide pick-up can be arranged.
