In Germany, about four million adults can neither read nor write. The fundamental mission of schools is strive to eliminate functional illiteracy. But how can one reach children from uneducated households and convey to them how important reading, writing and arithmetic are? It's very simple: through playful projects that are fun and that make the children the focus.

That's why the Frankfurt Book Fair Literacy Campaign (LitCam), the international literacy campaign of the Frankfurt Book Fair, launched the project "Football Meets Culture“ two years ago. With the support of the Aventis Foundation, children from Frankfurt participated in professional football training and additional remedial education for one year during the school year 2007/2008. However the kids did more than just learn and kick: Visits to museums and football stadiums, as well as a rap poetry workshop with the beatboxers and rap poets Dalibor and Telhaim were just as much a part of the programme as nutrition and fitness. And it worked: The children were eagerly involved from the beginning - and discovered in the process that learning can also be fun.

The "Football Meets Culture" project has been running since August 2008 thanks to the sponsors "Ein Herz für Kinder" (BILD hilft e.V.), the "S. Fischer Stiftung" and "Yogi Tee", as well as collaborations with the DFB, the Hertha BSC and the HSV, not only in Frankfurt, but also in Berlin and Hamburg. The programme is also expected to expand beyond the German borders in the future.

Language with a kick!

Blue skies and sunshine welcomed the kids on 2 July at the Olympic park at the concluding event of the "Football Meets Culture" project. With wide eyes the children - three groups from Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg - ran into the impressive press centre of Hertha BSC, meeting point for the first item on the programme: the presentation of the projects that arose from the 2008/2009 school year. As if the kids had accomplished nothing else in their lives: confident and relaxed, they shared their witty, smart and also critical contributions, from picture rap to football sketches. The awarding of certificates by LitCam founder Karin Plötz came next. Anxiously and with serious looks on their faces, the children awaited their evaluations and were tremendously pleased when their footballing and scholastic accomplishments were especially emphasised. "The personal development of the children, in particular, was evaluated. We ultimately want to motivate them to continue on this path", said Plötz. Next, hip-hopper Sefo and beatboxer Cross rapped their way directly to the hearts of the kids, who couldn't wait to take photos of them and get their autographs.

The ball comes full circle

The motto of the next day was finally: head out on the grass and let's get kicking! At first the children could hardly believe that they were allowed to play on the hallowed grass of Hertha BSC: it really is a big football field, wow! Competitiveness didn't emerge at all between the competing teams. From the start the matches were characterised by fairness, fun and team spirit. In fact, the Frankfurt kids lost twice, but still they didn't let it get them down. That might also have had a little something to do with the presence of Zeljko Ristic, the trainer of the "Football Meets Culture" project in Berlin: The youth trainer for Hertha BSC accompanied the project with a lot of passion, and was then also visibly proud of "his" kids. At the award ceremony, he emphasised that they were not only all very good, but that they had also played distinctly fairly.

In September, a new round of "Football Meets Culture" will start up and children from Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg will most certainly be on hand again: The sponsors have already renewed.