At the Rubabu Centre in Gisenyi Rwanda a group of children all but forgotten by their government, and tragically their parents, kick about orange and charcoal footballs.

Their lack of clothing, food, clean water and shelter disappear for a brief period.

The footballs were brought to the centre by Australian volunteer Brett Patterson, donated to him by GIANTS ruckman Tom Downie.

“I had written to a number of my local clubs in Western Australia but no-one was willing to donate some footballs,” Patterson said over the phone from Rwanda.

“My brother Luke met Tom and after he heard what the kids were going through here, he went out and bought 10 footballs to donate to us.

“Generally the kids are just cleaning their clothes, cooking and looking after each other or at night are worried about their safety and the threat of mosquitos.

“Kicking a footy breaks that up and gives them happiness; it’s the opportunity for them to behave as kids.”

For Downie, donating the footballs was the least he could do.

“It was such a simple thing for me to do, but it means so much to them,” he said.

“At the GIANTS we’re encouraged to be involved in the community be it locally or on a global scale so I just had to help out.”

Patterson has been volunteering at the centre for a number of months before he plans to return to Perth and resumes his studies.

Alongside other volunteers he teaches the children and teaches them the art of kicking a football.

“We go into the centre to teach the kids how to wash and brush their teeth, basic hygiene,” he said.

“We teach them basic English and some mathematics. Some of the kids can’t recognise numbers, it’s a shock when you get some 11 and 12 year olds who don’t recognise the number one.”

The Rubabu Centre is home to children abandoned by their parents because they have chronic illnesses, disability, cannot afford to support the child, or because the children are simply unwanted.

Living conditions for the children are appalling.

“The squat toilets are blocked so the kids are trampling in waste when they use them and they end up bringing it into their bedrooms,” Patterson said.

“The centre’s roof has holes in it big enough for me to crawl through and so in monsoon season there is nowhere dry for them to sleep.

“The kitchen is a serious health hazard with an uneven floor and no facilities for them to properly cook.”

The centre suffers from a severe lack of funding from the Rwandan Government, which Patterson says is due to bureaucratic hold ups or the government having no money to begin with.

“We’ve started a campaign to raise $29,000 to refurbish the kitchen and rebuild parts of the centre including fixing the roof,” he said.

“Currently we have three showers for 30 people and the drainage is so bad they end up standing in dirty water, so we’re aiming to build a toilet and shower block.

 “We also want to install clean water facilities for drinking and cooking water, and we hope to start a health insurance fund for 100 children as well as hygiene and clothing packs for 100 kids.”

To donate to the fundraising campaign visit https://chuffed.org/project/help-children-of-gisenyi