From Holland With Love

2010-02-16

Dutch entrepreneur, Salem Samhoud, was in Soweto 21 years ago when he came across an advertising billboard showing men, women and children of different races. The slogan underneath read: “Together we’ll build a brighter future.” And that stuck in his memory.

“At that moment I had an insight that I had previously seen as merely trivial – something imbued with a power that is too often underestimated or trivialized,” he recalls. “Together you can overcome anything, together you can achieve anything.”

With that in mind, Samhoud returned home and began setting up &Samhoud, a management consultancy that has achieved great success. To mark that success, Samhoud brought his entire staff of 110 people to Soweto to share with them the source of his inspiration.

The final event of the visit – during which all of the Dutch visitors stayed in Soweto with local families – was a Dreamfields tournament for eight primary schools in Pimville. This was no ordinary DreamEvent because &Samhoud staffers were involved hands-on from early in the morning – carrying boxes, putting up tents, marking the fields. And once they football started they each adopted teams and helped with coaching, and took turns with the ref’s whistle as well.

Samhoud is a mad-keen soccer fan – the company’s symbol is a bright blue soccer ball which he describes as a symbol of connection. “A ball invites people to play,” Samhoud says. “When you introduce a ball to a group of people – even if they do not know one another – someone will give it a kick. Someone will throw it to another. Without thinking, people will engage themselves in a game, however simple it may be.

Why blue?  “Blue represents inspiration. Like the sky, it refers to limitless possibilities, possibilities of making dreams come true. Like the sea, the colour blue embodies enormous depths. Blue is mysterious, fascinating and full of life.”  

There were blue footballs everywhere you looked at the George Ndlovu Sports Ground, and many more bouncing down the streets of Pimville, as each child made his way home with one – a precious gift.

Samhoud enjoyed the football and was impressed with the play of the day’s outstanding team, Wisani Primary. But for our Dutch partners – and for Dreamfields – the day was about more than just football. “The goal is to encourage the youngsters to dream of a brighter future and to find the strength to work towards realising their dreams,” Samhoud says. “We want to create the awareness that anything is possible.”

Back