Aberdeen legend Brian Irvine has been left “humbled” by the experience of coaching poverty-hit children in Malawi.
The big hearted 57-year-old spent two weeks in the south-east African nation with charity TeamUp.
As well as coaching football, Pittodrie great Brian also helped local farmers in the bid to secure a better yield when planting crops.
Brian was based in Mitongwe, a rural community consisting of 17 villages populated with more than 2,400 children.
According to UNICEF, most children in Malawi still suffer from multiple and overlapping deprivations.
Brian said: “The poverty is humbling, they have nothing.
“It was a completely different world.
“Yet they are still such happy people and were so kind to me.
“It was a privilege to be able to go out and help in a small way as part of a team.
“TeamUp help with Standing Together to try to make a difference.”
A tournament between eight villages
TeamUp provide sport programmes for children from underserved communities in a bid to foster their physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
During his time in Malawi, the former Scotland international defender helped set up a football tournament.
A Scottish Cup and League Cup winner with the Dons, Brian also passed on his football knowledge to coaches.
He explained: “I was coaching in Canada during this summer and Graham Roxburgh (TeamUp founder and executive director) is head of the ladies team at Trinity University in British Columbia.
“He spoke to me about Malawi.
“About a month ago, it took shape and I flew out on November 21.
“It was an amazing experience.
“I did the coaching at a place called Mitongwe.
“It was coach education and there were about 40 of the locals who were called assistant managers.
“They have teams of children and we helped organise an under-12, U14 and U16 tournament. It was just on sand in a bare field.
“The tournament was between eight different villages with a quarter, semi and final.
“The winners received money.
“TeamUp and Standing Together thought the best way to reward the children for doing well was by giving them money.
“For winning, they got 5,000 kwacha, the Malawi currency.
“There was a runner-up and third place.
“All eight teams received a meal and drink at lunch-time, so everyone got something.
“The winning team also received a trophy.”
‘It is going to last into the future’
TeamUp partners with Stand As One Ministry, who provide food, education and life skills to children of all ages from a number of villages and communities.
Brian said: “We had interpreters who could speak Malawi and English.
“It was a well set up programme, with passing, possession, shooting and defending.
“We gave them different drills to work on.
“Not just for the time we were there, but also for the months ahead.
“They took notes down on how to do these drills for their children in the villages.
“It was coach education and overseeing the tournaments.
“You can feel it is stuff that is going to last into the future, that the kids will do those drills.
“We would show the coaches and then they would do what they saw us doing.
“Then the kids would take that on to the field.
“What I saw was really good and hopefully they will get better with different techniques and skills.
“The coaches will continue to show them that.
“I was part of a team with five other volunteers, all Canadian.”
Helping get a better yield on crops
With a population of 20 million, Malawi continues to have high poverty rates reaching 52% in 2018, according to UNICEF.
Almost 70% of children who live in rural areas such Mitongwe are multidimensionally poor, compared to 25% in urban areas.
Brian said: “On top of the coaching we also worked with another charity involved in helping people grow their crops better.
“They put their seeds in now and get one crop if they are lucky at the end of the season.
“We give them techniques to grow four or five different crops at the same time in the same field – to get a better yield from their crops.
“They can all be harvested at different times.
“The dry season had just ended.
“There was good, heavy rain just before I left. ”
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