The Team: Desperate Situations
In this episode of The Team, the coach is angry about the team having alcohol at a celebratory party, but he is even more concerned that tribalism is becoming an issue on his team.
The coach is angry about the team having alcohol at the party but he is even more concerned that, at the slightest provocation, tribalism emerges on the team. He cuts their two-day weekend to one and asks Beth the question, “When will these players ever become a team?”
Oli accompanies Kezia to her home in the slums. It’s the first time this young man from the middle class has ever ventured so far out of his neighborhood. Tragedy strikes when Kezia and Oli come upon a mob beating up her brother Rodez. Rodez is badly injured and is taken to the hospital. Ironically, the coach’s question is answered because when Oli runs back to the training center, his teammates immediately rally around him and about the situation with Rodez. They take up a harambee for Rodez. Oli is so shattered by seeing the brutality of mob justice, he loses his faith in the law and burns his law books.
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ABOUT THE TEAM
The Team is a dramatic TV series which was created in response to the devastating violence in Kenya following the 2007 general elections. The series dramatizes how the newly recruited members of the co-ed 'Imani' soccer/football club learn to overcome their tribal, ethnic, social and economic differences. The Team was created by Search for Common Ground and Media Focus on Africa Foundation in Kenya.
This series is a metaphor of Kenyan society. Imani FC ('faith' in Swahili) members and the Coach have been brought together from many of Kenya's tribal groups to play together on a co-ed league. The league has been formed and financed by a group of wealthy international philanthropists and businessmen who believe sport will be a way to neutralize the ethnic hatred that shook Kenya after the last elections.
The characters are from broken families, even as Kenya is a broken country. In that way, the team becomes a surrogate family for our players. They each want a 'family' but no one knows how to reach out and get it. Each of the players, and the Coach, struggles to overcome ethnic hatred that sparked violent confrontations after the elections. The purpose of the series is to show that it is possible for people to overcome their differences and that co-existence is possible.
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