It has been four months since the ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, leaving at least 174 people dead and over 67,000 displaced, and roughly 40 per cent of those are young children, some forced to flee all alone and most with their entire families. While the situation refuses to normalize anytime soon, the scars of the clashes still haunt the mental well-being of the young ones.

Sensing the profound effect of the crisis on the state’s children, many organizations have come forward with initiatives to divert their attention. One such is a football club named ‘Ya_All’, meaning ‘You All’ in English and ‘Revolution’ in Manipuri, and ‘Inclusive Revolution’ when combined. What makes the organization even more special is that it is India’s first all-trans football club.

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Founded by Sadam Hanjabam in 2020, Ya_All is recognised by the United Nations as the first registered LGBTQI+ youth-led and focused organisation based in the North East, and works in the areas of health, well-being, gender inequalities, providing comprehensive sex education and spreading awareness through sports.

In May this year, when the violence first broke out, the organization set up a mission of distributing relief materials to over 100 camps across far-flung areas, and during those visits, they were touched by the plight of the children in the relief camps. Thereafter, the organization shifted its focus to mend the mental wellness of the kids stuck in the middle of the crisis with their initiative, “Football for Heal, Football for Peace.”

“Initially, the members of the football team served as volunteers, carrying relief material to far-flung areas. During our visits to the relief camps, we noticed that there were many traumatised children and adolescents. So that was when we planned to start this mission of getting the kids to the football field,” Hanjabam said.

Explaining the motive behind their initiative, Hanjabam said, “Sports can provide a great healing touch. We have been using football for inclusion but in addition to that, we have been using it to bond with the children and adolescents at the relief camps in Manipur. Our transgender football team has been taking the lead in using football for recovery from the trauma of losing their parents, homes and friends in this crisis.”

Pointing out the cloudy reality of their everyday lives beyond the Rainbow, Hanjabam said as queer and trans individuals, they battle for identity and against discrimination from the larger society each day and as such it is naturally ingrained in them to handle mental trauma.

“As trans individuals, we are used to the inner battle with identity and the outer fight against discrimination every day. While we have learnt to deal with it, these children aren’t used to such challenges, and as such we wanted to extend our helping hand in bringing back the optimism in their lives,” Hanjabam said while labeling the initiative as “Not just a game but a journey towards recovery.”

So how did you approach, considering your team strength and the relief camps were spread across various districts of the state?

“We identified a group of five players from Ya_All travelling in turns to the relief camps in various districts, and the same group was also tasked to scout playgrounds near the camps. Due to the violence, most of the grounds were left neglected with overgrown grass and weeds covering those. We would clear those to form a makeshift football turf, and hold football sessions as early as 5:30 am to 7 am before engaging with the children in conversation over breakfast that we provided,” Hanjabam explained.

“The idea is to try and get over those horrible memories from their brains, and infuse a renewed sense of hope and positivity. So we would hardly discuss their tales of agony and their lives in the camps, but focus more on their dreams and motivate them to chase those by overcoming these challenges.”

“The process continues for a couple of weeks until we realize that they can play independently before our team heads to the next camp,” added Hanjabam.

It has been almost three months since Hanjabam and his team started the initiative and has covered more than 70 relief camps across four districts – Bishnupur, Kakching, Imphal East and Imphal West. But there is a long way to go.

With sudden curfews and conflicts often affecting their flow, Hanjabam maintained that Ya_All will continue in their endeavor to bring back normalcy in the state.