Children kick a ball around the parking lots surrounding Entoto Park, turning an otherwise quiet morning into an impromptu football pitch. One boy, wearing the jersey of St. George Football Club, one of Ethiopia’s most decorated teams, is a reminder that football remains very much alive. The government has built football fields across the city, yet it is still common to find people playing in streets, parking lots and open spaces. Perhaps the fields are too costly for some, or perhaps football is simply too deeply rooted in the streets to be left behind. Either way, these children seem to need little more than a ball, some open ground and each other, enjoying an early-mornin kickabout at one of the highest elevations in the world, seemingly born and raised with little concern for altitude sickness.

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