Gilles Coulon and Michael Zumstein poured their hearts and souls into imparting as much of their knowledge in this area to the participants as possible. They certainly had me laughing as they frantically directed their charges via cellphone while we watched Saturday’s rather unimpressive Malawi vs Burkina game. But the results that have come from this week of training have impressed none more so than the African photographers themselves.

Two Senegalese participants chose to tell very different stories. Harouna Traore focused on the stadium itself, allowing his camera to capture a full day’s action, from dawn to dusk, rather than merely the few short hours in which the stadium is filled with people.

Aliou Mbaye, on the other hand, described his story with one simple French word: ‘Force’.  His pictures of everyday street football flesh that story out incredibly powerfully, and certainly illustrate every synonym I found when I asked Google to translate that title into English: “strength, force, power, potency, impetus, muscle, sinew, tuck, might.”

While this game might not be considered one of the ‘biggies’ on the calendar, it’s certainly an important one for Malawi – as evidenced by the number of that country’s journalists (not to mention their Minister of Sport, sitting upfront in the luxury seats) who joined me on the long aerial trek across Africa to this landlocked country in the west.

Like the Malawians, these Allstar journalists are aware that this first African World Cup – and the build-up to it – grants them an incredible opportunity to showcase their own stories – African tales told from unique perspectives and made available through Africa Media Online.

One such story already online is that of Bridget Chongo, the only female player in Malawi’s Street Soccer Team for the Homeless.

Photographer Amos Gumilira showcases yet another previously-untold African story

“The goal she scored against Germany caused Malawi win with one goal to nil and was crucial because it boosted the overall FIFA ranking of the Malawi Street Soccer Team from position 40 before the world cup to No. 18.” So says Malawian photographer Amos Gumulira, who attended one of the previous Twenty Ten training modules. His picture feature on Chongo exemplifies the spirit of the Twenty Ten project, and is a good illustration of the way in which African journalists’ stories can complement those being told by the international media.