Right to Play

Johann Olav Koss, triple world skating champion and winner of four Olympic gold medals, wants to make it possible for everyone, everywhere, to have the opportunity to play. “Everyone” includes those children who, through war, natural disasters, violence or famine, have lost everything. It is for this cause that Koss has given up his career as a top class athlete to found the organization Right to Play. This book takes the reader on an adventure around the world--through schools in Rwanda, refugee camps in Palestine, the slums of Mali and the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The reader will meet child soldiers who have returned from war, children who have to survive on the streets of Africa, and boys with nothing but a rolled up T-shirt as a football because they have nothing else to use.

IN addition to the children, Right to Play also includes the stories of ?athletes from all over the world who will tell him why they enjoy sport so much., Famous ambassadors from Right to Play who share their memories of the early days of playing games and of their sports. From all these people the reader will learn why--heart and soul—these men and women are such supporters of Right To Play.

Jesse Goossens’ work includes travel novels, a detective novel, plays, a young adult novel and several interview collections on topics of social justice. She also worked as a radio host and cultural journalist, and acted and sang for ten years in a small theatre company. Her work is characterized by a fervent search for what moves people–their passions, their motivations, their lives…For her book, Right To Play, Jesse traveled to Rwanda, Palestine, Mali and the United Nations Headquarters in New York to speak to children and athletes involved with Right To Play.