Reds visit orphaned Indonesian kids

The young Academy players will play the final game of their first ever Asian tour tonight in Yogyakarta when they face Frenz United Indonesia, but ahead of the match, they gave up their scheduled downtime to spend a couple of hours entertaining children far less fortunate than themselves.

The village of Desa Kepuharjo was devastated by the volcano that erupted on October 26, 2010 - and the destruction it caused to the lives of the already incredibly poor people living in its shadow is still being felt today.

Despite early warnings for local villagers to evacuate the area, many homeowners were reluctant to give up their livelihoods and possessions and chose to stay. In the end, the government was forced to step in and take the children away to towns far removed from the volcano. When the inevitable eruption occurred, those who stayed sadly lost their lives.

"We had been told a lot about the new town of Cangkringan that the government built to replace Desa Kepuharjo and about what happened in 2010 but being told about something is very different to seeing it for yourself," said an emotional Des Maher, lead coach of the U17 team, after the visit.

"It was very moving, not just for the young players but also for the staff from the Academy and LFC TV, particularly as many of us have kids ourselves.

"I'm not ashamed to admit a few of us had a tear in our eyes and a lump in our throats when we pulled up to the village and saw all the kids there. Some didn't have shoes on and it was very clear right away that these families did not have much money. 

"The crossbar on their goal was made up of a wooden stick balancing on two other sticks and I'm not sure what their ball was made of. Despite their obvious hardships, the looks on their faces when we arrived and played with them will stay with me for a lifetime.

"They were so happy and they all wanted to get involved. Some of the better footballers amongst the kids - and one of the boys was very, very good - were showing our boys their tricks and even the really young ones were getting involved, either playing with footballs, high-fiving and some even playing chase.

"What was great from my perspective was, because our coach pulled up right beside their makeshift pitch in the middle of the village, there was no hiding place for some of our boys who are more shy than the others.

"They had no option but to really get involved and you could see they fell in love with the kids. They were all talking about the experience when we visited the stadium for a walk last night and Wade Maxwell even said to me that he wished he could take this really funny kid with spiky hair home with him.

"He'd been trying to teach the boy, who was about four or five, how to head the ball and the kid was really struggling but he had this fantastic belly laugh and Wade just took to him.

"It wasn't just Wade, though. All of the boys spoke of what the visit meant to them and I think it's great because it shows them just how lucky they are in life.

"They are at the Academy because they are talented footballers but like all of us, they can be guilty of taking lots of everyday things for granted. Visiting the village really reminded all of us to sometimes stop and think before we moan about some things that are really not that important in the wider scheme of things.

"We took a signed shirt and LFC gifts for all of the kids in the village, but because it really meant so much to see these kids, the staff from the Academy and the lads from LFC TV decided to have a whip-round on the coach to donate some money for the children.

"It's not enough to change their lives but it was something we just felt was the right thing to do. Now, we've started talking about what else we could do because it would be great to stay in touch and really see what we at Liverpool Football Club can do to help them."

To view more images of the young Reds' trip to the orphanage as part of our Facebook gallery from the Academy's first visit to Asia, click here.

Fans can watch the U17s' friendly with Frenz United Indonesia live on LFC TV and LFC TV Online this afternoon. The game at the Sultan Agung Stadium in Indonesia will kick off at 12.15pm GMT and our special coverage of the fixture begins from 12pm. Once the show is underway, you can tune in by clicking here.