RAPID CITY - To the average soccer fan it looked like a bunch of jerseys, balls and bags, but when Bob Scull brought those with him to the Republic of Mozambique they were truly a treasure in the eyes of children.

Scull went to Mozambique on a hunting trip, but what he ended up finding was the gratification that comes with helping those less fortunate than him.

"It is pretty gratifying when you go someplace and you are able to help some people if only in a very small, small way to make them happy and give them something to do," he said.

Scull consulted with Jeff Olson, a Rapid City dentist, who had been to the region the year before and asked him what he should bring when he left this past September.

"He told me I had to take some soccer balls and some jerseys if I could," Scull said. "There are no jobs in Mozambique - unskilled labor makes about $30 a month - it is a poor country and all these people do is play soccer."

That is when the Rushmore Soccer Club and American Indian Relief Council stepped up and delivered with 210 soccer jerseys and 100 soccer bags from the club and 42 soccer balls from the council. The jerseys were meant for the club but when it received them there was a mistake in the printing leaving hundreds of unused jerseys that filled Schull's needs perfectly.

"I shipped it all over ahead of time and the jerseys went into a tub three feet long, a foot and a half wide and two feet tall," said Scull who has two kids involved with the Rushmore Soccer Club.

In all, Scull shipped five boxes full of soccer gear.

Once Scull arrived at one of the two main villages, Caembua, where he and his hunting guide, Carel Marteens, spent much of their time, they were welcomed like rock stars by enthusiastic children ranging in age from 8 to 12 years old experiencing the thrill of gifts as if it was Christmas morning.

"When we gave those kids the jerseys, I may as well have been taking them to Disney World," Scull said. "The people there live in grass huts. They have nothing. There are no jobs, there is absolutely nothing and when it gets dark there, it gets dark.

"When Carel goes into those villages, the kids come running out there and chant his name because he helps them and gives them stuff. So he is the rock star."

Scull and Marteens gave out 15 jerseys to each of the two villages they visited and each school got two balls which were to be used until they were wore beyond use and then replaced with a new ball. Marteens distributed the rest of the soccer gear to other villages he helped down the river.

The coaches at the villages kept all the jerseys after the kids were done playing for the day because they were in high demand in an area where the field consists of dirt, rocks and two wood sticks placed apart representing the goal.

"The kids didn't want to give (the jerseys up) I am sure, but the coaches kept them and the balls," Scull said. "But it is amazing watching these kids because they have skills. They don't have shoes - they might have flip-flops - but they play in their bare feet."

The area is infatuated with the game of soccer but most of the people in the area are without the absolute basics from shoes to something even more important to play the game.

"They take wide broad leaf grass and they somehow roll it or weave it into a ball," Scull said.

The soccer equipment provides adults and kids with entertainment in an area where there is not much of it.

"It is not really poverty because it is the way they live. It is the way they have lived probably for centuries," Scull said. "They live on the river, they fish out of the river and they grow corn and maize."

Scull said the hunting was "pretty incredible and best hunt of my life" but he also brought home more than great stories. Thanks to the generosity of many he was able to put a smile on the faces of countless people thanks to a few jerseys and soccer balls.