African children don't know who Roger Federer is, says Foundation CEO

Several photos featuring working as a teacher in Zambia earlier this year were published and people may wonder what the Swiss was exactly doing there. In an interview to CNN, the CEO of the Roger Federer Foundation, , explained that the 37-year-old was just trying to example what tennis is as the sport is almost unknown in that part of the country.

We work in a very rural area where there is no electricity, so there is not a TV. Actually, they do not know him, Handel said. He is a real gentle, white man bringing some fun in the village by visiting him and in Africa, you are always welcome in a very, very warm environment with dance, singing, but this is for every kind of visitor being white, black, me or Roger.

So in the village, they do not know him. This children, in particular, cannot imagine that someone putting a ball from one side of the net to another can make a fortune in their life and actually it was very funny when we were in Zambia last time.

He was explaining to the class at school what tennis is and he was drawing something on the black wall and then this teacher came in and said, Oh, you mean table tennis, and he said, No, no, its not table tennis.

So even the teacher had no clue whats tennis is. So thats the environment we are normally working in. ALSO READ: Rafael Nadal: Worse players than David Ferrer won a Grand Slam title