Kimberley Katch-up

Happy Halloween everybody!!! It is a little bit “spooky” how time seems to disappear when your living next to the biggest man-made hole in the world. I will do my best to recover some of my latest happenings here in the city that sparkles:

This month started off with a bang. Probably the biggest event I have been apart of since my time in Kimberley: The Castrol Holiday Skills Camp!!! We got a big chunk of change from this wonderful oil company (Castrol) to host camps all over South Africa for their schools’ “spring break”. There were camps in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and don’t forget good ol KIM! We had two camps in Kim; 100+ kids at each camp and 10 smooth SKILLZ coaches to help lead them through the SKILLZ curriculum. I was in charge of running one of these camps with my good buddy Thuso Jones: The camp was held at St. Peters school in Galeshewe (the Kim Township). The days consisted of 2 Skillz lessons and lots of soccer in between the lessons. The soccer games were played with “fifa fair play rules”. The kids would come up with a couple fun rules before the games (i.e. both teams must celebrate when one team scores; if someone falls down someone from the other team must help him/her up). It was pretty amazing to see both boys and girls playing soccer together and trying to keep good sportsmanship in mind. More than anything the games were about fair play, showing respect and having a boat load of fun. I really think the kids hit all of these standards. At the end of the fourth day, the participants had officially finished all the SKILLZ lessons and were ready for the Friday graduation festivity.

Friday was an awesomely special day: In the morning, we created a World Cup style soccer tournament, 10 teams competing for the title of SKILLZ Champion. The games were certainly much more heated than before with this illustrious title on the line but to the kid’s credit they tried hard to maintain some degree of sportsmanship. We also hired a local DJ to come blast some sick South African vibes throughout the day; it is always incredible to see these kids dance. When they start to groove you can’t help from smiling and wanting to shake a leg with them. I will never be able to move like the African can, but I always get a bunch of laughs when I bust out some of my white-boy steps. After lunch, a partner organization of ours called “New Start” came to the camp to do some sex education (how to use a condom, where you can go for help in your community, and some science of HIV/AIDS). They also provided volunteer counseling and testing (VCT) for the kids that were over 14 (you have to be over 14 in order to be test in South Africa). We encouraged the kids in our camp who were old enough to get tested and know their status. We had a little over 20 kids in camp volunteer to be tested.  I was super proud of all the kids who got tested; it takes a ton of courage for anyone to find out their status here, let alone 14 & 15 year old kids. I found out later that one kid in our camp did test positive for HIV. I didn’t really know how to react; it is obviously a horribly sad situation that somebody that young is infected. I’ve spent the last few months learning the stats and hearing so many sad, sad stories but when it finally happened that I knew someone with HIV I was simply stunned. The crazy thing is you can’t do much after this. I can check up with New Start on weather or not the kid has begun treatment but other than that there is really nothing I can do. It feels like a helpless situation and some very unfortunate kids have to face this exact struggle (probably on their own) for the rest their lives. As much as this all sucks, you have to think that each kid we reach with this curriculum has a better chance on avoiding the disease. All depends on how you want to look at it.   

After the New Start lessons we had the Championship game and Graduation ceremony. I haven’t refereed a lot in my soccer days but I was asked by some of the kids and coaches to be an honorary ref for the finale. It was an intense match; all the kids of the camp gathered around the pitch and picked a side to support. One of teams in the final had just one boy and a bunch of very tough girls. Although I made some unpopular decisions for both sides the focus remained on the game: A 3-1 thriller that brought the whole camp to life.

There was nothing but smiles, laughs and made up cheers from the week as the kids were finally called up to receive their SKILLZ certificates of graduation!!! One by one, the teams proudly sported their new Castrol hats and sweet SKILLZ certificates for a team picture. It was nearly impossible to get them to leave after the ceremony. They had made bonds with their coaches, friends from new schools and hopefully picked up some really important life-skillz along the way. I too even struggled to lock up St. Peters School that day. It was so amazing to finally have some real connections with the kids here, to feel that I had a part in them learning something that could eventually save their lives. It was a week filled with precious moments I had hoped I would experience when deciding to come here….

Kim Dribble-a-thon 2009

A couple weeks ago I was contacted by my former employer, The Greenwich Country Day School, about an all-school fundraising event called the “GCDS Walk-a-thon.” This walk-a-thon is an event that raises money for two NGOs every fall—one domestic and one international. Students, faculty and staff spend an entire day walking laps around the school campus and earn donations per miles completed. This year the GCDS community selected Teach for America and GrassrootSoccer as the organizations to support. The event was a great success, raising over $5,000 for GRS, and in a notable departure from the traditional GCDS walk-a-thon, participants embraced the GRS vision and dribbled the majority of their miles.

Somewhere over 6,000 miles away, on a different continent, in the opposite hemisphere, on a seemingly sunny October afternoon, me and a small group of fellow GRS interns embarked upon a similar expedition. This adventure unfolded in the sparkling city of Kimberley, South Africa. The four interns, me, Kristin Fladseth, Anna Barrett, and Lindsay Rotherham, were outfitted with only our strong wills and two Nike soccer balls. Our goal: to dribble approximately 15 km from our home, throughout the heavily trafficked roads and lively neighborhoods of Galeshewe, the nearby township, and finally looping back to return home.

Excitement was in the air with a fast approaching storm in the distance and many kilometers to be traveled. We started strong on some of the quieter and well-maintained streets of the city. As they neared the township limits, however, the atmosphere changed, and we were greeted by honking cars and enthusiastic bystanders. Interest mounted as we, clad in bright yellow GrassrootSoccer t-shirts, dribbled toward a local park and called out to people in the native Setswana. Slowly but surely kids emerged from their homes to join in the football festivities, including participants from the most recent Skillz Holiday Programmes.

A left hand turn took us onto the busiest road of Galeshewe, where we were ambushed by horde of intrigued and ecstatic kids. It took only a few passes and dribbles amongst the group of twenty plus children before they were totally hooked to us strange yellow-shirt foreigners. Together, we continued on down the road into the heart of Galeshewe, laughing, dribbling, dancing and generally loving this bizarre experience. When we reached the round-about in town center, storm clouds had fully formed and rain began to fall upon this unlikely group. Grabbing as many of the small boys and girls into our arms as we could we headed for shelter into a local school. After several minutes of soccer drills underneath an overhang, lightning moved us once again, this time into a classroom. Amazingly, there were still a few biscuits available to give the brave soccer soldiers who ran barefoot through the rain and muck to this location. The lightning provided an opportunity for some familiar American games. Heads up, seven up was a big hit as the kids struggled to guess which Intern had selected them. Eventually the sky’s cleared and the group began their long journey back home. A joyous yet sad goodbye was said to the young, shivering troopers as the wet, deflated soccer balls rolled on their proverbial path through Galeshewe Park and back onto the wide, soggy road home!

BAFANA BAFANA!

There was quite a little soccer buzz going about Kim this last week. The South Africa National Team made its first, only and possibly last visit to the Kim-City for a friendly match against Madagascar. Everybody we talked to in town was talking soccer and couldn’t wait to see “The boys, The boys” (BAFANA, BAFANA is the name of the National Side). Kimberley is predominately a rugby town and it was amazing to see some excitement around the national side. While standing in line for tickets a few days before the match I heard a man behind me say “I need to buy 500 tickets, there better be 500 tickets…everyone I know is coming and wants to see BAFANA!!!” Luckily I was in line in front of him and scored some of the last tickets for me and some of my friends to see the Boys! Kimberley’s Rugby Stadium holds about 20,000 fans and it was completely packed for the occasion. We spent a little too much time tailgating with some friendly locals and the only seats we could find were standing up right behind the Madagascar goal. In my eyes these were the best seats in the house. 15 feet from the goalie! It was like I was heckling him at a high school or college game. Within several minutes of us really getting into the game (and into their keeper’s head) there was a penalty for BAFANA!!! We nearly broke the screen behind the goal…so much pressure right in front of us…I couldn’t handle it. I was sure our persistent heckling would pay-off but to my dismay he made an incredible save diving to his left. Oh snap…we sadly walked away, our tail between our legs as security ushered us to find a little more legitimate seat. Bafana, ended up winning the game 1-0 as we watched the rest from the mid-field. Just a tiny taste of how amazing the World Cup will be!!!
In Grassroot Soccer news we have been working hard preparing for a SKILLZ Holiday Program. Castrol, the oil conglomerate has sponsored Grassroot to run 8 camps throughout South Africa and 2 of them are in Kimberley!!! It is a really exciting opportunity for us because we have the funding to take over 200 hundred kids around Kim through our HIV/AIDS curriculum. Check in for the full story in next weeks blogs. SALA SENKLE!!!

Hooter

LIVIN LESOTHO

Happy Heritage Day! Today is a South African celebration; everyone has the day off to Braii (BBQ) and honor their Heritage. I thought I would celebrate by catching you all up with a little of my life over the last couple weeks. Things have been a bit hectic and it seems like there is almost too much information for one blog entry but alas, here we go:
Last weekend I was able to get out of the country for a few days and travel to the sky kingdom of Lesotho. Lesotho is a small land-locked country completely surrounded by South Africa. It’s about 150 miles from Kimberley. Lesotho is a dry and mountainous land filled with some of the most outrageously friendly people ever! It is amazing how different they seemed compared to the average South African. Lesothoians are extremely proud people and have managed to avoid some of the painful history that affects most South Africans. Two of my colleagues work in Lesotho for an organization called “Kick 4 Life” the British equivalent of GrassrootSoccer. We had a chance to help them run a “VCT” Tournament (Volunteer, Counseling and Testing). These tournaments are friendly competitions (although they rarely end this way) where co-ed teams compete in soccer matches as well as attend several HIV/AIDS activities. The goal is to have a fun soccer atmosphere where the participants can learn a bit about HIV/AIDS as well as fell comfortable enough to get tested for it. As you can image it can be a very scary thing for teenagers to test but it is so important that we encourage them to know their status. We have some pretty amazing testing partners that do the testing and counseling of the kids before and after their test. Testing is a daunting task here, but if it is done well it can make a huge impact on these communities.

Outside of the testing event our Lesotho friends lead us to some of the beautiful mountains outside the city. We made it to a small village named, Malealea. Malealea is famous for its pony trekking around the mountains. While we didn’t make it onto any pony backs we did traverse some gorgeous land by foot. The landscape reminded me so much of New Mexico; the hike ended overlooking some bright pink mountains from a bumpy dirt soccer field. How fitting for a Soccer lovin’ New Mexican! It was a little sad to leave these somehow familiar mountains and make the long flat drive back to Kimberley. Alas, Kim is home and it felt good to get back into the city that sparkles!

ISIBINDI INSIGHTS

Happy September everybody! I hope everyone had a great summer and is pumped for the fall! This is the first fall in my life that I am not going back to school; either to learn or to teach. WOW! However, I am still finding myself in a lot of different school settings and working/playing with some pretty cool kids. This week I had a chance to check in on a partner-program that is running at a “Safe Park” near the center of Galeshewe (the largest Township in Kimberley). This “Safe Park” is called Isibindi and it is open to any age children to come at anytime of day. They can come to Isibindi to play, learn, eat or assitance in other aspect of their lives. Grassroot Soccer has trained some of the Isibindi employees in our "SKILLZ" curriculum in the hope that they can give some life-skillz lessons to regular visitors between the ages of 11 and 16. It is really fascinating to see some of the kids at Isibindi Safe Park. My understanding is that most kids here have some serious hardships in the lives; lack of parents, malnutrition, neglect, etc. They come to Isibindi to escape some of these problems. Most of the kids are really young (also super-cute); about 4 to 10 years old but there are a handful of young teenagers. This group was in their 4th SKILLZ lesson and learning a little about some HIV/AIDS facts and myths. The lesson is called “Fact vs. Nonsense”. The kids are paired up and start all together in the center circle of a small soccer field. They are read some statements about HIV/AIDS i.e. “HIV/AIDS is spread by holding hands, sharing food and water”. The kids then have a few seconds to confer with their partner and then must run to the goal they think is right. One goal says “FACT” while the other goal says “NONSENSE”. Skillz coaches read about 10 statements and discuss the reasons for them being fact or nonsense after the kids have chosen their side. It is often very surprising what side they end up on; many kids (and adults) here know very little about HIV/AIDS. There are a lot of very horrible myths and stigmas ingrained in the South African culture about the disease. A prominent one being that if you become infected with HIV/AIDS you can cure yourself by sleeping with a virgin. These types of myths and lies are huge issues in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is essential that these kids have a chance to hear some of these myths and then talk about the facts so they can better understanding of the disease. After the lesson, the children had some extra time (and a lot of extra energy) before dinner. I got to play the most intense game of red-rover, red-rover of all time. About 50 kids ranging from ages 4 to 16 all holding hands and screaming to be the next one “sent-ova” there were a lot of laughs, tumbles and luckily only a few tears when they couldn't break through the "wall". Just amazing to see these kids play with such joy with all the adversity they endure. Okay, more next week. Caliboha (Thanks),

PG

SI-WE-LELE FEVER!

DUMELA!!! (Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening to everyone!!!) Certainly a wonderful Tswana (Northern Cape Language) word to know and to be honest about the only Tswana word I know right now. All in good time, right? That is sort of the theme for me here in Central South Africa. Learning things slowly and trying to get “n-sync” with the rhythm of life. A lot of foreigners call it “African-time”; I guess that means things not always happening at the speed, punctuality and urgency that we are accustomed to in the western world. Most of the time I find it humorous and even refreshing but it can be a little frustrating if you are trying to get some serious things done. I spent the last week doing a lot of waiting and watching in the city of Bloemfontein, the capital of the “free state” and one of the host sites for the 2010 World Cup! Bloem is about an hour away from Kimberley and I will be responsible for overseeing and assisting in some of the GrassrootSoccer (GRS) programs running in Blom’s vast townships. Mangaung is the largest of these townships (about 1.2 million people) and it has one of the countries highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates. It also happens to be one of the most “soccer crazed” communities I have personally witnessed. Mangaung is notorious for having the most devoted soccer fans in all of South Africa. Bloem “Celtic” is their pride and joy; almost everyone has some sort of white and green outfit, flag or painted car to support the local team. My first night after work here in Bloem there happened to be a Celtic game against “Super Sport United”, a big league rival. All of our GRS coaches in Blom took us to the game to check out the passion in person. I have been to a lot of soccer matches over the years and not even a World Cup game could compare to this atmosphere. Picture a decrepit stadium packed to the brim, a sea of Green and White bodies and painted faces; huge neon green afros bouncing up and down in the stands. It was like some sort of monstrous soccer cult; people chanting and singing in perfect unison, shuffling side to side and at times the stands were pulsating so viciously it seemed like the whole stadium would collapse. In celebration of Celtics only goal, a group of cross-dressed men climbed to the top of the jagged fence protecting the field to remove their green bras in jubilation. INCREDIBLE! This sort of vibrant atmosphere made for some very, very happy campers. With my green jacket and a few outbursts of the teams cheer, “SI-WE-LELE”, I was instantly welcomed into the cult…huge hugs, a lot of high fives and maybe even an attempted kiss or two. I left the stadium after the 1-1 draw with a huge grin and a feeling that I was part of the “Siwelele-family”. It reinforced to me why soccer is such a powerful community tool here and why a place like Mangaung is the perfect place for GRS to be working in. Soccer is an influential force in these communities and if we can associate positive life choices within this “soccer-community”, a lot of children are going to be inclined to live an HIV-free lifestyle. I am just so pumped to have a chance to work with the coaches in Bloem and Kim to try and harness some of this crazy soccer energy and use it to illustrate some crucial messages about HIV/AIDS. More next week…

ENKOSI….SALA SENTLE,

Hoota/Peta

Serious Skillz

Greetings to everyone! I hope summer is still gloriously shining upon all of you. It is the dead of winter here in Kimberley; Mid 70’s during the day and close to freezing at night. Can’t wait to top 100 in only a couple of months! Kim is certainly full of surprises (it is in fact the “city that sparkles”) and it continues amaze me with its racially unique culture. Often it seems like here and most of South Africa is still under apartheid rule. There are distinctly white neighborhoods within Kim and all black townships outside the city limits. As much as there is plenty of intermingling going on with respect to commerce; it is apparent that whites and blacks still don’t interact much socially. Seeing that we are working almost strictly with the black population, we have received some awkward looks from both races. Whites are surprised to see us driving around with black coaches and teachers and blacks in the townships are not quite accustomed to seeing whites working in their schools and neighborhoods. It can be difficult to transfer back and forth from the two worlds. However, it helps to see things from both sides and have a little perspective of these post-apartheid relationships. So far I am really enjoying the work that Grassroot Soccer does. I have been spending a good deal of my time assisting local coaches and teacher; helping them to deliver a program called “SKILLZ”. Skillz is life-“skillz” curriculum which is based around three main steps: “knowing your game”, “building your team” and “making your move”. We are trying to compare soccer to life and how you can make good decisions that ultimately control how you do in the game/life. There is a lot of other basic and compulsory HIV/AIDS information that is part of these sessions but our coaches try and mix in “energizers” (quick games and upbeat songs) that keep the kids engaged and involved. Its pretty cool stuff and I really think that these kids learn a lot in every session. They have to attend at least 6 of 8 sessions to be considered a “Skillz Graduate”. Most of the sessions are held during school hours so if the children attend school they will be apart of these skillz intervention sessions. We are working mostly within the townships and the biggest one in Kimberley is called “Galeshewe” (HALLA-Sha-way). Most of the kids in Galeshewe have big personalities and exude a tremendous amount of confidence and resiliency. They are faced with so many obstacles that it is amazing to see them smiling, laughing, dancing and playing with such joy. At first glance, I think that our programs are making a positive difference here and that it is a matter of getting the best information out, keeping the kids excited and supporting as many of them as possible. Ok, That’s all for now, keep checking for another update soon. Thanks everyone, stay cool.

Sweet South Africa!

Hello everyone! I wanted to give you my first African update from the beautiful city of Kimberley, South Africa. I have been recently placed by GrassrootSoccer to help run some HIV/AIDS intervention programs in and around the Northern Cape of South Africa. Kimberley is a large mining town and home to DeBeers Diamonds. The Kim GRS office is actually based out of the DeBeers office and they are huge supporters of a lot of our GRS programs in and around this region. Kim is also home to the worlds largest man-made hole!!! WOW! I made the 12 hour journey here from Cape Town via a 1985 Toyota "Tazz". It was filled with a lot of left hand side "adjustments" and incredible views of the wine-lands and water fall filled mountains. I am working with two other GRS interns; Lindsay and Kristen. We are happily settling into our new home together: "The Gateway 2 Heaven". It is an amazing spot. We have already ventured to a local rugby match and watched our beloved Greikwas lose a heart-breaker to the Blue Bulls of Pretoria. All in all this country is fantastically different and I look forward to updating you with the work we will be doing throughout this year. Take care all,

Let the Adventure Begin!

Hello everyone who is getting an early start and looking into my blog. I am on my way up to Dartmouth College as we speak for GrassrootSoccer orientation and their annual meeting. I can't wait to get the whole thing started; I hoping to be settling down in South Africa in early August and you can be sure to find some more entries coming in then. I just want to send a special thanks to all my family and friends for all their support in getting me to Africa. I really could not have done it without you. I appreciate all your love! Enjoy the rest of the summer in the states and keep checking in. Thanks everyone. Best,

Hooter

Soccer Fun for Everyone!

What? A Soccer Party; Soccer games, challenges, food, drinks and music
When? This Thursday, June 18th @ 4:15!
Where? The Greenwich Country Day School Gyms!!!
Why? To support my work with GrassrootSoccer for next year!
How? Come enjoy an afternoon of fun and please make a suggested donation of 10$.

Thanks, Hope to see you there.

Fundraising Help

Hello Friends!

This summer I will be leaving the States to spend the year working for Grassroot Soccer (GRS) in South Africa. GRS was founded by former professional soccer players. It is a South Africa-based non-governmental organization that integrates the cross-cultural appeal of soccer with evidence-based HIV prevention and life skills programs that arm African youth with the knowledge, skills, and support to live HIV free. Translating research into action and leveraging the excitement around the 2010 World Cup, GRS attracts and engages African youth through schools, community outreach, and social multimedia (e.g. magazines and TV). Since 2003, over 270,000 youth in 16 countries have received comprehensive HIV prevention education through programs linked to GRS. By bringing the model to scale through innovative and sustainable partnerships, GRS aims to educate over 1 million youth by World Cup 2010. In order to participate with this amazing organization and work towards achieving these goals, I must raise enough money to support myself while in Africa. I truly appreciate your generosity and any amount helps. Thanks!