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,