Celebrity Status

Hello everyone. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring back in the States. For the past month Leah and I have been trying to develop a sustainable GRS model in Richmond. We have identified two program managers to take over the site once we leave. Our two appointed managers are Saddam and Ova. For the last two weeks we will be training the boys to handle the everyday work of a GRS project. Ensuring quality education, making sure coaches are on time, coaches are paid, materials are set for the day, and responsible for organizing the next round of school and street league sessions.

For school sessions Leah has set up work in the middle school, Ikhaya. We are currently in the 7a and 7b class, about 100 students. We have also launched our street league programs. Street Leagues allow us to incorporate both HIV education and soccer. Saddam, Ova, and myself set out and targeted the High School for street leagues. 70+ girls and boys attended the first day of street league. Day 1 the kids were split into soccer teams , signed the GRS contract, and played a little Find the Ball. Next, week the children will comptete in their first soccer match and 2 additional GRS games. All street leagues are held at the Richmond sports stadium, which currently is being renovated by our funders, Hope In Richmond.

Hope In Richmond plan to build a soup kitchen, GRS office, counselling rooms, and a recreation game room for Richmond youth. Saddam and Ova will set up the GRS office sometime in May permanently establishing GRS in Richmond. Last on the agenda is one final testing tournament. Leah and I hope to hold a testing tournament May 10th. The testing tournament will bring local nurses and counsellors to the soccer field to administer on-site testing. I am pushing for a testing tournament in Richmond because I have heard that 30% of the High School was found to be HIV positive. A testing tournament will allow others to know their status and give us the opportunity to guide them in seeking medical treatment.

Street League boys who arrived on horseback.

Contract

Contract with Saddam and Sticka. Contracted painted on the wall of the sport stadium so others can see why GRS is here and what we expect from our participants. (Respect, Comfort, Particpate, Share)

Weekends in Richmond are not always the most exciting. Fridays the electricity is turned off and Sundays are devoted to church. One weekend Leah, Ben, and I went for a tour of the location with Saddam. Saddam was kind enough to walk us around the entire township, from the government housing to the scrap medal squatter camps. Everyone knew our names. Little kids ran up to me screaming, "Beth or Sisanda!" I have finally reached celebrity status here in Richmond. The girls wanted to play with my long hair and the little boys wanted me to dance with them in the street. To my surprise I saw a group of little boys playing with a flat football. Football, I had not seen a football in about a year. As I approached the boys I noticed they were dropping the football to the ground and kicking it around like a soccer ball. I guess the Americans who brought over the football never taught the boys how to use it. They do what is natural to all Africans, soccer baby.

Another weekend Leah and I spent out on a Richmond farm. The town of Richmond is only a half mile long, one street and about 30 B&Bs. The rest of Richmond is desolate Karoo farmland. Each farmer owning about 30,000 acres of land. Leah and I spent the weekend at the Ackermann farm. I had the opportunity to ride horses and assist the farm workers in herding sheep. The Karoo is not a forgiving terrain with jagged rocks, steep inclines, cactus, and thick prickly bushes. Herding sheep was very exciting. The horses knew exactly where to position themselves. Naturally the sheep grouped together and the horses were responsible in steering them in the right direction. After sheep herding we chased down some Zebras, Springbok, and Impala. Great little weekend in Richmond, South Africa.

Samuri
Sheep Herding
Karoo Desert

Cute baby lamb and her Mom.

Update inRichmond

Soccer Tournament

Hello everyone. Sunday we hosted the Hope in Richmond soccer tournament. Leah and I held a soccer tournament to introduce our new GRS coaches to the community of Richmond. We had 60 local Richmond youth between the ages of 10-16 compete in a 6 team soccer tournament.

The weather forecast in Richmond called for hail but we were lucky and only had to deal with a strong cold wind. The day started with strapping our goals to the top of Saddam’s bakkie. After an hour of set up, the kids started flooding into the soccer stadium. Each team had 10 players and were coached by one of our new GRS coaches. The teams were guaranteed 4 soccer games and participated in two GRS activities: Find the Ball and HIV Attacks.

I was in charge of the soccer games and had the pleasure of seeing all the young local talent in Richmond. I will say some of the kids had mad moves. Very typical of the African style of play, sweet foot skill but can’t seem to connect a pass. Our tournament champions, the Jakkals, were coached by Ola and finished the tournament undefeated. Team pictured bellow.

Championship Team coached by Ola

We had the opportunity to have one of our funders, Jonathan, from Hope in Richmond join us for the event. Jonathon loved the idea of the tournament and hopes to incorporate HIV testing in the future. I have only 7 weeks left in Richmond and the idea is to fit in one more tournament which will include soccer, GRS HIV prevention education activities, and on-sight HIV testing. I have my hands full but I am up for the challenge. Better get back to work. My time here in South Africa is almost over and I only have a few hours before the electricity is shut off. Wish me the best

Oudtshoorn

Before the Richmond TOT began I took a short trip to the small town of Oudtshoorn, South Africa where I attended the annual KKNK, Afrikaaners weehak long concert. The beautiful quaint little town is best known for their amazing ostrich meat, ostrich biltong and is indisputable the ostrich capital of the world. Driving into town I saw farms and farms of ostrich roaming the hills of Qudtshoorn.

My friends in Port Elizabeth have been telling me about the KKNK and Oudtshoorn since September. I was there in Oudtshoorn to finally ride an ostrich. Saturday morning we drove to a nearby ostrich farm. After eating one of the delicious ostriches Ben and I built up the courage and decided to ride.

We were directed to a small pen. The workers corned the ostrich and violently grabbed the ostrich’s neck and flung a bag over his head. All I could think about was what the ostrich might do once the bag came off his head. Ben went first. The workers had us mount the ostrich on his back. We lifted up the wings, sat on the ostrich’s back, locked our legs around his chest, and leaned back while holding on for dear life by the his wings. I will say ridding an ostrich is not easy and definitely scary. At any moment the ostrich could turn his head 180 degrees and bite me right in the face. Luckily, my ostrich was very tame and sweet even though I was pretty much ripping out his wings. Still I could tell the ostrich was not comfortable with me riding. He tried to throw me off by running in circles, quickly changing directions and pace. Overall not the experience I thought it would be. In the advertisements they show jockeys riding the ostriches simulating a horse race. In the end, however, I can say I have ridden an ostrich.

Richmond TOT

Richmond, South Africa

Hello everyone. Richmond GRS is finally up and running. Last week, March 25-30, Leah and I held a TOT, training of trainers, for 12 local Richmond residents. For one week the participants practiced delivering GRS activities, learned more about HIV, and helped Leah and I assess the needs of Richmond. Leah and I found that 30% of the Richmond High School students are infected with HIV, High School girls are getting into prostitution, and drugs and alcohol are a major problem in Richmond. With the help of Themxo, Bloemfontein GRS Master Trainer, and Siya, Port Elizabeth GRS Master Trainer, we graduated all 12 participants from the Richmond TOT. Meet the new Richmond Grassroot Soccer coaches and our new staff team here in Richmond. Leah and I will be working with the 12 coaches to bring Grassroot Soccer to Richmond.

Top: Sticka, Ricardo, Laurika, Miriam, Bonny, Smiley, Bianca, Saddam,

Bottom: Me, Jessica, Ola, Siya, Mila, Temxo, Leah, Ova

Richmond TOT Master Trainers: Themxo, Me, Siya, and Leah

Our first event will be held April 6^th. On Sunday GRS Richmond will host a 6 team soccer tournament with GRS HIV prevention education. Each team will play 4 soccer games and 2 GRS HIV education activities. Leah and I are using the event to introduce our new coaches and Grassroot Soccer into the Richmond community.

There is no formal HIV education in Richmond so our plan is to introduce GRS to schools and street leagues. Leah and I have also decided to take on a side project bringing HIV education to adults. We plan to have weekly location (township) meetings educating adults in HIV and life skills. We hope they will go out and share the information with their children and other adults in the community.

I am adjusting to life in Richmond. Fall is here. The leaves are turning colors and nights are freezing cold. South Africa is currently having a major power shortage. For the month of April the power in Richmond will be shut off every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6-9. Wednesday night was the first blackout. No one told me about the blackout before therefore I spent Wednesday night in the pitch dark with only the light from my cell phone. Nights and weekends in Richmond are not exactly the most exciting and having power outages does not help the situation. Candles are sold out all over town and flashlights are nowhere to be found. Grocery stores in South Africa advertise they are open during the power outages and giveaways on TV now include GENERATORS. Exciting!

Oh Africa.

Welkom to Richmond!

We have arrived!

Leah and I arrived in Richmond Saturday, February 16^th. We were greeted by the kind people of Hope In Richmond. Hope In Richmond is a nonprofit organization focused on the growth and development of the small farming community of Richmond, South Africa.

They have provided everything from sewage pumps, medical care, sanitary bathrooms, and a sports/community center. They have now brought in Grassroot Soccer to start HIV education in the community.

Roughly 9,000 people live in Richmond. Three hundred are white farmers who live several kilometers away from town. The rest of the population is split between blacks and colored, all who live in the township, less than a kilometer away from town. Leah and I live in the small two street town with about four other older community members. We live in a very peaceful quiet community. I wake up early for an hour morning run and usually never see a car or person in the street.

Richmond has no formal HIV education or sex education in the schools. Leah and I will use the next few weeks to identify potential coaches within the Richmond community townships to introduce and teach Grassroot Soccer HIV education within the schools. There are three schools in Richmond; a Primary School , a Middle School, and a High School. The Primary has about 100 students in our age range, Middle 490, and High School 500. We have encountered one problem. Once we introduced ourselves to the community and put up fliers about the organization, everyone seemed to be eager and were jumping at the opportunity to learn more about HIV. The problem is our curriculum is designed for children and we only will be taking 20 coaches on our staff. We will have to turn away many applicants therefore Leah and I wanted to provide an alternative HIV education course not involved with Grassroot Soccer. We have decided to take on a side project to teach basic HIV education to adults. We plan to train Richmond’s three HIV Outreach workers, to hold monthly HIV education courses for adults in the community.

Leah and I live in a three bedroom guest house owned by Johan, a local farmer. The other night Johan and his family were kind enough to invite us out for a braai, BBQ. Johan owns about 24,000 acres of the Karoo desert. He drove us all throughout his land in search for turtles, lamb, springbok, and Kudu. We ended just in time to sit and enjoy the colorful African sunset. Dinner consisted of Chicken Liver, Lamb, Springbok, syrup sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, and rice. Mmmm delicious!

Our house is very quaint. Antiques all over, flower patterns, and the best I have a crib in my bedroom. Haha and I also have a pink bike. My Mom is probably dying laughing right now imagining me riding around on a pink bike. Here are a few pictures of the house.



Some may have no idea who that baby is pictured above. Pictured above is my little godchild Cooper. Cooper was born just before Christmas. Cutie. Alright back to the house… Bad part about the house, we have no showers. I currently bathe with a bucket, very old-fashioned. If there is no work, I wander over to the soup kitchen for 3:00 feeding. Around 2:00 the children come running with their cups in hand. I usually will bring out a soccer ball to play with or I try and teach them some of my old St. Joan of Arc playground games. At 3:00 the children line up for feeding. Once prayer is said, jelly sandwiches and juice is distributed to all the children. On a given day anywhere from 100-250 kids will come for food.


I am adjusting to the quiet life in Richmond and I am looking forward to introducing Richmond to Grassroot Soccer. Below enjoy a few more photos of Richmond.

Cheers

Cute Big Sister

Buddies from the sports complex

Neighbor's dog who has now become ours. Meet Carlos. Every morning Carlos barks at our door until we come out and play.

Goodbye Port Elizabeth

The time has come and I now must say goodbye to my Port Elizabeth home. On Friday, I will pack my bags and head to Richmond, South Africa. I will be joined by Leah Bellow Handleman, Bloemfontein intern. We have been given the challenge to start a GRS program from scratch in the small rural community of Richmond, South Africa.

Richmond is located in the Northern Cape along the N1. We do not know much about Richmond but have only heard great feedback about the people of Richmond. I have been living the big city life for a couple months now in Port Elizabeth. I am excited to get back to my roots, small town friendly community living. Leah and I will be given bikes for transport throughout the town of Richmond. I am pumped. The combination of biking everywhere and living in the desert will finally get me into shape. Feeling a little sluggish since soccer training ended, one year ago, and I am excited to get back into the athletic mindset.

Lauren will be leaving in early March but until then she has started up 14 new schools in the PE area with over 1,500 perticipants. Ben will be headed back to the States and will return in March to take ownership over the PE program. He has some big shoes to fill since Lauren will have almost doubled our graduate total in only one month.

I would love for everyone to keep one of our coaches in your prayers. Over the weekend, one of our female coaches was gang raped by eight men, beaten and left for dead in a field. South Africa can be a very dangerous place especially for women. For me I have been fortunate and have only seen and experienced the great offerings of this country; the lively people, the mountains, ocean, and every species of animal. I am happy to inform you our coach is home safe and recovering.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year!

Lauren and I have returned from Holiday. Most of our time was spent on Zanzibar where we were either camping or living in thatch huts with no electricity or running water. I loved ever minute of the trip. Meals came from the village, bread and fruit. The pineapple was amazing. Days were spent lounging around and playing soccer with the village boys. It took Lauren and I a little bit to adjust to playing with the young boys because they would play beach soccer naked. Imagine 50 little naked boys running around after the soccer ball, dodging shells and the occasional cow that would venture out onto our field. Below a few photos from Zanzibar.

Bored on Christmas and decided

to make my Christmas card for 2008.

Sunset with the roommates Ben and Lauren

Cape of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa.

Christmas Eve dance party with my Monkey friend.

Dhow sunset at kendwa beach, Zanzibar

I am very excited for the next few months. At the end of January I will attending the TOMT, Training of Master Trainers, in Lusaka, Zambia. I will have a chance to meet other coaches from other sites around Africa and visit with the Lusaka interns. The TOMT will also be a great learning experience for me, working with some of the best in the GRS family. After the TOMT, I will return to Port Elizabeth for two weeks and then head to Richmond, South Africa for my new assignment. Leah Bellow, Bloem intern, and I will be moving to Richmond, South Africa, in the Northern Cape, for three months to start a new GRS program.

Richmond, South Africa

The program will be a small scale community program. Leah and I will be responsible for working with the community members in designing a sustainable GRS program to fit the community needs of Richmond. We will also be responsible for finding community members to deliver the GRS program. I am very excited for the opportunity to work in Richmond, South Africa. A slight scenic change from beach to desert, but I am excited to live in Richmond.

I will be spending the next few weeks handing off PE responsibilities to Lauren and Ben. Teaching Lauren the QAC and office work.

I really have no exciting stories but will recommend a must read for the new year. The book is called 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa, written by Stephanie Nolen. 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa is an excellent portrait of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The Author Stephanie Nolen spent 6 years traveling across Africa collecting stories from nurses, doctors, community members, orphans, political leaders, military men and many more. The book helps illustrate how the disease has spread so quickly and it's ties to poverty, conflict, and famine.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday season!

Bluewater Bay

Bluewater Bay

I have been living in Bluewater Bay for the past 4 months. I have had many questions and concerns about my living situation here in South Africa. Here are a few photos so everyone from home can see exactly where I am living. Hopefully it will put some worries to rest.

My neighborhood

Beach

Bluewater Bay riverfront

View from the riverfront

When the water level is low, as you can see in the picture,

fisherman often walk out in the river to fish.

Bluewater Bay riverfront. I often run the riverfront

to the beach for my workouts.

My workout stairs. Ed would be so proud.

Sunset outside my front door.

I am working out almost every day. I can walk to the gym to lift. I run the riverfront to the beach and run the stairs to get the heart beating. Most times I drive to the beach for my bare foot beach run just along the water’s edge. On Friday mornings Lauren joins me for an extreme beach work out consisting of sand sprints, push ups, abs, and water bottle arm lifts. I know ED is smiling at me right now.

By far my most favorite workout are my bare foot beach runs. The run is challenging because I have to jump over dead jelly fish, which have washed up on the shore, and maneuver through hundreds of small sea snails. At night I call my friend Dion and ask to borrow his dog.

Yes, you read correctly. Dion and Steph own three labs, one yellow and two blacks. The male is yellow and the two blacks are female. Close to sunset I call up Dion and ask to borrow the youngest dog, Sandy, to walk with on the beach. I only take Sandy because she is the only dog who is trained and will not run off on me. On our walks we have seen whales and dolphins from the Bluewater Bay beach. Have I convinced anyone to come visit me? If not there is also a tennis court nearby which is covered in monkeys at sunset. Bluewater Bay is truly a beautiful area and I am definitely taking advantage of the beautiful scenery.