MCGILL IN AFRICA

2010-07-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Heading home after an amazing adventure with my Mom filled with Joburg Safari, Double D's bar in Port Elizabeth, petting lions and tigers, honeymoon suite, penthouse suite, near death scooter rides, Champman's Peak, two World Cup matches, and 4 new Netherlands fans. More pictures to come once we get back to the States.

Sharp!

Mossel Bay

2010-07-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Just left Port Elizabeth and our great host Stephie and Deon who made us a fabulous potjie lamb/chicken (like stew) that cooks for hours. Drove half way to Cape Town and are staying in Mossel Bay off the Indian Ocean. Inn keeper so nice he gave us a extra room - the honeymoon suite - haha. When in JoBerg, went Northwest past Pretoria to Pilanesberg game reserve - 220 sq. miles - saw elephants, girafee, kudu, springbok, rhino, 4-lions, etc. Was a great day. Went to visit the township in PE where Beth's grassroots friend Siya lives - his sister thought that one of Beth's friends - Joel - was my husband. Pretty funny considering he is in his later 20's. Still got it. :)

Netherland vs. Brazil was a crazy game with the one of the biggest upsets of the tournament. We are all NED fans now - they have the best party bus and are now looking for orange for the CapeTown game NED vs URG. Go Holland! Will be in CapeTown tomorrow and are renting scooters and climbing table mountain. Miss you all on the 4th of July - hope you had a blast!

Maureen

World Cup as a Fan

2010-06-30T10:39:00.000-07:00

It is time to say goodbye to the IBC and Joburg and head to Port Elizabeth. Mama Gill and I will enjoy one more Karaoke night at the infamous Jabulani's and then we are off to Port Elizabeth to see the old Bluewater Bay gang and attend the Brazil vs Netherlands Quarterfinal. Stay tuned for Mo's Karaoke debut.

2010-06-29T04:29:00.000-07:00

Maradona vs Messi

WORLD CUP DREAMS

2010-06-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

It has been an exciting few weeks of soccer so far and I know you all are pumped to finally have this month arrive. With the month of World Cup play already kicked off in South Africa, Hope in Richmond keeps moving forward and hosting Grassroot holiday and soccer camps for the children. HIV education camps are open to both girls and boys in the Richmond community. HIR coaches Sticka, Bianca, and Meula are busy organizing and executing these camps.

More exciting news Sony donated hundreds of World Cup tickets to take local HIR Grassroot Graduates to all World Cup matches being played in Bloemfontein. I sent out an urgent email in May asking for donations to help pay for transportation to Bloemfontein, 4 hours from the rural Richmond community. I want to thank everyone for donating and making this once and a lifetime experience a reality for hundreds of local South African Grassroot Soccer Graduates. The response was incredible and we were able to raise enough money to transport the kids to and from Bloemfontein and also provide a meal for the day. The experience of attending a World Cup match will never be forgotten and the stories of those days will be told for years and lifetimes to come. Thank you again and enjoy the pictures below.

Thank you from sponsored GRS Graduate.

Translation:
~Lionel
We want to thank you for GRS and the coaches for the day at the stadium. I want to thank all the coaches to look after us at the stadium and we want to thank all the USA team for the soccer tickets. I appreciate it. And we thank the soup kitchen for the food that they give us. Thanks

Time to Believe

2010-06-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

"And Dempsey is denied again! AND DONOVAN HAS SCORED! OH CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS! GO GO U-S-A! Certainly through! Oh it's incredible! YOU COULD NOT WRITE A SCRIPT LIKE THIS!" -Ian Darke

Enjoy this inside video of a friend of mine who was live at the USA match.
GO USA!

USA GOAL VIDEO
Reactions around the World
Gary Miller Soccer Breakdown
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

Group C

2010-06-23T05:16:00.000-07:00

Big day for all US fans and all soccer fans for that matter. USA Kick off coming soon. USA could advance 1st or 2nd and ENG could be knocked out. We are all pumped and ready for the game. GO USA!

RSA v URU

2010-06-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Molo

I have been in South Africa for over 2 weeks now and I have only had one day off. ESPN is working all of us but I can't really complain when my job requires me to watch every world cup match. My first assignment was working on the World Cup open and other features including Voices of Africa. If anyone missed the open I have dumped it to DVD and will be happy to share when I get back to the States. I remember watching the rollout to the NCAA tournament, "One Shinning Moment," and thought to myself one day I want to make a rollout. I won't be able to contribute to the World Cup rollout for I am done working on July 1st but having the opportunity to be part of the open of kicking off ESPN's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup had been the highlight of my ESPN career. It gave me the opportunity to get the World excited about Soccer and South Africa. Two things very close to my heart.

My first day off was Wednesday June 16th and I ventured out with three coworkers to Pretoria for the South Africa vs Uruguay match. We arrived in Pretoria about 5 hours before the match and went straight to the fan fest to watch Spain play. A little face paint, Castle Lager, and a Spain loss later the fan fest turned into a huge dance party. The lights turned off and everyone jumped on the tables waving their country's flag. I immediately jumped on the nearest table grabbed a South African flag and started waving in unison with the 100 other flags to the beat of K'naan's waving flag. Amazing dance party.

We all entered the stadium about 30 minutes before kickoff. I still can't believe I was allowed in the Stadium with Media credentials with my face painted and I obviously had pounded a few. We stayed on the field until the South African National anthem had finished and took video of all the South Africans proudly belting out their anthem and crying because they were so proud of the boys, BAFANA BAFANA. The rest of the game we sat up high to get a full perspective of the field and enjoy the lovely vuvuzela choir. Yes Uncle Brad I still plan on bringing you home a vuvuzela.

The rest of the tournament has been pretty much a blur except for the US match against Slovenia. Wow still can't believe that outcome and refereeing. I am signing off now preparing for the next big match Ivory Coast vs Brazil.

GO Elephants!

2008-04-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-02-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-12T04:34:00.001-08:00

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

2008-01-07T05:03:00.001-08:00

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

2007-12-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

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.

2007-12-04T03:17:00.000-08:00

KICK 'N TEST

Last month GRS PE held a VCT event. The VCT event has been the highlight of my experience so far with Grassroot Soccer. Grassroot Soccer PE teamed up with One to One and Hope World Wide to hold a 16 team VCT soccer tournament. VCT stands for voluntary counseling and testing. The event was named KICK ‘N TEST.

Three local High Schools were chosen to compete in the 16 team 7v7 soccer tournament. Players participated in a soccer tournament, Grassroot Soccer HIV education games and had the opportunity to receive HIV testing and counseling. The entire community was also welcome to receive testing and watch the soccer matches. 500+ players and community members attended KICK ‘N TEST and 215 people tested. I was running the soccer tournament was too busy to find any time to check out the testing area or to be tested. Two people did test positive at the KICK ‘N TEST Tournament, including a young High School soccer player. When the boy was told the news of his status, he ran from the event crying. Not exactly the reaction we were hoping for. Many people here feel an HIV positive result is a death sentence when in reality with the combination of ARV treatment and living a healthy lifestyle an HIV positive person can live a normal life. Hours later the boy returned with his parents and other family members to receive post counseling.

When I first heard that the boy had left the event I felt the idea of testing young High School students was a terrible idea. I felt revealing the boy’s status only terrified him and ruined his life. It was not until I heard that the boy returned did I realize the impact of all the long hours and hard work into the VCT event. A young man was now aware of his status and brought his family in search for answers for a way forward.

Pictures from the KICK ‘N TEST event.

Young girl from the championship team. She was an excellent player and I was cheering her on the entire tournament.

Ben sneaking chocolate bars to the little boys who helped clean up.

Trophy ceremony.

Ntosh, Ngwenya, Spakes, and Afro. All new trainers to the GRS PE program.

KICK 'N TEST Runner Up.

Goal celebration.

Tumie and the ladies.

Coach Zaza and his team. Zaza's team won the spirit award for the KICK 'N TEST tournament.

The ground was too hard to stick in the flag. This boy was kind enough to hold my corner flag the entire tourney.

The roommates and I have had no internet at the house for the past month. I never realized how much I relied on the internet. I cannot look up a movie time, the weather, news, write emails, blog, or plan my holiday. Internet will hopefully be up and running just in time for all the interns to set out for holiday. Looks like holiday for me will be spent in Cape Town, Tanzania, Zanzibar, and Mozambique. I am very excited for holidays because work has been very busy and very boring the past few weeks, end of the year program reports and expense reports. We are also currently working Holiday camps. I have been busy with work and have not been to the schools in ages. I miss the kids and hope to return to the schools in the near future. In the meantime I am trying to track down a local doctor from Dora Nginza Hospital. Roommates and I are looking into being certified in HIV testing. I would love to help with HIV testing at our next VCT event.
I am headed to Dora Nginza Hospital today with Conrad. Conrad is our Afrikaans friend from the Bluewater Bay gym. Conrad is 22 and has just finished his third year of law school. Conrad is extremely intelligent and he has been educating the roommates and I on the inner workings of the South African government. Conrad has lived around the Bluewater Bay area his entire life and until the VCT tournament last week has never stepped foot into the townships. Conrad like many other Afrikaans from the Bluewater and Port Elizabeth area have never dared to even drive through the township area. I am excited to take him on my little adventure to Dora Nginza hospital.

2007-10-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

STREET LEAGUE

Sitting on the car when I was smothered by street league kids

Street leagues are the one Grassroot Soccer program where we play soccer. Street League programs take several weeks because they only run once a week and instead of teaching curriculum the entire session, half the session is used to play soccer. I love the street leagues because it gives the trainers and myself a chance to really connect with the children through soccer. Before and after the session I just hit the ball around with the kids and they laugh when the Mlunglu (white person) trips over the ball. Kids at street league are great. In street leagues the kids come to us not because we are scheduled during their school time but because they want to be there.

Examples: One boy’s mother showed up at a session asking us questions about who we were and what we were all about. After we answered all her questions she said, “Oh I’m happy that he (her son) is here. My boy just keeps sneaking out of the house every Saturday at the same time and I just wanted to know what he was up to.” Another boy showed up to street league in his pajamas. Picture below.

He was so excited he just rolled out of bed and joined us at street league

My favorite street league story by far is from Siya, one of our head trainers. Siya was walking to street league one day when a man swerved and pulled his car right in front of Siya. The man came out of the car asking Siya, “Son where are you going?” Siya told him he was off to Dora Nginza hospital for a street league session. The man then replied, “Well where are they going?” The man then pointed behind Siya to the group of kids following him to street league. Siya started laughing and told the man the kids wait outside his house until he grabs his soccer bag and heads to street league. The kids follow but at a distance so Siya does not see them. Siya told me he knew the kids were following but he did not realize how many kids there were.

Lauren is in charge of street league now and I am a bit jealous because street leagues are by far my favorite. I love to watch the kids learn the curriculum and then to watch their soccer skills. The kids arrive at street league and for the first hour participate in a Grassroot Soccer HIV education game. The last hour the kids break-off into teams of 6-7 players and each trainer takes a team to coach.

Street League team coached by Mendisto

Manchester United player

Soccer games at street league. We usually have six fields playing 6v6 20 minute matches.

Every time I coach a team I try to convince them Manchester United is the best team but I am often shot down by replies like Pirates and Sundowns, both South African professional soccer teams. As for the sweet Soccer skills, I have seen everything from volleys to bicycle kicks at street league. Amazing when coming from 10 and 12 year-old kids. You also see most of the kids either playing with torn shoes, one shoe, or no shoes. One day I tried to go no shoes and made it about 10 steps before my feet were hurting so bad from all the stickers in my feet. Here are a few photos from my roommate Jeremy. He loves to take pictures of feet and the different shoes the kids are wearing.

So cute. The two friends in the picture swapped one pair of their shoes for the day.

One last story from street league. Last week I was coaching a team when I noticed a boy who would limp with every step he took. I called the boy in and asked him what was wrong but he did not understand any English. I then stopped the game and found a boy on the team who spoke English. He translated my concern to the boy who was limping. The young boy then lifted up his pant leg to show me his prosthetic leg which does not bend at the knee. His leg threw me off a bit but he communicated to me that he was fine but could not bend his knee. I let him play on and watched with amazement how he kept up with the other children in the soccer game.

Child helping me translate Xhosa to English

Group discussion during Fact Nonsense

2007-10-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

Find the Ball

Find the ball, one of the first games in the Grassroot Soccer curriculum, was designed to address misconceptions and stigmas surrounding HIV/AIDS. The game is played by splitting the children into two teams lined up facing each other. A tennis ball marked HIV/AIDS is passed behind the backs of each team. The children then take turns guessing who has the ball.

The key message in Find the Ball is you cannot tell if someone has HIV/AIDS by looking at him or her the only way for someone to know his or her status is to go for testing.

The roommats and I have been very busy. I am working on the QAC, Quarterly Annual Cummulative. The QAC will help acess our progress in the shcools and how we plan to reach our 1,000,000 kids by 2010 Soccer World Cup South Africa. Lauren is working on a VCT, voluntary councselling and testing event. The VCT event will have free testing, 3 Grassroot Soccer games, music, and a soccer tournament. The tournament was scheduled November 17 but we were recently informed that testing cannot be given on Saturdays. It is hard for me to believe there is a rule restricting people the right to recieve free testing on Saturdays but we are looking into it. If this is truly a law then I think the roommates and I will have another project on our hands. :)

2007-10-13T23:55:00.000-07:00

Today Lauren and I had lunch with the trainers. Cow’s heads are slaughtered on the street side and then cooked up in a stew. I tried the cow stew but was not quite sure which part of the cow I was eating. If you zoom in on the picture of the man chopping the hanging cow head you can see the eye is still there.

I did not enjoy the stew but happy I had the courage to try the stew.

The roommates and I are working 50-60 hour weeks. Last week we took Friday off and went up North to Addo Elephant Park. The park is insane.

The park offers a horseback ride with a warning sign stating, need to be an experienced rider and be able to gallop with horse to escape elephant attacks. Thank goodness I attended a horse camp when I was young and have had practice on Uncle Joe’s horses. Running from a 1400lbs African elephant will truly be a test of my riding abilities.

Not sure how Thanksgiving is going to work here in PE. The meat in South Africa is edible but not the great tasting meat I am used to from Nebraska. I do not want to ruin my great thanksgiving memories of Uncle Bill and Aunt Pat’s thanksgiving, however, I can live without Jones mystery holiday drinks.

I have been assigned to schools here in PE. Currently we are working in 8 schools and should graduate 600+ students through the Grassroot Soccer program by the beginning of November. I attend school sessions every day, play the Grassroot Soccer games with the kids, and take notes of successes and problems of the day. At the end of the week all trainers get together for a development meeting. For the development meeting I compile all the successes and problems of the week and talk the notes through with the trainers. The goal to make the following week run more smoothly and develop the most effective way to deliver the Grassroot Soccer curriculum.

What problems do we face in the schools? Some of the Grassroot Soccer games involve throwing balls or dribbling soccer balls and need to be played outside. Well in most schools at some point in the day the 300 other kids attending the school come out for break time. Hundreds of youngsters then surround the games similarly to how they flock to the Grassroot Soccer graduations. Jeremy, my French roommate, had the same problem with a school he was monitoring. Jeremy's solution: Pull out a soccer ball to attract the little ones and chuck the ball in the opposite direction. In the end the soccer ball distraction worked perfectly. Jeremy chucked the soccer ball and hundreds of screaming kids went sprinting after the soccer ball. Funny how excited the kids were to chase a soccer ball.

Having some difficulties with the Internet so will only have enough time to update my blog. Pleas feel free to make comments of my blog here on the blogger web page. Below more pictures I took during the last week of schools.

Energizer: Tainer Joe pumping up the shcol kids for the day.

Group of students listening to Head Trainer Titie explain the Grassroot Soccer Contract.

A New Start

2007-10-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

The holidays are over and the schools are back in session. Every Grassroot Soccer program begins with a pre quiz. The pre quiz is used to assess what the children know and think about HIV/AIDS.

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Example questions from pre quiz include; HIV is the same as AIDS? I can avoid getting HIV/AIDS? I can tell if someone has HIV/AIDS by looking at him or her? The quiz is also given at the end of every program to evaluate the effectiveness of the Grassroot Soccer program.

To join the Grassroot Soccer program/team each child is required to sign the Grassroot Soccer contract. The Grassroot Soccer contract is signed by all coaches and students. The contract states that every Grassroot Soccer participant should respect one another, feel comfortable to participate in all activities and share the information they learn in GRS with their family, friends, and community.

The words contract, respect, comfort, participate, and share are discussed in the classroom. Once everyone understands, the students sign the Grassroot Soccer contract joining the 100,000+ people all across Africa who have already committed to the Grassroot Soccer Program.

After the contract has been signed the students are introduced to the “4 Ways to Stay Strong.” The “4 Ways to Stay Strong” is used to teach kids how to be resilient and bounce back from the hard times in life.

The support team statement in the 4 Ways to Stay Strong truly touches home to me. My Mom and I always talk about how lucky we are to have our family, friends, church, and the community. Without our family, friends, St Joan of Arc Church, and Westgate community, we would not have been able to bounce back from our loss. My family and I thank you for your support throughout the years and I thank you for the opportunity to help other children in need.

Graduation

2007-09-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Grassroot Soccer Graduation

Last week was a busy conclusion to the Grassroots Soccer program in five different schools. Three different graduation ceremonies took place Wednesday and Thursday recognizing gradautes from Masakhane, Sithembile, Kama, Jarvis, and Ben Nyathi primary school. We graduated 200+ students. The children were only able to graduate if they completed 10 out of 19 Grassroot Soccer HIV education activities, completed all homework, and a post quiz evaluating of the children’s understanding of HIV.

Graduation is definitely the most exciting part of my job. I have never seen so many smiling faces. During graduation, speeches are given by GRS staff, the game Pressure Limbo is played, and the best part, kids are given a chance to show off their talentsI have seen everything from song and dance but my most memorable was a role play during the Jarvis graduation. Five children role played the risks and dangers that could lead to contracting HIV.

Here are a few graduation photos:

Jarvis Graduate

Three Jarvis graduates excited to show off their Grassroot Soccer certificates.

Future Grassroot Soccer students.

Graduations are very high in energy that the graduations often attract crowds. These students were excused from class but stuck around and watched the entire graduation from the window. A group of students approached me after the graduation begging for GRS to come and teach their class. The target age for the Grassroot Soccer program is 10-14 so I told the nine year-old bunch we would be back next school year.

Graduating class from Ben Nyathi Primary School.

2007-09-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Molweni,
Hello everyone. Sorry for the delays in posts. Internet is up and running now.
Update: I arrived on August 30th just in time for my roommate Alex's birthday. Alex introduced me to the neighborhood sports bar, where we had his birthday and my arrival dinner. The sports bar is where we spend most of our Saturdays and Sundays watching soccer and rugby. I was not much of a rugby fan but after watching the game for the past few weeks, I have become a fan. My job is going well. For now I have been assigned to oversee the school and street league Grassroot Soccer (GRS) programs here in Port Elizabeth (PE). The picture shown is of one of our trainers Palesa with her team at a street league session. Palesa's team name is Barcelona and they are the youngest team at street league, 10-12 years. They are undefeated and have beat every 16 year-old team that has challenged them at street league. The Barcelona team has definitely stolen my heart for this round of street league.

On Wednesday and Thursday we will be having graduation from the GRS program for 200+ students. I am in charge of running the graduations. I have set the dates, found locations, assigned speakers and now I am just praying all runs smoothly. Once the new school session begins, I plan to update my blog with a new GRS curriculum game which was taught during the week. I hope this will then clarify how GRS teaches HIV education to children. GRS PE is also currently working on building a soccer stadium. For the past 2 weeks Taylor and Alex, roommates, have been frantically working on a grant proposal which will fund the new GRS stadium. Once built, GRS PE will be the official headquarters for GRS South Africa. The stadium will be open to the residences of the townships and will provide jobs and vending opportunities for locals . The stadium is a very exciting step for the GRS family. Taylor and Alex have worked long nights and weekends and I pray their hard work pays off. If all goes well, construction will begin in March and will be completed September 2008.

As for me, I have joined a soccer team, City Lads. The City Lads are a township team and most of the players are currently working for GRS. Our first tourney starts on Firday. I can play for this tourney but once season starts I have to sit out for a month until I receive an international approval to play. The girls practice everyday, extremely dedicated. Practices are interesting from timed push ups and sit ups to Tae-Bo and occasionally some ball work. One girl, Chika, played for the South African national team. I am excited to see her play and I have heard she is incredibly fast. Go City Lads!

2007-08-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

Grassroot Soccer

http://grassrootsoccer.org/

The HIV epidemic has resulted in millions of deaths in Africa. Taboos and myths associated with HIV and AIDS need to be dispelled with education. Education about a virus with no cure is a means to prevention and key to survival of future generations. Grassroot Soccer is a nonprofit organization which provides African girls and boys with the skills and support to live HIV free. Grassroot Soccer uses the power of soccer to connect with African youth. Through the Grassroot Soccer curriculum, adolescents are given life-saving information that enables these young people to become valuable peer educators and role models in their own communities. Education can also be a powerful tool for eliminating discrimination against people infected with HIV and AIDS. Grassroot Soccer is dedicated to creating awareness and compassion. Together with their trained coaches, professional soccer players and volunteers, Grassroot Soccer is committed to educating children in the hope that future generations will be able to live HIV free lives.

2007-07-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone who attended the Poker tourney.

It was a great success. Next event will be held at Garbo's Salon.

GARBO'S SALON Fundraiser

169th and Harrison

July 29th - Noon to 3pm

No appointment necessary

(Minimum $20 donation haircuts)

2007-06-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
My departure date and city have been set. I will be leaving for Africa August 29th headed to PE (Port Elizabeth), South Africa. I have heard many great things about the city and I am excited to start the next chapter of my life with Grassroot Soccer in Africa.

Dankie
Beth