First, I want to thank everyone that has participated in this fundraising drive, and especially those that have helped me spread the Grassroot Soccer message. I feel blessed to have such a caring, supportive network of people that are invested in working towards a better future; and not only a better future for the world that we live in, but more importantly for the world that we leave behind for the next generation. We face many challenges in the world today that didn't even exist, or at least we didn't know existed, just 10 or 20 years ago. Dealing with these types of challenges takes a certain strain of resilience to overcome. We don't have to look to far to find examples of people that have demonstrated this type of resilience. One of the best examples we can look to is Nelson Mandela, a man whose unwavering character paved the path for a greater nation and world.
To close this fundraiser - in addition to the prize drawing - I'm interested in hearing your opinions on the many challenges that we face as a global community, and how you see resilience manifested (or not). I do plenty of musing in my writings here on this blog so I'm interested in stepping back and listening to those who have taken the time to listen to me. I invite you to comment directly to this post, or to e-mail me if you'd rather; s.nick.barron@gmail.com. Again thank you so much for caring about our work here and taking the time to participate in this fundraiser.
Without further adieu, I am excited to present the following prizes:
South African National Team Jersey: James Alden
South African Flag: Noah Riskind
Pelada DVD and Poster package: Dave Rusk
Pelada DVD and Poster package #2: Patrick Jackson
Middlesbrough FC training gear: Principia High School Soccer (to be distributed by Tommy Walters)
Nelson Mandela's Autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom": Patt Jeffries
Grassroot Soccer T-shirts to all of the following people:
Jon Riskind
Sarah Perkins
Stewart Flaherty
Elizabeth Bullock
Ryan Quinn
Pamela Kaye
Steven Fukuda
Cristina Malcolmson
Makenzie Murray
Joel Goldman
Lee Barron Mimi Eckenstein (not that she needs one)
James Lepage Marcia Cushman-Perkins
Jimmy Stock
As I mentioned when I first began this fundraiser, if you don't wish to receive a prize, please let me know.
Thank you and Happy Holidays from all of us at Grassroot Soccer Kimberley!
Celebrating a successful HCT and a successful year
This last weekend I had another opportunity to watch the power of the beautiful game in action. On Saturday, November 30, we held another HIV Counseling and Testing soccer tournament (HCT tournament). The tournament was held in a community on the outskirts of Kimberley called Roodepan. Roodepan is a small, somewhat scattered community. Getting to the fields in the center of town involves weaving through large potholes in the road, taking short cuts along dirt paths, and avoiding any dogs, cows, goats, or people that happen to be occupying the road.
The two adjacent fields are separated by a long row of tin shacks and houses. The main field has a frenzied atmosphere with loud music, barefoot kids with hardened feet chasing each other, fans yelling for their team, and of course the Grassroot Soccer coaches shouting, laughing and dancing. The other field is somewhat secluded from the frenzy. You walk along a dirt path from the main field that opens up to a more serene, open area that has a completely different feel. Here, it is just the game being played with no distractions. There is a group of about 10-15 men that sit under the shade of a large bush watching the games and some other fans scattered amongst the shade of other bushes. Some of the teams have large umbrellas to protect themselves from the draining intensity of the sun, and others set up under the shade of the bushes. Kickoff for the first game is supposed to be 9AM but teams show up late as expected (T.I.A. time in Africa) so the first whistle blows at 10:30.
I was busy running back and forth between the two fields for most of the morning. Of course my favorite part of the tournament is watching the soccer games, but the most important part of the event is in the interaction between the Grassroot Soccer coaches and their teams. Throughout the course of the day, GRS coaches have vital discussions with their team about the importance of the HCT theme "know your status." The fight against HIV in communities like the one we were working in is largely against the community stigmatization. Many myths are circulated about HIV within communities, and people who are HIV-positive have been largely estranged from communities in the past. This is changing. HIV is still a problem that effects communities in ways that I could not understand until being immersed here, but the dangerous silence that the stigma has caused is being broken.
This past weekend, I saw that in action as I was waiting with some GRS coaches and their team at the line for testing. Two young men from one of the teams were talking. They were speaking in another language that I couldn't understand, but one of our coaches explained what was going on to me. She told me how one of the boys was concerned about getting tested, but the other one was telling him that it was important for him to get tested now. That whether the result was positive or negative, he could still live a positive life, and he would still have support, but he needed to test now so that he could take the next steps towards achieving his goals. It is this kind of tight-knit support that GRS coaches encourage and inspire when they talk with their teams and the community and it was awesome to see the result going on in front of my eyes.
By the afternoon, I was able to sit down and enjoy the semi-finals and the final match between Sporting FC and Juventus. The two teams in the final both had some very talented players and the game kept me on the edge of my cinderblock seat. It was the fourth game of the day for both teams under intensely hot conditions so I expected both teams to look tired, but when the whistle blew, it was clear that none of the players were concerned about that. They played with the same excited intensity that they had the whole day and it was an awesome game to watch. Sporting FC ended up beating Juventus 2-0. The highlight of the game had to be the second goal. Sporting built their attack through the middle of the field, connecting with a forward who then found the left side winger streaking down the side. The winger collected the ball just inside the box, far to the left of the goal. It was an almost impossible angle but his first touch popped the ball in front of him perfectly. He took one simple stride before striking a top spinning volley over the keeper into the far side netting. The celebration was an almost equally impressive cartwheel to backflip combo. At the end of the day, over 150 participants and community members got tested at the event, fulfilling the GRS Kimberley year-end target goal.
The HCT was one of many happenings as we wrap up this year. This week there are week-long holiday programs running, and next week the GRS coaches will be holding a round-table discussion with community leaders about the state of youth unemployment in Kimberley. By the end of this week, I will finish the year-end "Kimba Times" newsletter that will cover all of the success from this year, as well as the goals for next year. Planning for next year is in process, but we are still figuring out which new directions our programs will be going in. There will be some challenging and exciting weeks to come.
Meanwhile, there is less than a week left to get your tickets for the fundraiser! GRS gear, South African national team gear, DVDs of the film "Pelada", and more are all up for grabs. Follow this link to find out more: grassrootsoccerfunds.ticketbud.org
As always, thanks for reading and caring about what we are doing here.
Coach K, delivering the GRS message and inviting the community to the HCT
Kids showed up to support the HCT tournament
And they showed their future potential in between games.
For some, it was too hot for shirts.
Coach K, he's still got the moves
The GRS Kim team
Invited the GRS Kim family over for Thankgiving dinner
And the little ones showed us all how to do it properly
Another month (plus) has come and gone, and so must another blog post. October brought the end of cold mornings and the beginning of sweltering afternoons. My skin did some peeling, but now a good base tan with some SPF 30 is allowing a healthy bronze to come in. Much different than the pale winters I'm used to in Lewiston, Maine. We finally got some heaven sent rain this week for about 20 minutes one day and then an hour or two the next, which felt like a miracle. The thick scent of the humidity in the air was a very welcomed change from the usual dry, booger-inducing, dusty air. Not that the dry heat has been unpleasant. There's something earthy and natural about feeling the dust cling to your sweat and dry out when you get home at the end of the day that's actually kindof fulfilling. You can feel the satisfaction of a hard day's work whether or not it was actually labor intensive (of course all of my days are labor intensive...). Anyone who has lived in Arizona, New Mexico or the desert probably knows the feeling.
The month of October, and half of November, was fulfilling in ways other than the feeling of sweat-dried dust. We embarked on the final quarter of our year (October-December) and have begun attacking our final goals as we move towards wrapping up. This includes; planning our final HCT (HIV Counseling and Testing soccer tournament), recruiting new coaches to replace the coaches whose contracts are ending this year, helping coaches whose contracts are ending find good employment opportunities when they leave us, planning a "round table discussion" with GRS coaches and community leaders, publishing the quarter 3 "Kimba Times" (shown below) and starting on the quarter 4 newsletter, and finally finishing the GRS Kimberley wall mural (as shown above)! It's been a hot sweaty mess of a month, in the best way possible, and there only promises to be more as the year comes to a close. We are very excited for it.
I celebrated Movember for the first week (as you can see below) but quickly found out, from our programs coordinator, that my blond hair combined with the blond stache made me look like what we call a "boer" or "boero" a.k.a. the first dutch farmers that came to South Africa and are often racist. I would have kept the stache to try to defy the stereotype, but I have to make first impressions on a daily basis with school principals, soccer players, and kids in schools, so I decided that I didn't want my mustache speaking for me before I could say a word. Who knows though, it may make a second appearance at the end of the month.
Please see the link above this post and consider participating in this fundraiser. Thanks so much again to all of those who have helped make this opportunity possible. I assure you that it's not in vain. I love going to work every day knowing that I have the support from people like you at home. What we are doing here is important and your support makes all of it possible. More to come soon!
The "Boero" Stache. I don't see the Dutch farmer in it...
Kimba Times; Quarter 3 Cover Page (let me know if you'd like the full PDF)
Working on the wall mural whilst representing the U S of A
"RUBBISH HERE" Just my favorite garbage can in Kimberley
As winter quickly passes through spring into summer here in Kimberley, I continue to be seasonally challenged.
Technically it’s spring here but there has been no rain and the sun has no
intent to be mildly warm; just intensely hot. Sunscreen is generally a must if
I plan to spend more than 20 minutes outside. And my seasonal clock is confused
because it’s supposed to be spring here and it’s fall in the states but it’s
really neither. I’m following the college soccer season and playoff baseball,
seeing pictures of apple picking on facebook, preparing my Halloween costume,
and making thanksgiving plans, all while it continues to get hotter and hotter.
And then I’m reconciling with the fact that September and October is spring. My
internal Doppler radar is going haywire.
The dry
heat isn’t too bad though and I’m getting more used to it. I’ve been able to
lay out in the yard in our compound on the weekends and bask in the hot sun.
Great nap weather. September hasn’t been entirely a spring fling, though. Work
has been busy and demanding, but rewarding. And in our time off we’ve had some
time to do a little traveling the country.
It’s been two months now. I’ve been
exposed to so many new things already and I’ve settled into my life here, but
there is still so much that I am learning every day. I spent 20 years of my
life pursuing education but there are so many things that I learn from the
people that I work with, people that I meet in passing, and even people that
I’ve known for years. When I talk to different people, perspective is
constantly variable. Even my own perspective changes almost on a day-to-day
basis.
A couple of weeks ago, a Grassroot
Soccer coach told me about the term “Ubuntu.” It literally translates to
something like “humanity” or “human kindness” which this coach explained as, “I
can’t be me, without you.” It’s a simple idea that relates to every aspect of
our lives. The more we think about how we relate to the world and other people,
the more we are truly being ourselves. This is a perspective, or a way of life,
that I am trying to incorporate more and more on a daily basis.
But that’s enough philosophical
musing for one blog post. We’ve been doing too much stuff for me to fill this
blog with just my thoughts. I need to include more ACTIVITY and stuff to keep
you engaged.
September was especially eventful
because we were finally able to successfully plan an HCT (HIV Counseling and
Testing soccer tournament). We had been trying, to no avail, to plan several
HCT’s at schools on the outskirts of Kimberley at the end of August. The
Department of Education was helping us work with these schools but then pulled
the plug on the HCT’s last minute. (We’re now running Grassroot Soccer programs
at these schools instead). This was an unfortunate setback but we continued to
push for an HCT in September. I was delegated to take the lead on the HCT
planning along with our Community Programs Coordinator, Coach K. We decided on
a location in the Kimberley Township that had two full-size soccer pitches. The
surface of the pitches was hard red dirt. The goals were just goalposts, no
nets. There were no distinct lines on the fields. Some played in cleats, some
in old flats. When Coach K first showed me the site of the pitches, it looked
pretty bleak. There was broken glass in some of the surrounding areas and piles
of fresh and burned trash. The bleak image I had of the pitches was completely
changed on the day of the tournament.
The tournament was on Saturday
after a week of long days planning for the tournament. On Friday we had walked
through the town surrounding the site of the tournament and hung up posters,
handed out fliers and invited people to come to the tournament and get tested.
A process we call “mobilization.” It was a humbling experience walking through
the town talking to different families and groups of friends. Most of the
houses were shacks with tin walls and roofs, and dirt floors. I was certainly
outside of my usual comfort zone but the GRS coaches were constantly yelling,
talking and laughing. Even though they were speaking in other languages for
much of the time, they brought a light-hearted energy that made it all a great
experience.
The day of the tournament started
early and after picking up other staff members and gathering up the equipment
for the tournament, we arrived at the site at around 8AM. The first match was
to be held at 9 but teams arrived late (expected delays). The first game
started at 9:30 and the second around 10:30 when the other team finally showed
up. It was a frenzied atmosphere trying to get games started as quick as
possible, monitor the ongoing games and keep the tournament running smoothly.
Thanks to a long lunch break, we were able to catch up with our schedule and
ACTUALLY finish the tournament on time. Apparently this is a feat that is not
often achieved at GRS HCT’s. There were 8 boys’ teams and 4 girls’. (Women’s
soccer in Kimberley is still lacking much of the support it needs, but we were
happy to at least have a girls bracket in our tournament). Time only allowed
for a single-elimination bracket-style tournament. Unfortunate but necessary.
Throughout the course of the day, I ran back and forth between the two pitches
– about fifty yards apart – dozens of times to make sure we had referees,
balls, the right teams and GRS coaches with each team.
One important aspect of our
tournaments is the life skills coaching that our GRS coaches provide for each
team. Our coaches are paired with teams and they discuss the importance of
“knowing your status” in order to live healthy lives. “Knowing your status”
means getting tested for HIV. Our coaches engage with participants in
discussions about healthy living. The coaches encourage participants to get
tested so that they can go on living healthy lives and encourage others to do
the same. The importance of being tested for HIV in South Africa relates to the
tightknit communities. Community is built on trust and the “Ubuntu” idea that I
talked about. To “Know your status” means to care about your community. HIV is
not always a sexually transmitted disease.Overcoming the stigma of the epidemic is a major part of the battle.
“Knowing your status” means challenging the stigma by educating one’s self and
the community about the importance of healthy living. This isn’t just about
being sexually responsible, it is about resisting alcohol and drug abuse,
resisting gender norms and their resulting violence, and being an overall
positive influence on one’s community. This is what our coaches discuss with
participants.
This is
also the focus of the HCT. The HCT targets the GRS slogan, “Educate. Inspire.
Mobilize. Stop the spread of HIV.” HCT’s foster a great community environment
that brings people together around soccer, but focuses on larger community
issues and life skills. While the coaches are with the teams, I’m making sure
that everything runs smoothly and that the community is getting the most from
the tournament. I was busy running around for most of the day (ref’d one game)
but by the time the finals rolled around I was able to sit and enjoy the games.
There were several very talented players, in both the boys and girls divisions.
I’ve
witnessed different styles of the game in Brazil, Bolivia, Belize even
Kazakhstan (although it’s tough to remember) and of course America. South
Africa has its own style and I’ve seen it in the professional games I’ve been
able to watch. It’s quick, aggressive, and very technical. It can be pretty
hectic tactically. The good players have a sense for the ball that is tough to
find in America. It reminds me of Brazil in the way that the ball just seems to
move fluidly with the feet. The best players seem to move more naturally with
the ball at their feet than without. It’s fun to watch.
At the end
of it all, we tested over 200 individuals, a good number for a small town in
Kimberley. Just last night we had a focus group with participants and coaches
from the tournament to evaluate what went will and what we need to improve
moving forward. This is the first time GRS has done an HCT focus group with
participants and coaches (I’ve been told) and I think it is a great reflective
process for us to make sure that our programs are as effective as possible. We
are hoping that the next HCT will be even bigger and more successful. I’ve
included a video slideshow recap of the HCT at the top, enjoy.
There’s
really just way too much to share in one blog post. I need to increase my
turnover on blog posts if I actually want to keep up. So here is a quick picture synopsis of the last month or so:
HCT and Focus Groups Awards ceremony
Focus Group with local team coaches
Focus group with participants from the teams
Soweto Derby in Johannesburg
Soweto Derby: Pirates v Chiefs at Soccer City in Johannesburg with the Joburg interns.
Celebrating the Pirates victory
Griquas!!
Griquas Rugby Game. The Griquas are the professional rugby team from Kimberley. They're not very good (worst in the league currently) but we still had a great time at the game.
Diamond Cup and Big Hole
Kimberley Diamond Cup and Big Hole weekend with Joburg interns. International skateboarding event that brings together the best skateboarders from all over the world. Why is it in Kimberley? Who knows, but I’m happy about it. Joburg came from the weekend and enjoyed the festivities with us.
At the diamond cup supporting the American Skaters
The Big Hole. And the not so big Kimberley skyline.
One day, this will all be yours Simba.
Rockin' the Daisies
Cape Town trip/Rocking the Daisies. This past weekend we went to an amazing music festival in Darling, Western Cape (about an hour outside of Cape Town). It was a bit chilly but it was an incredibly beautiful place with an amazing variety of music. We camped outside with some of the Cape Town interns as well as Liza Lepage (that’s James Lepage’s (college roommate and best friend) twin sister)! We also spent a bit of time in Cape Town and got to play 5v5 pickup on turf fields! A true blessing for my mind and body.
Showing some American and Christmas Spirit. Cause why not?
Tents on Tents on Tents. This state of the art tent happens to belong to Liza Lepage and the Bowdoin Crew.
And of Course...
The Cardinals winning the NLDS game 5
I've recruited some fans in the office. This is Community Programs Coordinator, Coach K, rockin' the birds hat.
Community Programs Coordinator, Thembi, running the circle with her daughter at a GRS Skillz Street program designed to empower young girls and teach important life skills through soccer.
My first month in Kimberley, South Africa has been excitingly outside of my comfort zone. I am constantly forced to criticize and adjust my perspective of the world that I grew up in. I knew that my experience here would be culturally "different" but it has been amazing to see my expectations turned upside down and to open my mind up to entirely new experiences of life. I'm sure that words will not do an adequate job to explain this, but I want to share some of it before I run out of space in my overflowing mind and I lose it all.
It took me a couple weeks to begin feeling settled in the office. I'm not sure if it's because I've never had a job sitting at a desk or if it's because I'm still getting a grasp on the work I'm doing. I find myself needing to get up and move around a lot and taking any opportunity to drive to a school for an intervention or down the street to pick up office supplies. We're also working on a wall mural in the meeting room because the new office we recently moved into has extremely bland beige walls. That project has provided me a nice creative outlet when I'm tired of writing for the newsletter or editing letters to local schools and departments in the municipality. As a programs intern, one of my main responsibilities right now is to plan an upcoming HCT (HIV counseling and testing soccer tournament). I am the point person on the project along with our Programs Coordinator, Coach K. He has been with GRS Kim for several years so he is leading me through the process of reserving a local field, advertising for the tournament, contacting local officials and testing partners, and the many other required steps to running an HCT. I still have loads of information to learn but anything I can do to help GRS Kim running smoothly gives us more opportunities to work with more local youth and give them access to the important life skills curriculum that GRS provides. As an intern, I have some flexibility to pursue new projects that can improve the GRS programs. The more I learn from GRS coaches, Programs Coordinators and our amazing Site Director, Thuso, the more I can support the growth and outreach of GRS in Kimberley, and in turn promote the health and success of local youth in the coming generations.
In my first blog piece, I talked about how young Kimberley is as a city. How it feels 10 to 20 years behind other places I have been - culturally, fashion-wise, in terms of general development. Unfortunately, because I'm tall and blonde, I look like an Afrikaaner (the dutch descendants of the colonists). Not to say by any means that all Afrikaans are bad, oppressive, racist people. I have met some great people from all across the spectrum of the culture and class structure. A structure that is seems much more rigid and unavoidable than any place I have been. I have also met some undesirable people from all parts of the social structure as well. But that is to be expected in any place. What I have found most interesting and difficult to cope with is how racially divided different places are, and how openly that's accepted and understood. Just left over separation. It's hard to imagine how intensified that was less than 30 years ago here. There is still a whole generation, maybe two, that lived through all of that. I've made a some new friends (a skill that I'm still working on) at the gym, local restaurants and with the GRS coaches. It's not easy to discuss the social structures but I think it's important for both me and them to be able to discuss these things.
It's obviously difficult to put these ideas into words. Words are almost always inadequate to describe places, people or cultures. But i'll keep trying and maybe in 10 months it will start to make sense. Maybe not.
Weekend trip to Lillydale
Zebra Sighting
The Beautiful River
The Local Pitch at Sunset
The Condor at the Pitch, basking in the moonlight
Skillz PC Team. Thembi and Coach K
The Fabulous Braii Stand
Skillz Team 2.0, Thembi with other intern, Mimi
Local Band; Snotkop
Letting Off Some Steam on the Bongos after a long Day
PC's daughter, Owa. Can't beat that smile.
In Action! Mother looking on proudly in the background.
Skillz Street intervention activities at local Tshiamo Primary School
Doing her best Avril Lavigne Impression
Doing her best Jim Carrey impression
T.J. Newborn Son of Community Programs Coordinator, Christa. Photo cred: Owa
Selfie, as promised.
Now that one month has passed, I have many of the things I need to live on a day to day basis in and out of our intern house. As you may know, my volunteer internship with Grassroot Soccer is completely unpaid. Generous donors have made everything possible so far and for that I am extremely grateful. Funds from donors go directly to food, gas costs and any needs around the house (lightbulbs, electricity, soap etc.). In the upcoming months, any donations are greatly appreciated so that I can continue to do the good work on the ground here. You can make donations and follow the work we are doing right here at my blog. Or, if you wish to make a tax deductible donation to Grassroot Soccer (a registered 501c3) in my name, you can follow this link and make the donation "in honor of" Nick Barron. I have included a short piece on my first month below. Thank you for taking the time to read and support my internship and Grassroot Soccer.
If you have any questions or want me to write about different experiences in my blog, please feel free to ask or comment on my blog posts.
