Working at Kick4Life: Red Card and Mass Media Campaign
May 16, 2013
As promised, an update what exactly I do with most of my time here in Lesotho: my work at Kick4Life! I’ve been able to be a part of several projects/programs (one of many that K4L does, click for a summary—but please note that this is from last year, so K4L’s phase II building is now complete—it’s where I currently work out of! Plus, our new Siyakhona program is not mentioned). Since I would like to be able to go a little more in-depth on each thing I’ve been involved in, I will take them one at a time….
Red Card and Mass Media Campaign
K4L has an extensive Red Card campaign that has been running for several years. A Red Card is much like its namesake in the game of soccer, it’s a card that is presented to an individual in response to a foul or negative behavior. On the soccer pitch a Red Card is given for illegal conduct/poor or violent behavior. A K4L Red Card is given in the “game” of life in response to one of many “fouls,” or risky behaviors that increase an individual’s chance of getting HIV or the chance of the people who surround him/her (see the Red Card and risky behaviors below! These are the key drivers of HIV in Lesotho). The Red Card is presented to and given to this risky individual to make them aware of the impact of their actions. The Red Card is an idea that can be adapted to respond to or fight against any number of issues. Currently it is used in multiple countries for issues such as HIV risk, physical abuse, sex trafficking, child labor, racism…
Kick4Life's proposed new Red Card, front and back:
During K4L’s campaign, the Red Card has been both part of our HIV curriculum in schools with youth 10-24 years old and also in community events centered on theater skits that show Red Card fouls/risky behaviors in action. Our core curriculum consists of 10 “practices” or interventions and takes place over several weeks. These interventions are a valuable opportunity to give students an overview of HIV—what HIV is, how you can get it, treat it, and prevent it and the role relationships play, with a priority on stressing that individuals have the power to resist temptation and stand up for themselves (increase self-efficacy). During the final practice, each participant receives a Red Card.
In order to expand our reach, K4L also goes out into communities for once-off theater skits. A group of actors present a series of skits that show what the risky behaviors are and how to give a Red Card in such situations. The skits include interaction between the actors and the audience, discussing why these behaviors are risky and addressing any questions that come up. At the end of the session, audience members are given a Red Card for their own use. Even if a K4L participant never presents the Red Card to another individual, it provides them with a physical tool or reminder of risky behaviors that makes them less likely to perform those behaviors.
K4L’s Red Card campaign has also been tied to K4L’s ICT (Information and Communication Technology) campaign. The centerpiece of the ICT campaign is a HIV Textline, kicked off in January 2011, where phone users can send a text for more information about HIV. This occurred in two phases, as K4L continued to learn about its participants' wants and needs and also what K4L can realistically do. Phase I focused on increasing knowledge about HIV. First, a question about HIV was sent to participants, and participants were asked to respond with their answer. The following week, the correct answer was sent out, and then in the third week the initial question would be repeated, and responses again sent in. The # of correct answers was compared before and after the correct answer was sent out in order to measure baseline knowledge and increase in knowledge. Phase II was aimed at increasing knowledge of and uptake of HIV Testing and Counseling services (HTC) through an interactive dialogue that informed participants of their nearest HTC location. It was an ambitious campaign that garnered lots of interest, but ultimately was limited by the technical capacity of cell phone providers and ICT database management. The ICT and Red Card campaigns also included radio, billboard, TV and newspaper promotion.
The Red Card and ICT campaign was well under way when I arrived in 2012. As I learned, “it just sort of organically evolved” without too much thought about its focus or structure. The plan was to get word out, something I think K4L succeeded at on some level, although K4L tends to take on a lot, in the process stretching resources and personnel a little thin. By the time I arrived, K4L had arranged to review and re-vamp the Red Card campaign with assistance from UNICEF. To do this, we proposed to conduct a Think Tank with stakeholders and experts, perform several Focus Group Discussions and consultations with participants, coaches, actors and database developers to get feedback from them and inform ways forward on the campaign.
1. Think Tank I’ve never been involved in anything like this, which is exciting and also scary, since I was largely responsible for figuring out logistics for it… getting thrown into things is kind of the norm as a GRS/K4L intern, and a slightly stressful but quick way to learn up! In any case, we invited youth education and HIV experts from UNICEF, partner organizations in Maseru, and Grassroot Soccer. It was two dense days of information, but provided us with insight and a more targeted approach to re-designing our campaign’s programmatic and monitoring and evaluation efforts, including age group, content, and how/if we should tie in the Red Card curriculum with the ICT campaign.
2. Focus Group Discussions (FGD’s) The HIV curriculum is delivered in three of Lesotho’s ten districts (Maseru, Berea, Leribe). The theater skits are performed in three districts as well (Maseru, Q’uthing, and Mohale’s Hoek). We performed three FGD’s in separate districts to gain feedback from participants, coaches and actors about their experiences with K4L’s sessions and the Red Card and ICT campaign. In a Focus Group Discussion, there is a facilitator leading the session, a note-taker/person with a tape-recorder, and a group of inviduals asked to participate because of their involvement with the FGD's subject. The facilitator leads discussion by asking targeted questions about the participants' experience and perceptions (so we asked about the RC and ICT campaigns). FGD’s increase the effectiveness of campaign content, but also increase buy-in or ownership of the campaign, especially by coaches and actors who are crucial to the success of the campaigns. There was a lot of feedback and it was fun to interact with the coaches and get their insight, although a lot of the FGD's were conducted in Sesotho, so I didn't follow much : / ...Of course this is better for the participants, because they are able to most freely express themselves in Sesotho-- you win some you lose some.
3. Consult about building up our ICT platform This has included a lot of determining what platform is best for our needs, but I think it’s pretty self-explanatory (tools to support facilitation and analysis of our ICT campaign).
4. Self review, reflection, and synthesis The final piece of this project was for K4L to review all of the content from our past efforts, the Think Tank, and FGD’s, to finalize ways forward, and to generate tools to guide us. This resulted in a coherent communications strategy for the Red Card and ICT campaigns, including a much more targeted approach (primary target age group, what behaviors to focus on, separating the ICT campaign from the Red Card, how to deliver the skits...). Other tools created included M&E tools and guidelines for tracking progress, and a training manual for skit actors. For the ICT campaign, we intend to use one-way messaging to remind participants about their next session/practice, and also motivate people to stay healthy! I can elaborate if you would like, but I think this will suffice for now!
At times it felt like we weren’t accomplishing anything (TIA—this is Africa and the general chaos of trying to get things done), but I have to admit that in the end I’m excited about what all we accomplished! It might not align completely with our original intentions (as with many things, this involves adapting an changing as was needed!), but I feel good about our work. It is SO important to make time for self-reflection as an organization and the value of our approaches. Putting time and thought into our strategies and targets will provide incredibly beneficial to our future endeavors. Buuuuuuut unfortunately, at present it is unclear if there will be continued funding to see the theater skit and original HIV curriculum changes implemented/continuation of the campaigns. This also means that the wonderful, invested and hard-working Lulu, who heads the theater skit and ICT programs, will be out of a job. I think besides the general chaos, that is what I find the most frustrating about my work at Kick4Life. It’s a lesson I imagine applies to all NGO’s, or any group reliant on donations and outside funding… you can never be certain that the money will continue! And that territory comes with the question can you retain talented people? How? Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair.
Time will tell how it all unfolds…
Thanks for reading! Can’t wait to tell you about the other programs and projects I’ve been involved in. Until next time.
To Tide You Over...
May 3, 2013
So much to talk about! But currently don't have time and I'm realizing it's been a while since my last post. To tide you over, here's a link to the article that my home town newspaper compiled about my experience with Grassroot Soccer and Kick4Life. Forgive the typos (small town charm?):
Christmas at the beach, New Years on Kilimanjaro, and recuperation in Zanzibar
March 26, 2013
Next blog post rounding out my time in Tanzania, and the remainder of my December/January travels.
PART THREE: ZAAAHHHNZIBBAAAHHHHHH
The climate and geography of Zanzibar couldn’t have been more of shock to my system after the cold wet conditions of Mt. Kilimanjaro. For the most part that’s a good thing. At the same time, I’m still a person who doesn’t handle heat and humidity well…
On our way to Zanzibar we stopped over in Dar Es Salaam for a night. In a series of glorious transitions, we traveled straight from the air-conditioned plane to an air conditioned cab, to an air conditioned hotel… which I literally never left for 24 hours. And I’m still psyched about it—we ate inside, slept, watched movies, found an ATM and even got our ferry tickets delivered to us without stepping outside. As Dev put it as we watched it downpour outside: “I’m ok with four walls and a roof…”
The next morning we caught the 2.5 hour ferry ride to Zanzibar on a huge catamaran. It was a blissful, although still hot ride. But the breeze kept too much sweat at bay. It was nice to be on a boat… especially when I spend so much of my time here in a land-locked area. The ride reminded me in some small way of ferry riding in Seattle *sigh*. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We cruised through brilliantly blue water and a series of small islands. Eventually we landed in Zanzibar. It took us a few minutes, but we finally realized that we had to fill out arrival forms and get stamps to enter Zanzibar—although Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, don’t tell Zanzibar residents that! They operate as independently as possible from the mainland by choice. Paperwork is never fun, but it’s cool to have a Zanzibar stamp in my passport.
Pulling in to the dock, you see the facades of old, worn down buildings, still somehow retaining splashes of color here and there. The green, purple, and yellow flags of Zanzibar flap in the breeze… Small boats fill the shallows. As ever, there are loads of taxi-drivers heckling for your attention and roadside vendors selling snacks, drinks, and various other odd trinkets. This is Stonetown.
We caught a taxi and piled on in… squeezing in 8 people where there should have been 7 and sat uncomfortably for the 1.5 hour ride to our beach hideaway on the far, eastern side of the island to stay in the village of Bwejuu. We stayed at Mustafa’s Backpackers for the next 5 days. This is a little gem of a place—very beachy, laid-back, friendly staff, open air bar, and a two minute walk to the beach. Not to mention the incredible chef and amazing food (well, all except for the octopus I tried). The dinner of shrimp marsala was one of the best meals I’ve had throughout my time in Africa. The rest of the food was likewise incredible. A sampling: fresh pineapple, mango and watermelon with chapatti and an omelette of your choice every morning, Zanzibar chai, crispy pizza (with artichoke hearts!! How I’ve missed them), fresh curries, and seafood. Zanzibar is a fresh food heaven. So much flavor!
We spent the better part of our time lounging at the hostel or walking down the beach. The heat was slightly incapacitating, but you just get used to sweating like crazy and you’re fine. It was wonderful for the first few days, but then I started to become restless to get up, out and do something.
A few days in we made plans to go to Stonetown. Now, before I move on, I can’t pass up telling you about our crazy taxi ride to Stonetown—a friend had hired two taxis and drivers the day before and recommended them to us. We gladly accepted and piled into the cars, excited for the day’s adventure. Well, these cars were somewhat run-down, and I don’t think the gas gauge worked in the van I was in. In any case, about 20 minutes into the ride, our car slowly coasts to a stop. Hm, our driver figures we’re over-working the engine with the full load and AC. He shuts off the AC and successfully restarts the car. Cruising along again. However, a few minutes later we’re back on the side of the road. This happens a few times (start, stop, restart) before it becomes apparent that our driver’s not too sure what’s going on… but fear not, ‘cause he radios the other driver who finds us, hops out, and together they start shaking the car side to side. Yes, it probably looks like what you think it looks like—a really bad theme park ride. Our Kili group is still inside, just along for the whole episode (really though, I think these words sum up the experience). I believe this shaking trick works by getting whatever gas remains in the tank to settle so that it can be used to power the car…. But whatever it does, apparently it works! After not one, not two, but three solid shakes we cooooaaasted into the gas station, fingers crossed, livin’ on a prayer, runnin’ on fumes and crazy Tanzanian energy… all of that.
So, we did eventually make it Stonetown to walk around and see the markets with all of their brilliant crafts and masks, paintings, scarves, fabrics, dresses, spices and beautiful old doors lining narrow stone-walled walkways…. There is no place I’ve been to yet quite like it, and it was nice to see more of the cultural side of Zanzibar. The only thing I didn’t like was the concentration of white tourists in Stonetown—there were so many!! It broke the authentic feel of the place at times. Still, Stonetown is awesome. The real find of the day-trip was the night food market we stumbled upon. Picture this: loads of food stalls, with piles of fresh seafood (lobster, whitefish, shark, tuna, salmon…) and fresh chapatti and falafel, freshly crushed sugar cane juice, coconut… We stuffed ourselves for a cheap price (lobster for $4US?!). Then we somehow wandered back to our taxi and caught the long ride home.
The rest of the week we spent more time lounging, playing lots and lots of card games, reading, journaling. To break up the routine, Barrett, Dev, Eric and I rented bikes for a day and rode up and down the beach. It was a lot of fun! I MISS BIKING! Although I wouldn’t say I miss these bikes, they were extremely uncomfortable. But biking on the beach was certainly a highlight. We found my favorite swimming spot and we could have stopped there all day, but the explorers in us wouldn’t let that happen.
One of the interesting parts of staying in Bwejuu was how far out the tide gets. The beach is really shallow, so the tide goes waaaay out, we’re talking about a half mile out! You could see people pulling in fresh octopus, fish and other goods out of the reef. The abundance of Zanzibar is just incredible. It’s an exotic way to make a living to me, but just part of the everyday here. You can also generally find one or two Maasai warriors walking along the beach in their traditional garb, most of whom either work in security, or have come to a popular destination to sell their art and craft-ware to make a living.
A few sunburns, beach walks, card games, and cold beverages later Shane, Connor, Eric and I were heading out to catch our plane back to Johannesburg. A few hours after that we were back to South Africa, stayed for a night and checked out the Soweto Nike Center. The next day, after juuuust 6+ more hours in a car we found ourselves back in Maseru. Strange to call such a far-away place “home,” but I was relieved to get back to the K4L compound, and it really did feel like home… My African home.
As a last vacational hurrah we drove to Semonkong for the day on Sunday, which made for quite the contrast from the first time I went (rainy, stormy and muddy versus second time sunshine). I think I could return to Semonkong another handful of times before I leave! Truly an awe-inspiring place. Monday morning we said bye to Connor and tried to leave the holiday far far behind as we headed into work. I was excited to get back into something of a routine, although, as ever, it is hard to leave behind the excitement of travel.
Coming up. More information on my work at K4L!
Until the next time. Thanks for reading!
Christmas at the beach, New Years on Kilimanjaro, and recuperation in Zanzibar
February 13, 2013
Sorry guys, instead of getting shorter my posts seem to have been getting longer. But, I think you'll like this one.
PART TWO: MT. KILIMANJARO TAKES US TO TASK
In a blur of travel and a lack of sleep, I somehow found myself at the intern house in Johannesburg (Karl, you’re a champ for picking Kait and me up at 5am). A few hours later I was in the airport waiting to meet up with Shane and his brother. This gave me the perfect opp to kick back, grab breakfast and coffee and sit and write in my journal… this was an instance where having time to kill in an airport was in fact quite enjoyable. Although maybe in part it was being in a much more modern country that made the convenience and comfort of the airport so tangible. Truly, South Africa is “Africa Lite.”
Anyways, onwards to Tanzania! We arrived in Dar Es Salaam and essentially as soon as we walked into the terminal walked right into the visa/immigration desk (makes sense, but I remember it feeling almost simultaneous to landing). Well, Shane and I are idiots who forgot to make sure we had $100US (in US dollars) on us to pay for the Tanzanian visa. Whoops! Luckily, Shane’s brother Connor, fresh from the states, had enough money to spot us. I dunno what we would have done otherwise! First hurdle overcome, check! Afterwards, we safely made it to the hotel in Dar to meet up with the rest of the Kili crew- Nora, Barrett, Eric, Dev, and Angus.
The next day we were up and out at 5:30am to catch a bus to Moshi at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. What we thought was a 6 hour bus ride soon turned in to a 12 hour bus ride… Angus and I were crammed into the last row of seats, which didn’t recline, and the seats in front of us were broken and reclined toooo far. I couldn’t sit with my legs facing straight forward and regardless of what I did, I had the hair/head of the person sitting in front me right in my face. Ha! Wooo! Did I mention it was incredibly hot and there was no AC? …Miserable. But, again, as I said in my last post, I’m somewhat used to it. If we hadn’t had the chance to get off the bus at a few rest stops and stretch, I probably would have been fine the whole way. But once I moved around 6 hours in and realized just how cramped my body was, I was not excited about sitting the back again. Thankfully, my 5’4” friend, Nora, volunteered to switch. Sitting in her seat was relative paradise (you know, the one that reclines waaaay too far?), so the rest of the ride wasn’t so bad. We spent the night in Moshi before starting the hike the next day.
In order to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro you need to arrange a tour with a local touring company. The one we used came highly recommended by a fellow ex-pat in Maseru. Gladys Adventure surpassed all expectations! Gladys herself was constantly anticipating and tending to our needs. Our guides were friendly, knowledgeable, prioritized our health, and maximized our chances of getting to the summit. Our porters were experts at flying down the trail, poorly equipped and with up to 60kgs stacked on their heads (Plus, some of the porters smoke. Never mind the fact that you’re gasping for enough oxygen to put one foot in front of the other, they bolt down the trail, carrying more weight than you, with way worse equipment than you, and breathe easy while lighting up a ciggy, yeesh). We had a mess tent, we ate like kings. Our guides serenaded us to the top… Truly, it was luxurious. Well, as luxurious as camping can get. In the rain. In the hail. With damp bags and clothes. We were well taken care of, but we were still on an awesome mountain at the mercy of mother nature…
Day one started off well enough. We were psyched about setting off on an epic hike on the Machame route. I personally was thrilled to be on a mountain. We started at about 1800m and climbed to 3100m, hiking through rainforest. Day two, however, was another story. We awoke to an incredible breakfast. It started with tea, coffee and hot cocoa. Our ‘bar maid’ Joseph, then brought in a heaping pot of porridge. Hearty stuff! We were starting to feel full, when suddenly the tent flap opened again and Joseph brought in hot crepes and toast with peanut butter, jam and honey. We dug in. Now we were really feeling full. Then Joseph opened the tent again. We were blown away at the sight of yet more food – eggs and sausage… How many three course breakfasts have you ever had? How about when camping?! Haha. It was the beginning of a trend that would continue for the rest of our time on Kili. And the guides try to force you to eat every last morsel. Now, I understand that you’re at altitude and burning through calories, but I find it hard to believe that we really needed to eat as much food as they fed us (but it turns out we did). Of course, not that I had any trouble shoveling it down…
Anyways, we started hiking on day two and the weather was mild enough. We were all still in high spirits, marveling at how we were on the highest mountain in Africa. Such joyful innocence… As we were walking along, it began to sprinkle. It then turned to rain. In no time, our shoes and rain jackets, RAIN JACKETS were soaked through and I was fighting to keep my fingers warm. I was trying not to lose my hiking poles as I jumped over swollen rivers. Conversation which was flowing earlier had become silence as we all focused on getting through this misery and making it to camp: the thought of fresh, dry clothes propelled us forward. As doubts began to surface in my mind we finally rolled into Shira camp at 3840m. Thankfully, most of our tents had already been set up. Not so thankfully, a lot of the “impenetrable, 100% waterproof” duffel bags carrying all of our clothes turned out to be not so waterproof. Luckily, mine was, but it blows for those with damp clothes (especially for Nora, who I think was hardest hit, and on her first backpacking trip)! No nice dry clothes to change into. No view of the mountain because of the clouds and fog. A sliver of hope shattered.
So it began.
The next morning we awoke to crystal clear conditions. And, a view of the summit! It was admittedly intimidating just how far away we were, but it was absolutely stunning! And in all directions, too, as we looked out on the foothills. After another marvelous breakfast, we launched off on the trail in high spirits… soon to be dashed by more rain after nearing Lava Tower (4630m). It started slowly, until its constancy just bore down on our souls. Encouraged by the fact that our shoes and jackets had mostly dried out from the day before, we arrived at Barranco camp (3860m) soaked through and with spirits a little more down. Resilient, but tested. It always seemed to rain when we were on the last stretch to camp. We hung out in the mess tent, filled our bellies with veggies in coconut sauce, spiced chicken and hot cucumber soup (Hot tea fills the soul. So does Tanzanian cucumber soup! We had it every night). Our efforts of the day were rewarded with moments of clear weather, another stunning peek at the summit, and the view to the steep, steep climb we were to head up early the next morning. This also happened to be New Years’ Eve. I woke up, unintended, at midnight—Happy New Year!! What a way to spend it. I made a quick run to the bathroom, which turned into a not so quick run as I found myself dumbstruck at the stars. Sheer sleepiness guided me back to my tent.
The next morning we were up about 30 minutes earlier than usual to get a crack at the “Breakfast Climb,” a rather sheer looking wall that you pretty much immediately run in to after leaving camp. Instead of being terrorized by the ‘sheer climb,’ we all realized it’s fun to have to use your hands and feet to propel yourself up a rock wall (not quite rock climbing, but it was close)! Most of the group mentioned this section as a highlight of the hike for this very reason. Having been in the shade for this bit, we were rewarded for making it to the top with warm, golden rays o’ sun. A few minutes to recoop, snap some pics of happy claps and we were walking. The landscape turned desolate. There’ was little in the way of life—perhaps some small shrubs, some grasses, but other than that we were lookin’ at boulders of various sizes. Perhaps what you might imagine how mars or the moon look like. Not as much rain today, but at this point, our legs felt tired and altitude wore us out. After a long day, we reached Barafu camp at 4600m.
We chowed down on dinner, and afterwards were instructed to head straight to bed, since we’d begin our climb to the top at midnight. Yes, we were tired, but no, it was not easy to fall asleep at seven, especially with the din of voices around camp. After maybe an hour or two of sleep, I awoke at 11:30pm to have some tea and cookies and prep for the long slog to the top. And what a slog it was! ...at this point, your legs are tired and sore from 4 full days of hiking, you’re woozy and feelin’ a little drunk from the altitude, and just exhausted from a lack of sleep. It must be summit day!
One of the crazy aspects of hiking Kili is that there were so many people on the trail. The camps were massive and you tended to always have 10+ people in your sights. Not my favorite part of this trip, but on summit morning, looking up to the trail forward I saw a stream of headlamps lining up the trail, and behind me a stream of headlamps following… I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment.
For the first stretch, I was fine, tired, but fine. It was when I got about an hour+ in that for each step I took I almost fell backwards from sleepiness, only to stagger forward as my leg muscles just wanted to give out, and I was not quite in my right mind from the altitude. Each step was tiny, and it felt like I was not making progress ‘cause the incline seemed to grow rather than shrink. And maybe the incline didn’t technically grow in length, but it definitely got steeper from hours 2-5, cruelly reaching its steepest point from hour 4-5 before Stella Point. In a group of accomplished, determined, college athletes, I’m not gonna lie, we all struggled, gripped with moments of extreme doubt about whether we’d stick it out or not. We passed loads of people, wiped from the effort. Again, we found ourselves in good hands—our guides had brought a thermos of hot tea, which we gulped down during one of our rest stops about half way in (key timing!). They sang traditional Tanzanian songs that brought warmth and comfort and reinforced our determination to persevere. They made us go slowly (constantly saying ‘pole pole’ – slowly, slowly) so that we might survive the effects of the altitude. I can’t say a lot of the other guides did all of the same! And, especially with reference to the slow steady hiking, I think it made a huge difference in being able to summit. Just when I was seriously about to fall asleep and fall down from dead legs, we miraculously found ourselves at Stella Point. After a quick stumble from the change in a steep incline to momentary reprieve as the ground leveled out, I stopped to take it in. No, not quite at the top, but at about 5685m, there was scenery to be had.
I was itching to move, knowing that if I stopped for too long I wouldn’t make it. Our guides reassured us it was a ‘quick, easy walk’ the rest of the way (+210m), although at this point everyone in my group was incapable of walking in a straight line, bumping into each other, pausing at odd moments, mumbling strange and incoherent statements as our heads and bodies reeled from the altitude. Slightly hilarious (…or concerning?). It was a blur, but somehow we made it to the highest point. We even made it in time for sunrise! We were surrounded by glaciers, sunlight, and craggy mountainous beauty. No rain/snow here! It was very chilly, though, and with the hike down yet ahead of us, we snapped some quick pics, and were ushered back down the trail by our guides.
Now, I didn’t realize that the trail we took down was in fact the trail we had hiked up earlier. Here’s why—by the time we hiked down the trail, the sun was fully up and it was starting to get hot! The slope we ran/skiied down looked completely different from any trail I remembered seeing in the last 24 hours. It felt different too—loosely packed dirt that easily gave way as opposed to hard-as-ice terrain. It wasn’t until part-way down that someone informed me it was, in fact, the same trail… I guess that’s why everyone starts to summit at midnight—otherwise the ground is so soft that it would be practically impossible to reach the top!
So you think summit day is over? Not even. After the 2.5+ hour hike down to the camp we stayed at the night before, including a few tumbles in the dirt, we were allowed about an hour or so to nap, then it was up for lunch, pack up our stuff, and head on down the mountain another 5 hours to Mweka Hut!!! *$&@#$@#*$!!!! If you thought we were tired before, it was worse now. Just when we were in our tents, packing up, figuring out how/if we'd physcially make it another 5 hours, we heard the pounding of precipitation on our rain fly. Ugh. Well, it turns out it was hail. Kinda cool, certainly better than rain (drier), but yet again we would be hiking in precipitation. Not more than a minute after we left camp it started to lightning and thunder too. Did I mention the landscape up here is completely desolate and exposed? We were definitely the tallest things around in the fields we were walking through, not to mention we were carrying our metal hiking poles! But, when the guides go, they go, and if you don’t follow them, then too bad. I was uneasy the whole time during the storm, especially when the lightning kept getting closer—it got within two miles of where we were! After we were down from the mountain we learned that another hiker, a world class mountaineer, and his fiancée were actually struck by lightning! He died, she was struck in the leg and survived, although the picture of her boot was shocking—completely blown to shreds. It still gives me goose-bumps to think about… I mean, what determines whether you or another person gets hit? Chance? Fate? Had we left two days later, we would have been in the same area as the hiker who was struck. The way I see it, it was a matter of timing. Very surreal. Incredibly tragic.
The rest of the hike down wasn't as eventful—more slogging through rain, some card games, including learning a Tanzanian game similar to Uno, maybe the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had (breathing easily at 3100m), a wonderful serenade by our whole crew, and a quick 2+ hour hike to the end at Mweka gate. A few photos/souvenirs later and we were back to town to clean up, return our rentals, do laundry (so key) and grub. We invited our entire hiking party out for a drink. It was fun to kick it with the locals. The next day we decided to pay a little extra to fly back to Dar Es Salaam rather than face another 12 hour bus ride… Amazing decision. I’m starting to get over so much bus travel…
…So on to ferry travel! Zanzibar is up next.
Christmas at the beach, New Years on Kilimanjaro, and recuperation in Zanzibar
January 30, 2013
How do you fit 3.5 weeks of travel into one blog post? I don’t know. That’s why I’m going to break it up into three posts—for the three major destinations I visited over December and January. In the meantime, if you have an extreme urge to see some record of all three locales, check out the PHOTOS page, there are heaps of pics up!
PART ONE: TO THE MOZAMBIQUE COAST!
Before the Kick4Life offices even closed for the holidays, Shane and I hosted a bunch of GRS interns in Maseru. Really awesome! We had representation from almost all of the GRS sites—Casey from Zambia, Jessi, Chris and April from Capetown, Matt and Kait from Port Elizabeth (+ Matt’s friend Drew), and Ally and Karl from Jozi. Only Kimberly was missing out, although to be fair after hearing about others’ plans, we all had amazing itineraries… a fact confirmed from peoples’ accounts post-travels. I realized our house is also really well set-up to host people, with a rather large house/compound and grounds (sooo, come visit...). We checked out some of the local sights, and definitely took advantage of the turf field for some pick up soccer. Around December 19th we all split our separate ways. I joined Kait, Ally, Jessi, and Casey for our trek to Tofo. That’s right, ladies’ trip! … I’ve been living in a compound with only dudes so I was glad to hang with some awesome girls.
First stop: Mozambique. Well, technically, first stop Bloemfontein, South Africa, then Johannesburg, next Maputo (finally on Mozambiquan soil! We spent a night here) and then Tofo, our destination. A total of 2 days of travel. Yes, some of it involved being crammed into small, low-backed, uncomfortable chairs during lengthy bus/taxi rides, but honestly, most of it was pretty painless, just long (although maybe by now I’m so used to cramming myself into tight, small spaces for extended periods of time and sweating bullets that my sense of ‘comfortable’ has been downgraded). And even then, at every bus-stop up the Mozambiquan coast there were vendors who would come right up to the windows of the bus selling cold beverages, or freshly roasted cashews (yum), or bread, or, or, or…. So at least we weren’t starving!
In any case, we made it! It was another slog to the backpackers we were staying at—carrying our backpacks along the sand road in the incredible heat (well, Ally had her rolling suitcase…), but our efforts were rewarded with a palm hut and a quick walk to a stunning view of the Indian Ocean. Picture sandy beaches heading north and south as far as you can see. And, they were practically empty! Tofo = pretty much paradise. A little hot and muggy for my standards, but it’s low-key beach bungalowing at its finest. We arrived in the evening, and kicked back at the bar that looks out over the water. Stunning! The bar was a key hang out spot, because it afforded shade and a constant breeze that took the bite out of the heat during the day. I often grabbed my book and camped out. In fact, from 10am to 3pm it was impossible to accomplish much of anything other than reading because of the heat and humidity. But with morning runs along the water and evening strolls into town, not moving during this time was welcome. I mean, what is vacation for?!
Tofo is renowned for the whale shark population that can regularly be found off the coast. It is one of the reasons we chose to stay in Tofo, so naturally we opted to go on a half-day ocean safari to see them. I guess the only disappointment of the trip was that we didn’t see any! In fact, we all were sunburnt and slightly seasick by the end of the trip (indeed, at least two people vomited over the side of the boat). Bummer, but on our intern budgets there was no way we were going to pay for another trip/chance to see the whale sharks. Such is life.
We pretty regularly chatted with other people at the backpackers (South African, American, Australian…). I forgot how much I love backpacker accommodation, because you are constantly running into new people and most everyone is willing to strike up a conversation. A few days into our time in Tofo we met a group of Australian/Canadian guys that KMo bumped into on her plane ride. In another turn of events, it just so happens that the group staying in the hut right next door to us was a group of teachers from the American International School in Maseru. I mean, what?!? What are the chances? We ended up sharing a few drinks with the teachers and later the Aussie group. We invited them along to Christmas Eve dinner in town (spending holidays away from home and family promotes a special sort of camaraderie among travelers). And dinner was incredible—fresh seafood, Portuguese flavor, great company. We were all feasting and enjoying ourselves so much that no one noticed when one of the Aussie guys slipped away and took care of the entire bill, coming back only to say “Merry Christmas guys”. It was a complete surprise, and an incredibly kind gesture.
Kait, KMo, Ally, Casey and I made sure to be awake for sunrise over the Indian ocean on Christmas morning. I have a mental image of us sitting on a wooden deck, captivated by the morning light, the water and our thoughts. For Christmas evening, us ladies only went out to dinner at another delicious seafood restaurant in town. It was a chance to share a few Christmas traditions, laughs, and the oddity of being in the middle of summer for Christmas and how it didn’t reeaaallly feel like Christmas. Truly, though, it was kind of a blessing in disguise, since Christmas and the winter holidays make me think of spending time with family, so being so out of context lessened the blow of distance from loved ones. I loved spending the day with a group of intelligent, motivated, kind, know-how-to-have-a-good-time, hilarious ladies!
The next morning at 4am Kait and I busted out to (begin to) make our way back to South Africa and our next destinations... back to being crammed into tight spaces for hours on end, woot! Given the chance I would certainly go back to Mozambique!
Next up: Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Getting into the Swing of Things
December 19, 2012
My apologies for a lack of posts. I've gotten carried away in everything going on here, although I also haven't been able to access my blog for a while... So yes, this is another long post, as I attempt to cover all happenings since October. But I leave today to travel around for 3+ weeks, so this is my last guaranteed access to internet before I come back with another collection of stories!
Two and a half months in, I can finally say I'm feeling settled. That's not to say that I know everything, but I feel more comfortable in understanding my role and how Kick4Life runs as an organization. I've definitely made something of a routine for myself, although hopefully I can add in some more hiking and running! Since the last post in October, I attended a Test Your Team (TYT) event, where we sponsored a mini soccer tournament with various schools in a community, and set-up testing tents, where participants and community members at large could get tested for HIV and receive some counselling in private. For me, attending such an event really affirmed what we work for-- seeing the joy that soccer creates as healthy adolescents run around. THAT is what we work for. Absolutely no complaints about having to work 12 hours on a Saturday, I was happy to be a part of such an event. I have a handful of pictures from the event that can be accessed via the PHOTO page.
On the whole, the TYT event was awesome. By the time lunch was delivered, everyone was starving and ready to pile food onto ours plates. Shane and I promptly got in line and chowed down. It was only later on, as we looked around at all of the desperately hungry children, that we asked around and learned that lunch was only provided for the adults and the 12 kids from each team that were playing in the tournament, ALL of the other kids did not get lunch. I felt slightly disgusted with myself, being so oblivious while eating. In some small act of help, I walked around with my unopened can of juice for a bit trying to find the hungriest, most desperate kid (how do you choose?), at which point I handed him the can. He quickly ran away and chugged it. It's gripping to see such poverty and desperation in action. I'm astounded there isn't more done to feed these kids. But on the other hand, is it possible to feed all of them on an NGO's budget?
Other highlights...
- I am now able to drive around! I passed the Kick4Life driving test (pretty basic, just making sure you can drive stick shift and avoid the crazy drivers in Lesotho). I felt confident, having driven stick for 10+ years, but I was still nervous! And yes, the drivers here are pretty crazy-- especially the taxi drivers, who just drive all over the road and are usually oblivious to others around them. Plus, they honk ALL THE TIME. People love the horn here. Rather obnoxious. - Halloween: we headed to Kimberely, South Africa to meet up with a bunch of the other interns. It was a welcomed reunion, and there were some creative costumes! Shane and I did a partner costume, dressing up as The Dude, from the Big Lebowski, and a "white Russian," like the drink he constantly carries around in the movie (I dressed in all white, and painted a Russian flag on my face, punny indeed). This also included a trip to the Big Hole, an extinct diamond mine. - The Presidential Election: I'm not sad to have missed the multitude of election campaigning and advertisements, but it was very strange being so removed from such a major election. Shane and I were sure to get our ballots in on time (Thanks King County for being so awesome and allowing oversears voters to email ballots in!!). What with the time change, Shane and I were up at 4am to repeatedly click the "refresh" button on our internet browsers and follow the progression of red vs. blue states fill the screen (we have no TV). Sleepiness gave way to adrenaline, then anxiety, a huge burst of excitment at the news of Obama's victory, quickly followed by relief and then sleepiness again. - Attending Bat Boy: The Musical, a show put on by "Maseru's finest". Putting on musicals in town started when a bunch of ex-pats decided they were bored and needed some way to fill their time and have fun... so why not put on a musical!? Despite limited resources, it was well done, if not of Broadway quality. Very entertaining. - Meeting Pete Fleming, one of the co-founders of Kick4Life. A very British, laid-back, young at heart and generous fellow. He is now based out of New York City, leading the charge on all Kick4Life's stateside activities, while his brother, Steve, does the same in the UK. - Back to Capetown for Thanksgiving with all of the Grassroot Soccer interns, including the Zambia interns and David Harrison!! Despite working for GRS for some time, it was his first touchdown on the African continent. We spent two full days at Headquarters giving feedback about our experiences, hearing about challenges that prior interns faced, and learning about our departments across all of the sites (so, I met with all of the M&E interns), doing skits about our sites... Very stimulating, and especially wonderful to pull Shane and I back in to the GRS culture and family, since on the ground in Maseru, we are strictly working with Kick4Life, which although awesome, does have a different culture than GRS. We were also able to visit the Football For Hope Center in Khayelitsha and kick around. This of course also included a Thanksgiving feast! To work off some of the food, a group of interns hiked up Lion's Head at 11:30pm. It was beautiful evening, and the view from the top was inspiring--looking out over all of Capetown and the ocean. - We ran a Think Tank to dicuss how best to move forward with our Red Card and mass media campaigns. More on this later, as it is an on-going project and I am sure I will have more to say about it later. But exciting to think about what Kick4Life has done, and what it has the potential to do with both campaigns. It was my first Think Tank, so a very new experience. JMo came up from Capetown to represent GRS. - Teambuilding overnight in Semonkong. Semonkong is probably the biggest tourist destination in Lesotho. It is a small village about 3 hours outside of Maseru. It's highlight is the 204m Maletsunyane falls. It is gorgeous! The mountain scenery stands in stark contrast to the dry landscape of the lowlands, including Maseru. We were surrounded by lush, green hills. In the morning, we worked at the Orphanage where we stayed (... we slept in an old, run-down hospital, which included scripture quotes alllll over the walls... I would have been really freaked out if there weren't so many people around!). I hope to make it back to Semonkong to do more sight-seeing and pony-trekking! - Long weekend in Johannesburg: this was a multi-purpose trip. I admittedly wouldn't have gone if I hadn't needed to get a visa to Mozambique in advance of visiting it. But, I also wanted to check out the two Grassroot Soccer sites, one in Soweto and the other in Alexandra, both townships about 30 minutes outside of downtown Jo-burg. I'm learning that each site has its own feel, while still retaining the overall GRS culture. It's very cool to see. The Soweto site is based out of the modern, beautiful Nike Center. Soweto is enormous and dense (4+million people). The Alexandra site is new this year, so very much so getting up and running. The office is one room with a few makeshift desks. There are 4 office staff. Alex has a very exciting atmosphere and energy. I look forward to seeing how both sites progress in the future! - I also happened to be in town for the Soweto Derby-- two of the best Premiere teams in South Africa are from Soweto, the Kaizer Cheifs and the Orlando Pirates. Once or twice a year they play each other and it's an intense, although mostly friendly rivalry. The Jozi interns and a coach from Alex and I drove out the 100,000 person stadium originally built for the World Cup in 2010. It was almost entirely full! Crazy atmosphere, good soccer.... it was a lot of fun, but wore me out!
And back to the present. The Kick4Life office is now closed for the upcoming holidays. Woot! About 10 of the other GRS interns made their way to Lesotho to visit for a few days. It's a blast to have them here! Our house is well set up to host a large group-- we have lots of space.
I head out later today with a group of interns to, eventually, make our way to the beaches of Mozambique for Christmas. This will entail many, many hours on several busses and long-distance taxis, but we're all looking foward to time on the beach! After Christmas, I will make my way up to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, and afterwards spend some time in Zanzibar. I a excited about the traveling and I am sure I will come back with another load of stories and hopefully lots of pictures!
Until the next post, happy holidays to you and your families and friends! May the coming weeks find you well, and I hope you all get the chance to enjoy time with loved ones. Thanks again for following!
About the Nitty Gritty
December 19, 2012
Grassroot Soccer’s (GRS) success depends on staying current on knowledge about HIV/AIDS. You have to know the details before you know how to make an impact! Here at GRS, we’re thirsty for as much knowledge as we can get! So a few facts…
HIV/AIDS
HIV = Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It is a virus that debilitates the human immune system by targeting Helper T cells (also known as CD4 cells, which help to coordinate the immune system’s response to infections) and makes humans susceptible to secondary infections that people with non-suppressed immune systems usually fend off. HIV is transmitted through blood, semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk, among which sex, oral sex, sharing needles, and mother to child transmission account for the majority of HIV infections. It is NOT transmitted through mosquito bites or through saliva. Once infected with HIV, viral load (amount of virus present in the body) quickly spikes within 6-8 weeks. This period of time can be the most dangerous for transmission to others, because of the combination of a high viral load and the likelihood that an infected person exhibits NO symptoms and has no reason to suspect infection. In fact, during these 6-8 weeks a person is FORTY TIMES more likely to transmit HIV than after this initial spike!!
HIV can lead to AIDS. AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. AIDS occurs when a person is HIV positive with a CD4 cell count below 200 cell/mm3 (low count = weakened immune response, it is a counter-measure of viral load). It used to be that you also had to have a secondary infection, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or malaria, among others. But this is no longer. HIV may take months to years to progress to AIDS, at a rate which varies person to person and with treatment and management of HIV. Ultimately, AIDS is what kills people with HIV. But, once a person has AIDS, it is possible to rebuild the number of CD4 cells in their body, and thus no longer have AIDS (basically, you can flip-flop between having HIV and AIDS).
Currently there is no cure for HIV. But HIV can be kept in check by various medications. In order to successfully treat HIV, medication regiments must be strictly followed to avoid developing drug resistance. These medications include ARVs (anti-retrovirals). These meds mean that people can live long and healthy lives with HIV! It is wonderful that these medications exist, but access to them is not necessary widespread. Additionally, while many different kinds of ARV’s exist (more than 20 are currently approved in the US and Europe), only a few are available in southern Africa (three were available in Lesotho as of 2011) at a cost that the government and impoverished population can afford. So if an individual develops resistance to these few available ARV’s, their HIV can no longer be kept under control.
HIV/AIDS in Africa
While HIV prevalence varies wildly throughout the world, a disproportionate 68% of worldwide HIV cases exist in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the worst hit countries, prevalence is as much as 25.9%!! Among the most at-risk populations (MARP’s), such as sex workers, prisoners and disabled individuals, prevalence of HIV reaches up to 38%!! In some of the townships where GRS works, as many as 1 in 3 adults have HIV. Staggering! But perhaps the most staggering fact of all is that HIV TRANSMISSION IS PREVENTABLE!
So why is HIV prevalence so high in Sub-Saharan Africa? In no particular order, the main contributors to the HIV epidemic include:
- concurrent sexual partners (having more than one sexual partner at the same time) - stigma against HIV/AIDS (e.g. so that people don’t get tested to know their status, or don’t show up at clinics to get medication, and don’t talk about it) - propagation of myths about HIV (such as: having sex with a virgin cures HIV, or washing after sex prevents HIV) - traditional male-dominated sexual gender dynamics - transactional sex (using sex for goods or economic benefit) - rape - lack of condom use.
Other facts:
- Women are THREE TIMES more likely to become infected with HIV than men, due to the above reasons and increased physiological susceptibility. - Of people aged 15-24 years old, only 26 percent of females and 33 percent of males know “comprehensive correct knowledge” about HIV prevention (prevention, rejection of myths, knowing you don’t have to look sick to be HIV+).
About Lesotho more specifically…
- is heavily affected by gender issues around sex - Between 2004 and 2009 3x as many men and 4x as many women became aware of their status. - Only 57% of the demand/need for ARV’s was covered in Lesotho as of 2010.
I was surprised to learn that while lack of knowledge contributes to the HIV epidemic, more people than I expected know how to prevent HIV transmission and how to use condoms. Instead, the challenge is implicating behavior change to promote use of preventative measures. And that’s where GRS comes in!
Why GRS and K4L KICK BUTT!
Here’s what it comes down to: awesome ideas, rigorous work ethic, dedication, persistence, and data!
Sport for youth development. It’s a singularly simple yet brilliant idea: let’s make education active and fun. In countries that eat, sleep and breathe soccer, it makes sense to base your educational curriculum on a sport that instills so much passion and fanaticism. Get people interested, involved… and that’s before they even show up to the program.
GRS coaches are INVALUABLE in instigating change! Much of the successful behavior change that GRS curriculum brings about stems from youth having a strong, secure, and safe relationship with the GRS coaches that fuels their self-esteem and self-efficacy, building their belief in their own capacity to affect change within and around themselves.
So a great, big and happy HEART AND SOUL KILO to the coaches of GRS!!
Ok. I’m finally sitting down to write about the myriad of events and moments since my arrival to Lesotho three weeks ago. Sincerely, it’s about the first chance I’ve really sat still and just been in one place since stepping foot on the continent. And not been sick. And not been suuuuper jet-lagged. While a whirlwind of travel/sight-seeing and doing and experiencing are on my list, I also know myself well-enough to know that I need some down-time to recuperate. It’s welcomed time.
First off, the time change is nine hours… which might as well be 12 hours. When I first got here, I would start to nod off only when it was time to wake up. Bummer. I could not fall asleep for a few days, but then sheer exhaustion set in. I’d say after about three weeks I feel pretty acclimated, although I refuse to acknowledge my lack of fitness at the moment and will instead contribute it to the altitude (at 5200ft)!
About work. I’ll be working with the Monitoring and Evaluation department (M&E), which was, before my arrival, a one man department. Our focus is making sure data gets entered, verified, analyzed and uploaded to our online database—the same one that Grassroot Soccer (GRS) uses to record their graduate data. This is an absolutely essential part of what GRS and Kick4Life (K4L) do. It is how we learn from our data about what’s working and what’s not, areas where we need to spend more time and attention, and to ensure that we continue to get support from donors. In that respect it’s exciting. But so far this has consisted of tedious data entry and verification—sifting through Excel files and comparing them to hard-copies on hand. However there is room to step back and take a look at the system as a whole and improve data flow and coordination between the many programs that K4L offers, and also to increase data analysis! I hope to focus on this latter, larger (and more brain-involved!) aspect as I become more oriented to M&E.
Lesotho is a beautiful country! Although it’s easy to lose sight of that because the city of Maseru, where I will spend most of my time, is dirty and sprawling. That being said, the countryside is gorgeous! Lesotho has a much MUCH drier climate than I’ve ever lived in, it’s very desert-like. This is also the first time I'm living away from the coast (previously Seattle,WA, Brunswick, ME, and Dunedin, New Zealand…). Fortunately, Lesotho is known as the Mountain Kingdom, and rightfully so. I think the mountains will keep me happy for now!
The locals are very friendly. Most often, people walking down the street will greet you, even if you’ve never seen each other before. It’s new to me and I confess I’m still getting used to it (awkward foreigner…). I’ve been taking Sesotho lessons from one of the K4L coaches, Lecom, once a week with a few other ex-pats. They’re a fun outlet and we’re all keen to learn. Hopefully my Sesotho usage will skyrocket shortly! A few of the sounds are rather challenging though!
I haven’t written yet because I’ve been off traveling practically since my arrival. I got in on a Thursday evening, and then Saturday promptly went to an all-day Jazz/Cultural festival in Morija. There was a mix of traditional dancing, modern dancing, and also “jazz” which was to my ears more like reggae and R&B. Sunday, I went hiking with a group of ex-pats (known as hashing, more on that later). After a short work week, Shane and I were off to meet up with most of the other GRS interns in Capetown for the Rockin’ the Daisies music festival. I can summarize the weekend with these words: driving, driving, driving, GOOD COMPANY, international city, broken car window, hipsters, rock, field of tents, rain, sun, sunburn, flannel, and finally driving, driving, and more driving. Capetown is VERY different from Maseru. Capetown is modern, cosmopolitan, coastal, beautiful. Also, there are many more white people in South Africa than in Lesotho. After only a few days it already made for a weird contrast. I wonder what that contrast will be like in a year… Unfortunately we had our car broken into overnight, as some stuff was left in the trunk. In the end it we all survived, although lesson learned (never leave anything in the car, always buy window and tire insurance!). The next weekend, Austin, our intern coordinator, and another intern, Karl, were in town for a long weekend. We traveled to Thaba Bosiu, site of the royal graveyard and the mountain that inspired the Basotho hat and also right across the border to Ladybrand, South Africa for brunch.
I’m having a great time here so far, though I’m still trying to fully settle in. Hopefully now that I’m not planning on traveling for the next week+ I’ll be able to change that!
Apologies for the long entry. I hope to have more regular, shorter posts in the future!
On a last note, THANK YOU to those who have donated to support my internship. I really could not do it without you!!
Thanks for following!
Introduction to the Grassroot Soccer Family!
August 19, 2012
After months of anticipation, truly, waiting for a moment which never seemed to approach until it arrived, Grassroot Soccer's (GRS) orientation took place in Hanover, NH in early August. And what an orientation it was!! After getting picked up by the honorary and widely-acclaimed "grandfather of GRS," David Harrison, we were off to Pierce's Inn. I met the other interns and previous interns over a few hours while everyone trickled in. A sense of mild apprehension (kind of like showing up to your first day of college or work-- everything's new, you don't know anyone, you're nervous, you hope people like you...) quickly faded to ease, and then excitement, admiration and inspiration at the quality and diversity of people surrounding me. The ability of a handful of GRS veterans to instantly create an engaging, fun, safe-to-explore and honest atmosphere for all of us 22 interns was incredible (big ups to Hooter, Elise, Austin, and Leah!!). They provided a quick view into the fire that fuels Grassroot Soccer: THE PEOPLE!!
Just before we got too comfortable hanging around Pierce’s, the 26 of us grabbed our essentials and hiked out to one of the Dartmouth cabins near the Appalachian Trail. Not the roughest of conditions by my standards, but lugging jugs of water on a trail for 20 minutes sure makes you appreciate running water! For two well-spent days we played icebreakers, Skillz curriculum games (games that GRS uses in Africa to teach about HIV/AIDS) and generally got to know each other. We even got a quick visit from Tommy Clark! For those of you who don’t know, Tommy Clark is one of the original founders of Grassroot Soccer. Tommy spent time in Zimbabwe playing for the Bulawayo Highlanders FC and witnessed the devastation HIV/AIDS can wreak when he lost several close friends to the epidemic. Inspired, he along with several like-minded friends and teammates, including Survivor winner Ethan Zohn, Zimbabwe native Methembe Ndlovu and Kirk Friedrich co-founded Grassroot Soccer and have been fighting HIV/AIDS ever since. Tommy’s presence was yet another example of the involved, open and invested culture of Grassroot Soccer.
After two days of gettin’ sticky in the New Hampshire humidity, we returned to Pierce’s Inn for the nitty gritty portion of orientation. After glorious showers, we parked ourselves on couches for the majority of Friday and Saturday for many Powerpoint Presentations about Grassroot Soccer. We learned about the Grassroot Soccer curriculum, their different programs and partners, the biology of HIV/AIDS, roles of people we’ll be working with, our roles, monitoring and evaluation, and finances and policies. Of course you never sit still for too long with Grassroot Soccer and so to keep active we played various energizers (basically getting silly, shouting, stomping, clapping and/or dancing around) and more Skillz games throughout the course of the days. We even squeezed in some soccer! At dinner on Friday we met and socialized with some of Grassroot Soccer’s supporters, employees and other members of the GRS family. The uniting characteristics of everyone in that room were their openness, commitment, and belief in the power of Grassroot Soccer to impact change and fight HIV/AIDS. They all also know how to have fun! I feel truly honored to be part of such an incredible family and organization.
We wrapped up on Sunday and, as we interns originally trickled in, so we all trickled out on our ways to Boston. Most of the interns flew out Sunday night to Africa… Kind of jealous that they had 18 buds to hang out with along their journey! I actually won’t be leaving for Lesotho until late September because of two weddings of dear people I couldn’t imagine my life without—my brother, Kevin, and one of my best friends, Courtney. I know this delayed departure is best for me, although it’s tough to get to know all of the interns and get psyched about my role and Grassroot Soccer in general and then put off my physical involvement for 5 weeks… But I’m excited to stay and celebrate these amazing people in Washington!