Welcome SYSA!

Welcome SYSA players and families. No doubt most of you saw the blurb on the SYSA website (a big thanks to Ed D'Alessandro for putting that up) and luckily for me, you were still interested/intrigued enough to visit my blog for more information. As Ed mentioned on the SYSA website, I am currently working for Grassroot Soccer, Inc (GRS). GRS is a South African based NGO that uses the global power of soccer to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. By using soccer as a vehicle to disseminate critical information about HIV, GRS is hoping to increase awareness and stem the tide of this terrible epidemic.

As a lifelong soccer player (and SYSA youth player for 10 years) I have always recognized soccer's unique ability to breakdown all forms of social barriers. It was once said that "soccer is the only dance common to all people" and after living and working in sub-Saharan Africa, I have witnessed this first hand (which is lucky for me because I'm a terrible dancer...in the more traditional sense).

So, now to the reason you're all here! So a few of my fellow interns and I have been getting together and working with Fifa's 'Football For Hope Center' (you may have seen the campaigns during the world cup) to establish community soccer leagues in the townships outside of Cape Town. We have already begun preparations for fields, travel and most other logistics. What we are really in need of now is jerseys/kits/uniforms. Uniforms are something that I always took for granted as a player, yet it's amazing how big a difference a simple uniform can make. Most of the young girls in our girls league and 'Skillz Street' (another all girls league) have never been on a team, and certainly never had jerseys. These jerseys are more than just matching outfits though, they are a team identity. These jerseys create a cohesive unit and help to form the basis of our GRS program. By integrating teams and individuals in community soccer leagues we give our organization a vital platform to deliver critical information and services to at-risk youth in the townships. By partnering soccer with life-skills, education and mentoring we are looking to not only combat HIV but also address many of the underlying forces that drive the epidemic.

As I mentioned, our need now is collecting new or lightly used jerseys and uniforms. In talking with my mom and Ed, I think perhaps the best way to do this may be either 1) if teams are interested, maybe one parent could be designated as the "drop point." They could collect the jerseys from their team and drop them off at my house OR 2) if individuals want to donate separately, they can drop off their gear at my house as well. If you are interested in donating or think your team may have some extra gear, please send me an email at gstockdale@grassrootsoccer.org and we can work out a date, time and location to drop gear off. I will also pass along my mom's email ngruber@speakeasy.net. Africa is constantly at war with bandwidth (figuratively) and the internet is spotty at best. Please copy Nancy Gruber (at the email I just listed) to ensure a prompt reply to all donation queries.

Finally, working for GRS is both a privilege and a passion...unfortunately it is also unpaid. I would not be here without the generous support of friends, family and community. If you would like to make a contribution to my internship/work, there are two ways to donate. Obviously this is a cause that I feel very connected to. I appreciate any and all support.

Donation Info

Grassroot Soccer is a registered international nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-exempt. Tax ID #: 43-1957920.

If you would like to send a check or mail your donation, please make payable to Grassroot Soccer, Inc. and write “Graham Stockdale” on the memo line. Send to:

Grassroot Soccer, Inc.
198 Church Street
P.O. Box 712
Norwich, VT 05055

OR, you can donate online by using the "Google Checkout" button at the top of my blog.

In case anyone was wondering how I got from SYSA to South Arica, I thought I would include a short bio. As I mentioned above, I spent my entire youth career with SYSA, playing for the Ballard Knights (U9-U-11) and Emerald City (U12-U18). I attended Roosevelt High school and later played Division 1 soccer for Bradley University. I studied Biology and English Literature in college. when I found out about GRS I knew that it was the perfect program for me. GRS combines two of my lifelong passions, health care and soccer. I arrived in South Africa this past August and will be here for roughly a year working as an intern on the curriculum and training team. For more information on specifics, please feel free to check out my earlier blog posts.

Thanks again and please feel free to email me with questions or comments.

-Graham

Projects! (Continued from last post)

So here’s the story. As a side job, although still part of my internship, I have begun to involve myself in a couple of little side projects. Some of these are simple, putting our files into a file cabinet (we literally had an empty file cabinet and for some reason our files were kept in a box…stacked vertically), others are more complicated, I’m setting up a server for the office (not too hard), trying to round up old jerseys for the Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Nyanga boys/girls community league and finally…building a library for the Football for Hope Center (along with Jamison Merrill, whose actually the project manager/founder of the idea.

So, here is where I need some help. I got this idea the other day. Jamison mentioned that a girl in Cape Town donated about 1000 Rand of her Bat Mitzvah money to the Football For Hope Center’s new library. And cue the proverbial light bulb above my head - So I figure, if memory serves me right, there are lots and lots of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs that happen each and every week in Seattle, and each of those newly minted adults (just kidding) needs an organization or charity to donate ten percent of their B-Mitzvah money. And so, my thought, or perhaps my hope, is that if anyone out there know someone who is about to have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, maybe suggest the Football for Hope Center as a possible donation recipient. If you do know someone that is interested please pass along my email gstockdale@grassrootsoccer.org so we can get the ball rolling! I can’t overemphasize the importance of having a library (even if it’s a very small one) in the townships. Seeing as Bar/Bat Mitzvah’s are rituals of growth and development – through learning, it seems like a perfect place to send ten percent of your hard earned money B-Mitzvah money. Also if anyone feels so inclined, feel free to donate to my internship fund (which is a 501(c)3 organization and therefore tax deductible!) through the google checkout button at the top of this blog. That’s a good place to donate money as well, in case you were wondering.

Okay, next project. So the other side project that I’m working on is collecting jerseys and kits (kits is the British term for the whole uniform, jerseys and shorts) for the girls soccer league. The townships recently started a girls soccer league and the kids really love having matching team jerseys. So if anyone knows teams or clubs that don’t need their jerseys anymore, I would be more than happy to take them off your hands. Again, if you have any leads or ideas send me an email at gstockdale@grassrootsoccer.org and we can discuss logistics.

Cool, well that’s about it for right now. On a quick side note, I’d like to give a little shout out (or a Kilo as its called in South Africa) to Ricardo Wenger whose been helping me navigate the world of “small business servers” for our office. Hopefully we’ll have one up and running within the next month or so.

Alright well, more to come soon…stay tuned.

Later.

Updates!

Well, this last week has certainly been less hectic. Now that the first-ever Generation Skillz ToC is over, we’ve all been able to take a deep breath, close our eyes, and recharge the batteries. Unfortunately, this momentary relaxation lasted for all of…about…fifteen minutes. If last week taught us anything it’s that Generation Skillz is most definitely a curriculum in development. The feedback from coaches, participants, Master Coaches and observers is going to be essential in shaping the future of Generation Skillz 2.0 (aka the live version we hope to release in December). And so, at 9:15am on Monday we got down to business, discussing/arguing/problem solving how to improve both the delivery and content of the Generation Skillz Curriculum.

We’re hoping to take what we’ve learned from the Cape Town ToC and apply it to the second pilot testing which will happen next week in Port Elizabeth. Luckily for me I’m getting the opportunity to participate in this second ToC as well. This Saturday I will head out on a 12 hour bus ride (which sounds like a lot but in reality isn’t that bad. I’m completely desensitized to long bus rides…thanks Bradley Soccer. Actually because I’m not leaving at 10:00pm, sitting in my own sweat after a long game, trying to study organic chemistry while we drive through the night to make it back to campus for classes at 9:00am. This trip should actually be rather enjoyable.) But anyway, I’m very excited to see the Eastern Cape. I haven’t seen the interns in P.E. since we left orientation six weeks ago. So it should be a fun and challenging week.

Speaking of fun and challenging…So this past weekend I decided to hike Table Mountain with some of my roommates. Naturally I decided to do this on Saturday, while fasting. Similarly to many of the subpar decisions I’ve made while in South Africa, this one didn’t seem that bad initially. Actually I wasn’t even that hungry for most of the hike. We got up early and I was so focused on both my surroundings and hiking (probably should add “not dying” to this list as well, we hiked up a route called Skelton’s Gorge) so I didn’t really notice that I hadn’t eaten for a day and a half until about 3:30pm when we got home. By four I was shaking. By 4:30 I was convinced the clock was moving backwards. By 7pm when I broke the fast I was almost too hungry to eat…almost. Somehow I managed to find the strength (and the appetite) to devour 11,000 calories in roughly 13 mintues.

Still, Table Mountain was awesome, one of the best hikes of my life and maybe the best outdoor activity I’ve done so far. I’ve posted some pictures of the trip but here’s a quick rundown of how it went. 1) started the hike by taking the Kirstenbosch route, through the world famous botanical gardens (AMAZING). 2) Headed up Skeletons Gorge where we literally hiked up a waterfall. 3) At the top of Skeleton’s Gorge there is a beach (yeah an actual beach) and not just any beach, a beach with red water. I still don’t know why the water is red, I should probably figure that out, but whatever the reason, the water looked old testament red, aka like blood. I think, it has to do with soil runoff. The top of Table Mountain is composed of this deep red clay. So all of the streams have a reddish-orange tint. Either way, as I was swimming in this red lake, on top of a mountain…in sub-Saharan Africa, it finally struck me…I’M IN AFRICA.

The rest of hike went well. I wish in retrospect that I hadn’t decided to take my shirt off (nothing lets you know how out-of-shape you really are like a shirtless hiking photo, very sobering) but I’ll post the photos anyway.

Alright well that’s pretty much it for this week. I’ll have more to report later and hopefully some cool photos/stories from the Eastern Cape. Also, I’ll have another Blog post very shortly, I’m going to try and solicit some help from friends, family and readers back in the US. I’ve got a few side projects here, one of which is building a library at the Football for Hope Center. Jamison Merrill, my roommate, and I getting bids today from carpenters. We’re hoping to be like Tim Robbins in Shawshank Redemption (minus the whole prison thing) and build a sweet library for the Khayelitsha Community Center.

Later.

Work, Work and More Work (and Some Fun Updates at the End)

Well my first ToC (Training of Coaches) is officially over and I must say, despite being thoroughly exhausted, it was an incredibly powerful, challenging and frustrating experience. I got to interact, share and participate in passionate (though sometimes misguided) cross-cultural dialogues, listen (and contribute) in discussions that sought to penetrate generations upon generations of social indoctrination. Now before I get too far into this, some of you might be thinking, “wait a minute Graham, I thought you were doing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment education? Why is GRS suddenly engaging in such deep-seeded and thought provoking cultural discussions?” The answer to your questions is YES, although more specifically, YES to both of the above questions. What GRS has found is that HIV prevention cannot be solely focused on health education and disease biology. There are a myriad of external pressures, social and cultural norms, and even basic scientific misunderstandings that are undercutting our ability to disseminate vital information to at-risk youth. This inability to bridge cultural understanding was even more evident at this ToC that I participated in last week, the first ever pilot of the Generation Skillz program.

The Generation Skillz program is GRS’s first attempt to design and implement a curriculum for high school kids. Previously, GRS’s primary demographic had been pre-sexual youth age 11-14. Generation Skillz is therefore unique within GRS’s “family of curriculums” because it strives to not only target an older age-group; but is also the first curriculum that deals with the cultural factors that influence the spread of HIV across sub-Saharan Africa. The latter point is probably the most important distinction between the various GRS curriculums (Skillz 1.1, Skillz Street, Skillz Holiday and Generation Skillz).

Editors Note: I think it is important at this point to acknowledge that anytime you bring in new ideas, especially ideas that are incongruous with traditional social norms, you are going to be met with some resistance. I say this, or perhaps more accurately, I want to emphasize this point because at a fundamental level, people struggle with new and challenging ideas. For any culture in the world, adapting and understanding new ideas/customs/beliefs/attitudes is going to be a struggle, and likewise there are going to be “growing pains” associated with this development. It’s critical however, especially in these circumstances, to truly understand what’s important, and not focus/dwell on the negative. It’s too easy to get frustrated and say “why are these ideas so challenging?” The fact that these individuals are open and willing to listen and accept new thoughts/idea/beliefs shows an amazing capacity for personal growth. In my mind this is the most important thing to takeaway from this training. That people always have the capacity to learn, teach, understand and ultimately grow.

Okay, sorry about that tangent but I think that’s an important piece of information to convey. Now back to the ToC.

So, as I mentioned above, this Generation Skillz curriculum really tries to challenge its participants, to make them think critically about the four primary “drivers” of the HIV epidemic. Gender Based Violence (one of the four), which is a huge problem is South Africa, is so heavily influenced by gender norms that its impossible to talk about Rape (500,000 women were raped in South Africa last year) without talking about gender-based violence. Likewise, it’s impossible to talk about gender-based violence without discussing gender norms and relationship dynamics. As you may have guessed by now…it’s impossible to have a conversation about relationship dynamics and gender norms without digging-in and discussing the cultural role that gender plays within South African society. With that in mind, is it even possible to have a conversation about rape without addressing the idea of multiple concurrent partners (another driving force) and how that relates to both relationship dynamics (women viewed as property rather than partners) and gender norms (women existing as a subservient social class).

Editors Note: As with any statistically based discussion, we are generalizing based on numbers and percentages. In no way are these statements indicative of the entire population. These discussions are designed to make both genders think critically about why these issues are rampant within township communities. They are not meant to be a judgment of our coaches.

Okay back to ToC mode. So, the main goal of Generation Skillz (because it’s designed for an older more mature audience) is that it must delve into not only the physical aspects of HIV/AIDS transmission and proliferation but also, and perhaps more importantly, the psychological and cultural reasons that motivate and influence the driving forces of HIV. Even ideas that seem from the outside to be isolated (for instance, drug and alcohol abuse) are in-fact interrelated with the others.

Deep Breath…

Okay, that’s all I’m going to post about the ToC for now. I’m still digesting the experience and I’ll post more thoughts later in the week…but for now, here’s a recap of what I’ve been doing in the meantime (not work related).

Last weekend we all piled into our car, the Toyota Avanza (basically a giant goat cart with the engine of a lawnmower) and headed off to an ostrich farm two hours outside of Cape Town. Now at first you may be thinking, “why would you want to go camping at an Ostrich farm, they’re like one of the dumbest animals on the planet and there’s probably a good chance you’ll get mauled?” And to be honest, both of those statements are true. Luckily there was a fence around the Ostriches so instead of getting mauled I got to watch the ostriches run into the fence over and over and over again (like I said, dumbest animals ever). The camping was awesome though, the views were spectacular and the weather was perfect, it was a great trip with one exception…nighttime was freezing. For some reason (don’t ask me why) I decided not to bring a sleeping bag on this little excursion. I don’t know exactly what my thought process was, probably something along the lines of, “man I’m in Africa, it’s really hot right now, there’s definitely no way I could freeze my ass off at night…because it’s so hot right now.” Wrong again. Luckily, both Jamison and myself were equally poor planners, so instead of freezing my ass off by myself, I at least had a partner in crime. Unfortunately (for Jamison too) I decided to compound my first mistake with another. For some reason I thought “well I don’t have a sleeping bag, so instead of sleeping in the tent with everyone else, I’ll sleep in the car where it will be warm…” Again, terrible idea (awesome 2/2 on horrible decisions). Long story short, Jamison and I froze in the car, my teeth were chattering for the entire night, I was trying to pile wrappers and chip bags and various articles of clothing on top of me (like a blanket or better yet, like a sleeping bag). In the end neither of us could sleep, my inner hyperchondriac kicked in and I decided that we should crack a window in the car, for air flow (3/3 on horrible decisions). This compounded both of the other mistakes and somehow, and I honestly don’t even know how this was possible, made the care about ten degrees colder than outside. Anyway, it was a great day and a miserable night but in the end it makes for a good story.

Besides camping I’ve been trying to get into surfing. My dreams of shredding huge waves have quickly vanished however, replaced instead by a sobering new humility that I’m not really sure what to do with. Nothing like getting your ass kicked by waves for two hours, while watching five year old kids tear up the water, to really drive home the fact that 1) I really, really suck and 2) that I’m an out-of-shape former soccer player, with the balance of 72 year-old. Still, despite the fact that I’m setting records for most liters of ocean water swallowed (per hour of surfing) it’s an awesome hobby. Even if you don’t catch any waves, I’m still chilling on the water with dolphins, sea lions and MOM DON’T READ THIS…sharks as well.

Alright well that’s all for now, the pictures at the top are from the camping trip, enjoy.

Later.

Generation Skillz and ToC planning

Most of my time this last week was spent in the Cape Town office, which was certainly a change-of-pace from working in the Townships. The Curriculum and Training team (which is where I’m interning) is gearing up to host four ToC’s (training of coaches) in the month of September, so we’ve been pretty busy getting all of the logistical aspects squared away. I’ll be working with some of the other interns to make sure that the Training team and the Programs team have everything they need to host the first ever “Generation Skillz” (our new pilot program curriculum for high school kids) ToC event.

As a side project (although its taken up a majority of my time this past week) I’ve also been working on designing a small portion of our new “Development Training” curriculum. “Development Training” is essentially continuing education to help our more advanced coaches stay focused and gain a better/deeper understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. The section that I have been assigned to work on is called “HIV Experts”. Basically this exercise is designed to create a discussion-based learning environment about HIV, its driving forces, and some of the science behind transmission rates. I’m hopeful that the activity will create a “Socratic” learning environment, where coaches and trainers can engage in an open dialogue of the primary forces driving HIV in South Africa. Accomplishing this task however is a little more difficult than I initially anticipated. I’m going to try and post the activity once its been approved but for now I’ll try and provide a brief synopsis of what we’re working on!

HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa is a complex issue, yet research has shown that HIV transmission rates are directly correlated with four primary interrelated behavioral risks. These behavioral risks are certainly not the only means of HIV proliferation in sub-Saharan Africa, yet they are doing more than anything else to spread the HIV epidemic. In no particular order they are: Multiple concurrent partners, age-disparate relationships, alcohol abuse, and gender-based violence. While these four issues may seem unrelated, they are in fact highly integrated. Each risk factor is also a function of the other three, and the highly interrelated web that they form is one of the key lynch-pins in the battle against HIV.

For a better idea of how this exercise actually plays out, I have provided a brief example of what I’m working on. Its designed in a fairly linear fashion. Essentially we start with a FACT, then raise a series of QUESTIONS based on that fact. The “notes” that follow are designed to help the facilitator steer the discussion in the appropriate direction.

Fact: Last year it is estimated that over 500,000 women in South Africa were raped…

Question: How does rape affect the HIV epidemic? What role does rape play in the concurrent partner equation? How does “viral load” effect the proliferation of the disease through rape?

Discussion Points: Make sure the relationship between rape, concurrent partners, and viral load (essentially risk of transmission) is clearly defined. Participants should be able to understand the basics of transmission as a function of viral load AND concurrent partners. They should also be familiar with the relationship that time and rate-of-infection play in transmission.

Well that’s just one example. The Fact/Questions are ordered in a logical progression, this one is taken from the middle so it might seem a little out-of-place.

Alright, I’ll have more posts about Cape Town later today. I haven’t had internet for the past week, so its been a little challenging to get these up. Here are some pictures from my walk to work. Its okay, you can be jealous...

Later.

Work, Gordon Street and CT

So I’ve officially been living in Cape Town for about two weeks, and I’m only now beginning to understand a small fraction of the unique energy that is Cape Town (streets/roads are another story entirely though, I’ve almost been hit by about a dozen cars, usually from looking the wrong way when I cross the street!). Still, despite this daily game of dyslexic frogger that I play while walking to work, the experience thus far has been amazing. For this first couple of weeks I’ve been spending most of my time in the townships, at both the ‘Football For Hope Center’ and various schools in Khayelitsha and Gugulethu. Getting to work in the townships has been awesome and I’ve gotten to meet some incredible people in my first week on the job. Tony Gubesa aka “The Man” has been my coach/tutor in terms of both African culture and township life. He pretty much keeps me in-line, lets me know when my dance moves are out of control (we spend a lot of time dancing in the townships, and my rhythm, or lack there of, has gotten me banned from more than one dance circle) and basically helps me navigate all aspects of the job. I’m going to try and interview him later in the year and hopefully upload the video to my blog. Tony is an incredibly articulate and insightful guy, I’ve had the opportunity to see him speak a few times (in a public forum) and he is definitely a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of AIDS, AFRICA and GRS.

Quick tangent but I feel that I need to discuss the dancing situation here. So, I’ve never really been a big dancer, I don’t know exactly why…actually that’s not true, I have a phenomenal lack of rhythm (thanks Mom and Dad). When I dance in public I’m basically a musical hazard. Unfortunately that doesn’t really fly here in Africa. Every time I go to the schools for an intervention, I have to introduce myself, then jump in the middle of a circle and dance, which is actually my “real” introduction. I have yet to not get completely laughed off the stage, but I will say that I’m improving. Lunga, between fits of laughter the other day, told me that I’m no longer the worst dancer he’s ever seen…but still pretty horrible.

Okay, now back to Cape Town. Now that the realization I’m going to be here for a year has finally set in, I’ve started to try and get more involved in other aspects of the city. Jamison Merrill (a fellow member of the house’s northwest contingent, along with Margaret Owen) has convinced me to try Yoga, so I’ve joined a local Yoga studio with some other members of the house. I’m hoping the increased flexibility will directly correlate to an improved performance in the dance circles. I’ve also joined a local soccer team, which is pretty cool. And last but not least, I am going to finally learn to play the guitar. There’s a guitar here, left by a former intern, so Charlotte Hastings (another one of my housemates) and I have decided to finally learn how to play. Side note, not having a television or Internet is actually really awesome for learning new skills/personal growth/getting work done. Reading is a little tricky here in Africa, I got a library card but the selection isn’t great. If anyone has any good books ideas let me know, used bookstores, from what I’ve heard, are the way to go.

Finally, I need to talk about the food situation here. I’ve been trying to eat as many new, different and exciting foods as possible. I haven’t quite mustered up the courage to try sheep’s head (just fyi, they call it Smiley) but I’ve made some promises and eventually I’ll have to bite the bullet. Other than that, there are a lot of traditional African and Indian restaurants by my house. The food is always delicious and I’m just trying to find new varieties and combinations everyday. Also, on another side note, avocadoes are so cheap here (and when I say cheap I mean about 20 cents a piece) I pretty much put them on everything, even things they probably shouldn’t be put on.

Should also mention that no shops are open on Sundays in Cape Town. Well, that’s not entirely true. The only café (with internet access) that’s open on the weekends is…the Jewish Museum of South Africa. So yes, every Sunday to get my work ready for the week to come, I post-up in the gift shop/café of the Jewish Museum of South Africa. Kind-of ironic but also hilarious.

Also, the pictures that I’m putting up (a little later because we're running low on bandwidth) are from my house, our street (Gordon Street) and my walk to work, along with a few random shots of my roomies.

Later.

My new job...a not so short introduction

I am now officially working/interning for Grassroot Soccer, Inc. The first few days have been pretty exciting, I’ve spent most of my time trying not to screw anything up/not make a fool of myself, learning about the organization AND more specifically, understanding how I will be assisting GRS in the year to come. Technically speaking I am a Global Curriculum and Training intern, which means my job is to…well, to be honest, I don’t exactly know what my job will be. I have a pretty good idea (a basic framework) but as everyone at GRS says, the unwritten rule of NGO’s is that you should expect the unexpected. So with that in mind I’m going to try and paint a slightly clearer picture of what (I think) my job will be. Unfortunately, to do this I will need to delve a little deeper into 1) how GRS operates and 2) how our programs/curriculum are implemented in the field.

GRS is based on a relatively simple principle: that children learn best from role models within their community. Traditional approaches in HIV/AIDS education have been ineffective in sub-Saharan Africa for several reasons. Chiefly among these has been an inability to deliver critical information in a culturally appropriate and socially acceptable forum. What this means (to make the point a little more bluntly) is that having a bunch of recent American college graduates teaching HIV/AIDS in the townships of South Africa is about as effective as, say…me teaching a computer science class at MIT (for those of that don’t know, I’m terrible with computers/technology in general.) To expand on that point a little further (based primarily on my limited observations of the townships) there are several key factors that prevent “outsiders” aka ME or my fellow interns, from successfully disseminating HIV/AIDS information. For starters, most of these kids, at least in the townships of Cape Town, speak Xosha as their primary language. Secondly, adapting and assimilating into township life is not only daunting but also, to a certain degree, impossible. Finally, AIDS, as it is in many parts of the world, is a very sensitive subject and navigating the stigmas and cultural associations connected with AIDS can be a virtual minefield, even the most experienced AIDS education practitioners. This however, is what makes GRS unique…

GRS uses local community members within the townships of South Africa as the primary vehicle for delivering our HIV/AIDS curriculum. By teaching/training local community members, with the skills, knowledge and leadership abilities to effectively communicate our “Skillz” (“Skillz” is the sweet name for the GRS youth-targeted HIV/AIDS curriculum) intervention programs. This is essentially where I come in. As a Global Curriculum and Training Intern it is my job to help train local community members to become “GRS Coaches.” GRS Coaches represent the primary (and most important) layer of the Grassroot Soccer organization. Local community members are trained by “Master Coaches” at TOC’s or “Training of Coaches” events. For those of you who don’t know (which is pretty much everyone) Master Coaches are typically our best and most experienced coaches. They are familiar with every aspect of the program, especially how it is delivered at a “grassroots” level.

TOC’s typically happen about once a month at various sites across South Africa. The four Master Coaches that I work with (Derek, Tumi, Allister (Alli) and Tony) conduct these sessions, leading the trainings and helping to ensure that the coaches are well prepared to deliver the Skillz curriculum.
During this first week I have been working very closely with Tony and Allister. Aside from administering TOC’s another vital step (in the ever evolving battle of “quality control”) is developing a system to evaluate the effectiveness of new coaches. To help facilitate and support this evaluation process, GRS conducts CSV’s or Coaching Support Visits. A CSV is a formal evaluation, where a CTC (Community Training Coordinator…basically a more experienced coach but not a Master Coach) sits-in on an intervention (that’s what GRS calls the Skillz sessions where the coach is delivering the curriculum to the children) and evaluates his abilities. This evaluation is, despite how it sounds, not intended to be a stressful process. Usually the CTC is there to offer advice and suggestions for new coaches. Generally speaking, from my limited experience with CSV’s, new coaches are very receptive to these visits and welcome both the praise and advice of the CTC’s and Master Coaches. The advice is intended to help further develop and improve the quality of curriculum delivery. The picture that I have attached is from an Intervention and CSV at Khayelitsha. The other two are of Khaye. I didn't actually take them, someone else did but I thought they were great illustration of Khaye so I wanted to put them up.

Alright, well I guess that can serve as a slight introduction into what I’ll be doing for the next twelve months. I’ll have some more posts later this week about what I’ve been doing in Cape Town, playing soccer in the townships, eating some crazy new foods and hopefully some videos of these interventions/CSV’s.

Later.

Khayelitsha Pictures

Here are some pictures from my most recent trip to Khayelitsha. On a fundamental level I think I'm still processing most of the experience. Its hard to believe (especially coming from the US) that these two worlds can exist simultaneously, and yet operate on such diametrically opposing ends of the economic spectrum. The last picture is from the Football for Hope Center that I discussed in my last posting. Hope you enjoy.

Cape Town, Lions Head and Khayelitsha

So, now that I’m officially an expatriate here in South Africa, it’s probably time to say a few words about where I live, who I’m living with, and most importantly, what Cape Town is like. SPOILER ALERT, Cape Town is Amaaazing.

For the next 12 months or so I will be living in the Gardens District of Cape Town. Cape Town is a relatively small city, geographically speaking, and the Gardens District is located in the Southwest corner, right beneath Lions Head Mountain (which I woke up at sunrise to hike with my housemates, I'm second from the left in the jumping silhouette picture).

Our Apartment is actually very nice. It’s a two story building with two bedrooms in the basement and three bedrooms on the main floor. The five girls are all living upstairs and the guys have been secluded to, what we’re affectionately calling, the “Man Cave” in the basement. Unfortunately, the only bathroom for the three of us is located in my room. Obviously due to this floorplan/layout defect, one of the first (and most essential) purchases for the new house was a scented candle and air freshener (the ”Cave” doesn’t get a lot of airflow). Other than that the house is terrific. We have some attractive South African girls that live in the flat above us, a driveway for our intern car and a great deck for perfecting my braai skills (traditional South African Barbecue).

Finally on Wednesday we went out to Khayelitsha, the largest township in South Africa. Khayelitsha is located about 30 minutes from Cape Town proper but for all intents and purposes, it could be on another planet. For starters, the sheer immensity of Khayelitsha is impossible to describe. The last census was conducted in 2002 and placed the population around 1-2 million people. I’ll post some pictures later on but for now, you’ll just have to take my word for it. We also got to spend the afternoon with the Football for Hope Center (a donation by FIFA for health services, education and counseling in the Townships). FIFA aka Federation International Football Association, started a campaign called “Twenty 10.” Essentially, FIFA is planning on building twenty Football for Hope Centers (FFHC) in various African countries beginning in 2010. These centers are primarily designed to be educational institutions, providing children and young adults with health education and life skills in a fun, activity based learning environment. The NGO that I’m working for (GRS) was awarded the contract as the implementing partner for the Cape Town Football for Hope Center. This means that for the next five years, GRS will be in charge of all aspects of the center, from its curriculum and programs to the M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation) and project analysis.

Alright well I'll try and post some pictures of Khayelitsha later on. I officially begin work on Monday so I'm sure I'll have a lot more information on my position within this organization then. Later.

Orientation, training and the plane ride from hell

I am writing this post from the "Mother City" of South Africa, Cape Town. It's hard to believe that I left Seattle over a week ago. I've traveled so many miles and missed so much sleep that the last ten days have felt more like a long extended summer afternoon...with intermittent naps. There is so much to see and so much to do, I'm already getting excited for my work and life in this incredible city. The weather is fantastic, evidenced by my sunburn on the first day. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, so I'll save the details of Cape Town, my apartment, and beginning work for another post.
I arrived last Wednesday bright and early (6:33am) in Boston to begin the journey to Hanover, NH. I was wandering around the airport, looking very lost, when Emma Carbery (a fellow GRS intern) pleasantly asked me if I was with Grassroot Soccer. Apparently I look like a tourist even in the United States. From there we caught the bus to Hanover and officially began training. The first two days were pretty intense. We hiked out to a log cabin in the New Hampshire forest to spend two days in a sweaty, proximity induced state of bonding. By the end of our stay in the log cabin, everyone was sweaty (some of us more so than others), tired (again some of us more so than others, I apologize again for my snoring if any of my fellow interns are reading this) and excited for the year to come. At this point I also want to give a big shout-out to Zack, Elise and Leah for putting on a fantastic orientation/training “mini-camp.” Our training concluded with a going-away dinner, we were introduced to the Board members (I got to meet Ethan Zohn, who won the Survivor show) and met past interns, current GRS staff and other people that have been influential in helping this vision become a reality. And finally, after a good meal, a little post training drinking, and bonding around the campfire, we headed out the next morning for AFRICA!

I had heard a lot about how long the plane ride was, there were rumors among the interns about the length of the flight, some said 14, others said 15. In the end the flight was 18 hours from Washington, DC to Johannesburg. And just for those of you who are interested in coming to visit me (spoiler alert) the flight blows. Although, in all fairness, I think my trip had a slightly unique twist. It started out normal enough, around hour six though, the man sitting to my left, who was from Senegal and spoke no English, started poking me in the chest. I opened my eyes and he was furiously pointing to his head. After a little while, the man’s son, who was sitting in the row in front of us, asked me why I stole his father’s fez (little hat like thing). I had no idea what they were talking about, but this old man was convinced that I had stolen his hat. We yelled at each other for a while, neither of us understanding the other until suddenly the man poked me really hard in the chest. Now at this point, I’d been on the flight for six hours and hadn’t gotten any sleep in like three days, so I was a bit irritable. I really didn’t want my first cultural interaction to be a fight, but I guess my “Americanism” got the best of me. And so after his third firm poke to my chest, I swiftly responded by giving him the Heisman stiff arm right to the sternum. I figured that would quiet the situation down, unfortunately I forgot to take into consideration that this man was traveling with his whole family. When about eight of the man's sons stood up all around me, I immediately regretting my decision to go with the stiff arm (Note to self: Try to pantomime a more diplomatic approach next time). I was in the midst of looking for an escape route, when luckily, the stewardess came over and sorted the problem out. (Editors note: His hat fell off his head while he was sleeping) Still for some reason the Senegalese gentleman never really took a liking to me and for the remainder of the flight, we had a silent elbow battle for the arm-rest.

Well, I think that’s all for now, I will write a post later about our first week of training here in Cape Town, seeing our office building, exploring the city and going out to the townships. Later.

p.s. I will post some pictures soon!

Leaving for New Hampshire, then on to Cape Town

Well, here we are. I'm down to my final hours in Seattle. I'll be flying to New Hampshire later tonight, meeting up with my fellow interns in Hanover, NH for a few days of training and orientation at Dartmouth College. From there I'm headed to Cape Town, South Africa to begin my new life. But...before I leave (and take a little break from the blogosphere) I wanted to give a quick shout-out to all of the people who have donated to GRS. I'm so excited for the challenging and rewarding experiences to come, yet none of this would have been possible without the support and generosity of my friends, family and colleagues. So as I prepare myself for the journey to come, it seems only fitting to send out one last THANK YOU.

Grassroot Soccer: A Primer

As I'm entering the final countdown here in the good ol' US of A, I wanted to take a few moments to introduce Grassroot Soccer, talk about what the organization does, where they work, and in what capacity/area I will be contributing. I'm also going to try (emphasis on the word try) to attach some youtube videos, produced by GRS, to help further your understanding of how this program is implemented at a "grassroots" level.

Grassroot Soccer: A Primer

Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is a South African based NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that uses the global power of soccer in the fight against HIV and AIDS. GRS seeks to utilize the international popularity of soccer as a vehicle for delivering critical information and education about HIV/AIDS to kids and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa. By fusing soccer with more traditional approaches (in global health) like social theory, public health methodologies and research/development, GRS has created one of the most innovative and effective HIV prevention programs in the world.

As an intern for GRS I will be assisting with every aspect of the program, from research and fundraising to education and curriculum development. More specifically, I will be assisting in the planning and implementation of youth-targeted HIV prevention programs, networking with community organizations, promoting GRS programs and services, planning and coordinating community events and helping to monitor and evaluate the program's success.

Quick Facts

· GRS was founded by former professional soccer players in 2002 and is supported by organizations such as The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNAIDS, Nike, The Ford Foundation, Sony, Barclays and many more.

· Last year, on March 4th, Grassroot Soccer was named one of three winners of the Ashoka/Nike Sport for a Better World Collaborative Competition. In all, 382 Sports for Development organizations from 69 countries submitted entries for the collaborative competition.

· Numerous formal evaluations-conducted by Stanford University's Children's Health Council, consultants from The Population Council and The Harvard School of Public Health, and researchers from Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Cape Town-have documented Grassroot Soccer's effectiveness.

· GRS has provided comprehensive HIV prevention and life skills education to more than 270,000 young people throughout sub-Saharan Africa.

And so it begins...almost

Well, my Grassroot Soccer (GRS) journey has officially begun...almost. I still have to work out some of the logistical aspects of actually getting to Africa. This small detail is unfortunately proving more difficult than I initially anticipated, especially given my natural inclination to...um...procrastinate. Fear not though, my Mom has gone into full time "nag mode" (just kidding mom, sort of) and it's beginning to look like I may actually make it to South Africa after all. I still have some details to smooth out and the not so small task of packing, but other than that, I'm just about ready to go. I will post more information about my location, job and GRS a little later, I'm still trying to figure this whole blog thing out.