Meeting up with Roosevelt HS

Hi all,

Just wanted to update everyone that I officially met up with Roosevelt High School's Hands for a Bridge Program. The students were all staying with families (home stays) in Langa so I actually just met up with the teachers and parents who are on the trip. Had a great time, catching up, hearing what's going on at Roosevelt. I got to hear all about their trip and fill them in on what exactly I'm doing here in South Africa. A big shout out/thanks to all of the students, parents and teachers who carried the soccer jerseys that were donated by teams and families of SYSA (Seattle Youth Soccer Association). Hopefully I can get some pictures of the girls wearing the jerseys...relatively soon.

More Pictures

I'mmmmm Baaaaaack...and Pictures

Okay so I’m back again. I admit that I strayed somewhat from my New Year’s Resolution…well one of them anyway. But, unlike when I turned in homework late in high school, this time, I actually have a legitimate excuse. I spent last week up in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. I was working with one of our Master Coaches doing a ToC (training of coaches) for the Skillz 1.1 curriculum. As some of you may remember, Skillz 1.1 is our HIV and life-skills curriculum for the 11-14 age demographic (as compared to Generation Skillz). Unfortunately while I was up in Kimberly, South Africa, I came down with some sort of African Flu. I have spent the majority of last week and this week recovering, somewhat slowly I might add, but am hoping to return to the office next week.

On a separate note, I should also add that I finally purchased a cell phone in South Africa (cue roommates cheering) so now I can actually be reached via phone by friends, co-workers and in some cases - doctor’s offices.

In the coming weeks I will also be working with my bosses, Taylor Downs and Jeff Decelles, to come up with a brand new curriculum for our implementing partners in India. I’m hoping to adapt some of the ‘Skillz Builderz’ (in case your wondering yes, we at GRS are obsessed with adding the letter ‘z’ to words that end in ‘s’) into full curriculums. Right now they are simple soccer activities for the Skillz Street program. We had our first ToC for the new Skillz Street program (which is being financed by Elton John) the other week and the ‘Skillz Builderz’ tested very positively.

Alright, that’s all for now. Looking forward to meeting up with students from my old high school (go roughriders) who are in Cape Town as part of a class – called ‘Hands for a Bridge’ - that partners with two schools here in Cape Town, one Xhosa speaking and one Afrikaans speaking. The goal of the project is to help bridge the gaps through writing, art and performance. More on Hands for a Bridge in the coming posts. Also, very shortly, as in probably just a few minutes, more pics from my trip.

Later,

Graham

Holiday Travels and New Year's Resolutions

Well, it’s officially a New Year, which means, among other things, another chance to continue the great American pastime of “New Year’s Resolutions.” This year however, for the first time ever, I’m trying a new approach…well, at least a more realistic approach, for making these so-called "resolutions." And while it’s true the list lacks that flash and glamour of previous years (Manchester United isn’t looking for 24 year-old out-of-shape midfielders and Natalie Portman is engaged) I feel very confident this list will keep me more than occupied for the year to come. I won’t bore you with all the details but needless to say, one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get the blog back on track. And so, now that I’m back from my sub-Saharan travels I am officially re-beginning my blog.

Just a quick recap of the last month, I traveled for the holidays (28 days starting December 15th) with Jamison and Julie. Our Trek started out with a quick plane ride from Cape Town to Johannesburg where we spent a few days with friends before driving to Mussina and crossing the border into Zimbabwe. From there we rode a bus to Bulawayo and onto Victoria Falls. Spent a few days in Victoria Falls (white water rafted the Zambezi river, complete with crocodiles) before heading back to Bulawayo and onto Harare for Christmas. Spent Christmas in Harare, Zimbabwe. Took a bus to Muthare and crossed the border into Mozambique. Once in Moz we caught a taxi to Inshopwe where we spent a long night in a motel (and when I say motel I really mean four concrete walls and a corrugated tin roof, filled to the brim with malaria…I mean Mosquitos). After that, we took another bus to Maxixi where we caught a ferry (and by ferry I mean a slightly concave piece of wood) to Tofo. Spent eight days in Tofo, including New Years. From there we headed to Maputo, the capital of Mozambique and spent a few days (mostly recovering from Tofo) before heading back to Johannesburg and then down the Wild Coast to Mtubatuba, where we visited our friend Tim. And…that was the trip. I’m still semi baffled at 1) how little we actually planned out and 2) that we actually survived the whole trip and made all of our destinations.

And so with that, I have now officially started my blog (part deux) and plan – according to the longstanding rules of New Year’s Resolutions, to faithfully continue writing my blog…

Holiday travel pictures to follow.