“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” - LAO TZU

I have a large backpack of my own gear and a massive duffel stuffed to the brim with pens, pencils, goalkeeper gloves and jerseys, plus shorts and socks all courtesy of the 2009 Dynasty Goalkeeping students!  I only wish I could lug more over to donate.  Let the adventure begin!  Out of my comfort zone, far from the land of plenty, and into Africa I go!

Actually the next stop is Washington DC, then Rome, then Addis Ababa, and finally Dar Es Salaam, TANZANIA!  A few good books, my snacks (I never leave home without my snacks!) and an iPod will hopefully get me through the next 24+ hours of flying.  Going there actually probably won’t be that bad however as there is always anticipation that gets you through.  And after months of pre-trip planning I have plenty of anticipation and excitement stored up.

Once I arrive in Dar my first ‘challenge’ will be linking up with fellow volunteer Brian Suskiewicz, whom I have never met.  Doubt he will have any problem finding the white girl with blonde hair.  I will stick out like a sore thumb.  We will spend a night in Dar recovering and the following day we plan to fly to Kigoma where will start volunteering on the 30^th.  We will be running sessions with teachers in the morning and then in the afternoons we will go to various schools around Kigoma to work with children.  I have been told that all of the teachers will speak English, so communication with them won’t be an issue.  The children on the other hand most likely won’t speak English, with the exception of a few words and phrases, so I have been studying some Swahili to learn a few words and numbers to help make communicating with them a bit easier.  I’m sure I will slaughter their language, but at a minimum it will make them laugh!  The bottom line is that if I just coach the way I do here; showing the activities with passion, energy, smiles, and laughter then the message will get across.  

In addition to our work in Kigoma we just found out that we will be traveling north to an area called Geita to work with teachers and children in that area as well.   Geita is close to Lake Victoria and is known for their gold mines.  While it will be Coaches Across Continents third year working in Kigoma, it will be our first in Geita, so we have no idea what to expect.  It is great that the local coordinator in Kigoma, Nico Pota, will be extending our reach in the short time we will be there.     

It is impossible to fathom what I will encounter, but everyone I have spoken with that has been to Africa has said the EXACT same thing, “It will change you and you will love it.”  So I am heading over ready to take in everything that this experience has to offer and eager to do what I can for the teachers and students of Kigoma. 

Recently I did an interview about my upcoming trip (keep an eye out for it on the UNC women’s soccer website next week http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/unc-w-soccer-body.html).  The reporter asked me, “What do you hope to accomplish?”.   Hmmm…I thought, good question.  It made me stop and reflect on the purpose of my trip, which I found to be a very valuable exercise so that I head out in a good frame of mind and a clear purpose. 

I am not so daft as to expect that I am going to change the lives of these children in 2 shorts weeks.  So why go at all then?  Well, first I think it is important to focus on the little things that can be accomplished in 2 weeks.  If I can help make a child smile, laugh, and bring joy and hope into their extremely difficult daily existence, then I will have succeeded.  If I can help show a teacher a new method of coaching from a positive, encouraging point of view versus a harsh, fear based, militaristic style, then I will have succeeded.  Those are things I am fully capable of achieving.

On a grander scale though, I hope to raise awareness and connect people here in the United States more intimately with the problems in Africa.  I will be the first to admit that I allow myself to become disconnected with the global community.  It is so easy to get caught up in our daily lives and sucked into our routine and the daily grind, the rat race of life, here in the U.S. that our circle of influence becomes very small.  We know that there are lots of problems in Africa….AIDS, malnutrition, poverty, political instability, genocide….but it is a continent away.  We feel we can’t do anything to help, and we are quite honestly happily disconnected from it and too busy with our own lives to do anything.  That has been me.  That is until I read an article in the UNC Alumni Review probably 5+ years ago.  The article was about Carolina For Kibera, an organization founded by UNC alumni, Rye Barcott.  It was such an impressive undertaking to me on many levels.  The article described the despicable, unsanitary, harsh conditions in the worst slum of Kenya and the soccer program CFK developed to help teach the youth in the community, bring hope and change, as well as the establishing a medical clinic and an educational center.  One of UNC’s former soccer players, Laura Winslow, was mentioned in the article for her involvement and volunteering in Kibera.  So that is how I first became ‘connected’ to some of the issues in Africa.  Over the years I have donated gear (balls, sports bras, cleats) and money to CFK to feel like (as most of us I think do) we are helping and ‘doing our part’.  Of course this is very valuable and critical to the sustainability of not-for-profit organizations, as certainly not everyone can volunteer their time.  In the back of my mind though, after reading about Laura’s experience, I thought it would be an amazing experience to travel over there to do the same thing.  A very tiny seed had been planted.  However, there was always something going on in my life (we ALL have things going on in our lives and always will) that made it unfeasible for me to even consider finding out what volunteering would even entail, let alone actually take steps towards committing towards it.  It simply was not a priority.

Fast forward a few years to 2007… I reconnected with CaC founder Nick Gates after his first trip through Africa.  He had just come back from a year long trip and was brainstorming the creation of Coaches Across Continents.  In speaking with him in person, seeing his photos, videos, and feeling the passion in his voice everything became tangible to me.  In the subsequent years I watched as fellow teammates of mine (Lorrie Fair, Cindy Parlow, and Anna Rodenbough) became involved with various organizations to volunteer in various countries around Africa.  Goalkeeper students of mine were volunteering in India and Africa.  Momentum was building inside of me to act.  The tiny seed that had been planted in me was starting grow.  Then once Nick got CaC off the ground it all became possible.  I was connected to a program and it was palpable.  Once that link was made I was compelled to help.  Instead of Africa being a world away and not my problem, an internal switch had been hit.  All of the reasons and excuses I previously had for not getting involved dissipated and were replaced with one thought, “how can I not act”.  It is such a small sliver of time, a blink of an eye; it is the LEAST I can do. 

I think most Americans, (actually most humans) want to help — whatever the cause may be, here locally or a continent away in Africa.  It is our nature as human beings to help, yet somehow we still flounder.  I believe that laying the groundwork and being given the platform to become involved is the critical link to action.  Once shown how we can help and given a path, everyone is eager to participate.  All we need is direction.  

So what do I hope to accomplish?  I want to raise awareness to get more people like myself involved.  Had it not been for Nick and CaC I would not have had the platform on which to act.  He provided the impetus to get me rolling and for that I am grateful.  Getting people SPECIFICALLY connected to an issue and a program is a big part.  So while I certainly hope to make an impact on the teachers, coaches, and children I interact with during the short time I am in Tanzania, I am realistic.  My time there is limited and there is only so much that can be accomplished in a short time.  The challenges are great and the issues many.  The more lasting effect I hope to have is drawing more people into the circle and encouraging more people to act.  Getting more people to flip the switch like I have is my hope.  That is what Nick and many others provided for me, so if I can pay that forward then I will feel as if I have made a difference.

Lastly, it is not too late to donate to this great cause.  I am just short of hitting my pre-trip fundraising goal of $6600.  If you haven’t already donated perhaps you will consider jumping on board at this time to help me reach my target?  Every bit helps, so THANKS!  You can pay with a check or even easier through the secure First Giving website www.firstgiving.com/tracynoonan with a credit card.  Also, as mentioned in my previous blog entry, a private foundation has committed to matching all donations that end in the amount of ‘27’ up to the amount of $27,000!  So by donating with an amount that ends in $27 ($27, $127, $1027, etc) your money will count twice!  How cool is that!?!?  To find out more about the CaC Matching Donation Program go to: http://sportingcommunities.edwardswan.com/?p=2267

Remember your investment CHANGES LIVES!

Tracy

I am about to leave Malawi which means that I am roughly halfway through my journey in Africa. I have volunteered in South Africa and Malawi and still need to go to Tanzania and Zambia. So what has Malawi been like? Even though it seems like I just arrived yesterday, in reality I have been here a month. I have met literally hundreds of people, have memories that would normally fill up an entire year and which will last me a lifetime.

Old Malawi Flag (1964-2010)

New Flag! (July 29, 2010)

Malawi is a place of eternal optimism. They know that they are improving as a society and see the present and future as a bright shining beacon of hope. To illustrate this they even changed their flag during my visit! It used to be a sun rising over a horizon indicating the dawn and promise of a new country but the new flag now has the sun represented in full midday blaze. This is a country with obvious problems of poverty, infrastructure, and health/social issues such as malaria and street children. And in the face of these problems you have a smiling populace attacking their challenges head-on with groups such as Play Soccer Malawi.

Abel and Brian

I have never met a man more happy than Play Soccer’s program manager Abel Mkandawire who sings and smiles and laughs more in a day than a room full of kindergarteners. He has been our unofficial guide through the city and making sure that we get to every training session by navigating the confusing mass of minibuses. It was raining and cold and windy last week and he kept bee-bopping like Bobby McFerrin who sang the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy!” Maybe smiling in the face of adversity is a way to cope with the difficulties he sees daily as he helps to implement the Play Soccer three-pronged curriculum of Health, Social, & Soccer in the three extremely impoverished communities of Bangwe, Ndirande, and Chigumula. Or maybe he smiles because he gets to work outdoors with children and dedicated volunteer coaches from the communities. Or maybe he is smiling because he sees that over the past five years of working with Play Soccer Malawi he really is making a difference and knows that he will continue making a difference.

As I look back on my last month here I have to ask myself whether I made a difference and will that difference continue after my departure? While I was here I had a chance to design a week-long teacher/coach education program with my Coaches Across Continents colleagues Tommy Yikes and Phil Larrett. It seemed really well received and was taught at all three sites. We could see real improvement when the Play Soccer volunteer coaches took control to do their field practical sessions. I hope that the confidence they earned during our course will translate to their sessions with the kids when the Play Soccer program resumes at the start of the school year. If that happens then our mission here is a success and we will have indirectly helped 5,000 kids who need it most.

Phil Larrett, Walter Manda (FAM and PS Malawi President), Patricio Kulemeka (PS Malawi Country Program Manager), and Me

I also have been working with Play Soccer Country Program Manager Patricio Kulemeka and Board of Director President Walter Manga (who is also the Football Association of Malawi president) to design and implement a fundraising strategy. Like most NGOs, Play Soccer has a constant struggle for finances. Great programs that need funds always seem to get too little to be able to reach everyone that they need to. The new fundraising strategy we devised needs to raise money locally through corporations and events so that Play Soccer can sustain and maybe even expand their great program into more impoverished communities throughout Malawi. We have targeted several promising companies and set up meetings and proposals so hopefully these will bear fruit in the coming months.

Too good a picture not to use again!

I guess the hard part for me is that I will not see the end result of the efforts that we have put in this month on the field and in the office. The results will only be seen by those who live here. It will only be seen after years of work with the kids when they become graduates of the Play Soccer curriculum and grow into mature, healthy, socially responsible adults on whom the future of Malawi will be built. Maybe that is the real reason people are always smiling here. They know that good work is being done, and that it will bear fruit in the long term. Malawians are smiling because they know the future is bright, while I am a bit sad because I will be leaving and will not see this result except from afar. Maybe I need to adopt more of Abel’s attitude and just scat and bee-bop my way through life confidently knowing that the sun will be always be shining on Malawi.

For my first Malawi Smiles blog please Click Here

All Smiles in Malawi!

Despite being in Africa (South Africa) for nearly two months, it feels like I have finally arrived in what I imagined Africa to look like when I touched down in Blantyre, Malawi.  This country is commonly referred to as “The warm heart of Africa” with good reason.  The people are all very welcoming, extremely kind, and show their great smiles day and night.  They are also for the most part very, very poor with 65% of the country living on less than $1 per day.  It is in these extremely poor communities that Play Soccer Malawi is currently working.  They have three sites just outside Blantyre and in each of these sites they get up to 800 kids per session.  These 800 kids are taught the Play Soccer curriculum by 30 volunteer coaches who never have more than 20 balls between them and a limited number of cones.  Their “pitch” is actually a giant dirt/dust field with rocks scattered about along with some broken glass and random holes.  Did I mention that almost every kid is barefoot?

Soccer Game at Ndirande

Despite what you may be thinking at the moment – I cannot believe how enthusiastic the children are to be playing football and working with Play Soccer.  Started in 2005, Play Soccer had only a few boys and girls.  Now they reach almost 5,000 children, 40% of whom are girls.  The Play Soccer curriculum has three main components: health, social development, and soccer.  Each practice will cover one topic in each of these area.  Some days kids might learn about infectious diseases (Health), teamwork (Social), and soccer and other days may focus on anti-drug messages (Health), solidarity (Social) and soccer.  Their curriculum lasts 48 weeks and their numbers have grown exponentially in the past few years and are expected to continue to do so – if they can continue finding sufficient funding.

Coaches Across Continents is now in the second year of its partnership with Play Soccer Malawi.  That brings me to my job here in Malawi – which is somewhat different than at WhizzKids United where I taught soccer sessions to educate against HIV (click here for last blog!)  This next month Tommy, Phil, and I will be working for one week at each of the Play Soccer sites (Ndirande, Bangwe, and Chigumula).  We will work with their volunteer coaches and provide them some of our ideas, experiences and expertise as professional football coaches and teachers so that hopefully they will improve as coaches and teachers themselves.  By working with their volunteers we ensure that we reach (indirectly) every child that participates with Play Soccer (almost 5,000!) while we are here.

Friendship and Smiles at Bangwe

Another aspect of our work here is also to run sessions with some of the Play Soccer children.  Already we have run several sessions for the children following the Play Soccer curriculum - teaching them life skills along with soccer savvy.  As I mentioned before the amount of energy that exists in the sessions and on the streets watching kids play soccer with small balls made from plastic bags is impressive.  I have no doubt that their enthusiasm and passion for playing far exceeds anything I have seen in the United States on a daily basis.  Some of these kids will be rewarded on Wednesday, August 11th when they are official FIFA ball-boys/girls and accompany the players onto the pitch for the Malawi vs. Botswana full national team game which is also a qualifier for the African Cup of Nations tournament.  A few extremely gifted players will be putting on a juggling demonstration for the 90,000 fans at halftime.  If you check out the game on TV – look for the Play Soccer kids!

Innovative goalposts - removed every night so they aren't taken for firewood!

Our final work task here involves working with Patrick and Abel who run Play Soccer Malawi in order to assist them with fundraising.  At the moment it is difficult for everyone around the world financially – but we are attempting to set up a local fundraising model so that Play Soccer Malawi can become more self-sufficient and sustainable.  With these local funds we hope to be able to purchase more equipment, snacks for the participants, and expand into future communities and reach even more children in the coming year.

July 26th by Coach Brian:  KwaZulu-Natal is a province of ten million people located in the eastern portion of South Africa and home to the well-known city of Durban.  The Umgungundlovu District is an area within KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) which houses the provincial capital city of Pietermaritzburg and the township of Edendale.  The Umgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal, and South Africa are home to some staggering statistics when it comes to HIV and AIDS.

• 39.1% of people aged 15-49 in KwaZulu-Natal have HIV.
• 45.7% of pregnant women aged 15-49 in Umgungundlovu District are HIV positive.
• South Africa has an HIV-prevalence rate of 16.9% (ages 15-49) and 10.9% over all age groups.
• South Africa has 5.7 million citizens infected with HIV (the most worldwide).*

In short, the Umgungundlovu District and KwaZulu-Natal province is the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS crisis, both in South Africa and globally.

What Will The Future Hold For These South Africans?

This year Coaches Across Continents has partnered up with local NGO WhizzKids United (WKU).  For the past month I have been working in KZN, fully integrated into WKU’s curriculum.  Formed in 2005, WhizzKids United provided a revolutionary new approach to HIV prevention, one that uses football as an analogy to teach life skills to young people.  The target audience focuses on 11-16 year olds in the hope that they can educate, form behaviors, and create social norms that will lead to healthy decisions and will keep these individuals HIV free for their entire lives.  They also aim to prevent any future spread of HIV for positive-testing individuals.  WKU has three main pillars of their curriculum and have piloted these three programs in the township of Edendale (Umgungundlovu District).  These are their Life Skills Program, Peer Education Program, and Health Academies.

Life Skills Program, Clarence Primary School

My primary role in working with WKU is teaching their Life Skills Program.  This is a 16-hour program that draws analogies between football and life.  Using football games during the lessons makes the learning both fun and interactive.  Children come away from the course empowered with the knowledge, self-efficacy and skills they need to practice healthy behavior.  The Life Skills Program meets the requirements of the nationally mandated Life Orientation curriculum and is provided at primary and secondary schools during grades 5 to 7.  I have been working at Clarence Primary School in KZN.  We are approximately halfway through the course and currently the kids are learning about how HIV operates, how it leads to AIDS, and what they can do to ensure that they remain HIV negative.  The ABCs of remaining HIV negative are Abstinence, Be Faithful, and Condomise.  Even though the children I have been working with are only in grade 5 (most are around 11 years old), I believe they have a far superior understanding regarding HIV and sexually transmitted diseases than their American or European counterparts.  I just hope that this understanding leads to better life decisions down the road for them and for all of South Africa.

Coach Brian Using Soccer to Teach Life Lessons, Clarence Primary School

The second pillar of WKUs curriculum is their Peer Education Program.  They identify strong peer leaders during the Life Skills program and train them to be Peer Educators with an additional 10-hour course.  These Peer Educators then run a 12-hour course for their classmates.  This allows them to reinforce the Life Skills lessons and facilitate discussions which can positively influence peer group norms.  Outside the classroom, Peer Educators also serve as an approachable front-line source of help for troubled youth who might be too intimidated to go to an authority figure.

WKU's Health Academy provides a place for kids to go to learn about HIV and have fun!

I have also been spending some time at the Edendale Health Academy (opened June, 2010) which is WKU’s third and potentially biggest initiative to combat HIV.  The concept behind their Health Academies is to serve an exclusively adolescent patient population with vital clinical services such as HIV testing, counselling, treatment and management of sexually transmitted diseases, administration and management of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, and psycho-social support groups for kids living with HIV/AIDS.  The staff is fully qualified and received additional training to meet the needs of adolescents.  It also features a football pitch (currently a pavement area until the government paperwork is processed) and in the future will house a computer resource centre.  Long term the Edendale Health Academy will offer other services such as football leagues, homework clubs, career guidance, and educational videos.  The goal is to have WKU Health Academies throughout South Africa in the near future and to make them as youth-friendly as possible which will increase the number of kids willing to access their life-saving health services.  In my work at the Edendale Health Academy the thing I liked best was that it was for kids only.  No adults!  We were free to play lots of games, educate them through games about HIV, and they were able to access qualified nurses and counselors.  Although it is only in their first few months of operation, when I was there it was used by nearly 100 kids one day.  Hopefully this first academy is very successful and that they are able to expand throughout South Africa.

Life Skills Program World Cup Tournament, Edendale 2010

My work with WhizzKids United is coming to an end this week and I would like to provide a few thoughts about my time here.  The scope of the HIV problem in KZN and South Africa is astonishing and could be disheartening.  It is not a problem that can be solved overnight or even in a few years.  It will take an entire generation for the statistics to change dramatically.  However WKU is rolling up their sleeves and trying to attack the problem head-on, focusing on that next generation of soon to be adults.  I believe that in my short time working with WKU that I have helped to reach potentially hundreds of youths – and perhaps they are a bit more educated about HIV and their future behaviors will keep them safe and healthy.  That is the only way to reach the final goal – which is to have an HIV-free generation in the future, in the Umgungundlovu District, the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, and the world as a whole.

What Will The Future Hold For These South Africans?

World Cup Style Tournament in the Lamontville township

Hanging with the kids at Edendale Health Academy

Posted by Coach Anna

I’m gonna miss this beautiful face.

We had done a few sessions with the Straight Talk schools before they left, and we continued with our work once they went. Always the same, never changes. Our first week of sessions focused on teaching the kids about choices they can make to be healthy and strong throughout their lives. These kids have so many things going against them, but if they can work to keep their bodies strong, then they have more than a fighting chance.

One of the kids letting loose during the Circle of Friends!

While I was still in Busia, we worked with about ten schools. Although we played the same games with each school group, every session was different. When you are doing football for development, you find very quickly that every session offers a different opportunity to talk about what is relevant to a particular group of kids. That was definitely the case in Busia, where sometimes we working with young kids, sometimes older kids, sometimes boys, sometimes girls, sometimes footballers, sometimes not, and the list goes on and on.

One thing that never changes – the big smiles on the children’s faces.

We had some schools that were very receptive to the games and were eager to work with us right from the get-go, and other schools where the sessions were on the verge of disaster at one point or another. I think my favorite day was when we walked about 2 or 3 miles to our morning session, did the session for an hour or so with over 100 kids, walked 2 miles back to town, had fish and chips at the community snack pub, tried to get on the internet unsuccessfully for a couple hours, walked a mile or two to our afternoon session (a walk which took us by a lovely pit filled with slaughtered goat guts and blood – probably the nastiest thing I have EVER seen/smelled in my life – oh and it was 20 yards from a school), almost had to stop the session 20 minutes in because of how unenthused the kids were, and then ended up having one of the best sessions ever. It was a long and hard day, but very fulfilling in the end!

Our biggest problem doing the sessions in Busia was that we were supposed to have 40 or fewer kids every time (mostly for safety reasons), but it usually ended up being closer to 80 because once we would start, every kid in sight wanted to join. You would think it would be somewhat easy to regulate that, but you would think WRONG. Since all the kids were in school with the same uniform on, we couldn’t figure out which ones were supposed to be there and which ones weren’t.

Most of the 100 or so kids chasing JB during Ronaldo tag.

Unfortunately, at some of the schools where we had issues with numbers, some of the teachers would beat the kids back with sticks…NOT good. It’s one of those things where you can’t disagree more with something, but there’s nothing you can do to actually stop it because it is a culturally acceptable practice. At one point, JB asked a guy to stop and the guy agreed before immediately hitting another child. UGH. Anyways, we never had any control over the numbers, no matter how much we insisted on the 40 person limit.

We went a little over the 40-kid limit in this session…

On my last day in Busia, we had a session at Dabani Girls School, a boarding school just outside Busia town. As we were waiting down at the playing field, we could do nothing but laugh and shake our heads as a steady stream of girls just kept coming down the hill. I think we must have had around 150 girls in that session, and somehow it worked. A lot of times we have a hard time getting the girls to participate because they are embarrassed or don’t want to exercise, but this group was really into after getting over their initial reservations.

Girls ROCK.

I think they were the most intelligent group of kids I worked with in Busia – they were answering all of our questions with ease and picked up all of the drills very quickly. It was a great way to end my work with CaC, pulling out an extremely effective session with 150 of the future female leaders of Uganda.

On my last night in Busia, we went out to town to watch the USA-England game. World Cup fever is crazy everywhere in Africa, including the small border town of Busia. I went to the Community Snack Pub with Rich, JB, and Jess, one of the six American students volunteering at New Hope this summer. So we had three Americans and one Englishman – a perfect ratio in my mind. As if JB and Rich don’t argue enough already (they are basically like an old married couple that bickers more than the average old married couple), the game provided an excellent platform for some incredibly intelligent debate. The American legion (including myself) was making quite a spectacle, cheering and chanting in the small “pub,” where our group was joined by several Ugandans who were mostly pulling for England. When England scored 4 minutes into the game, Rich was quite unsportsmanlike – cheering, pointing down at us, exclaiming things like “FOUR minutes, HA,” and even sending me a lovely text message that read “1-0.” I’m not gonna lie, we felt a little deflated, but like true Americans we were resilient and rose up to the challenge before us. Clint Dempsey fired an excellent albeit completely savable shot that somehow trickled past Robert Green, and WE WERE BACK IN IT. Naturally, the American legion stood up, cheered loudly, pointed in Rich’s face, and someone who shall remain unnamed (initials ALR) sent a text message to Rich that read “1-1.” The rest of the game was thoroughly enjoyable and very exciting in stretches, especially when Jozy Altidore hit the post and Tim Howard made countless saves in the last ten minutes (resulting in 19203761 near heart attacks for me). The game ended 1-1 and Howard was named Man of the Match, although I think it was equally deserved by Robert Green for his much appreciated gift. The night was another great experience watching football in Africa…you just can’t beat it.

The next morning I was scheduled to leave on a bus to Nairobi at 10:30 am. Ken offered to take me to the bus station, so I was hoping to leave around 9:30 since I had to go through customs first. Well, Ken and his wife had to take their son to the medical clinic that morning but said they would be back. Ken was unreachable until 10:15, at which point I was freaking out about time and about the fact that my shoes had mysteriously disappeared. Both problems were solved when I finally got Ken on the phone and he walked through the door 5 minutes later wearing my shoes. I said goodbye to my other two musketeers, Rich and JB, and then headed off with Ken and Susan to the border.

A typical Busia road scene.

We went through customs without much hassle (my Kenyan visa was still good for a few more days so I didn’t have to pay anything), and then walked across to the Akamba bus station, arriving around 11. I walked up to the counter and asked the guy if the the Nairobi bus was still there and he told me I was late. So I almost died on the spot because I thought I had missed the first ever ON TIME bus in Africa…until I asked again if the bus was still there and he then responded “Yes, it’s just over there.” WHY COULDN’T YOU JUST SAY THAT THE FIRST TIME???? So I got on the bus and kissed Busia goodbye, as the street kids were yelling at me through the window asking for my money and my soda.

Although I’m back in Nairobi now, I’m really excited about the potential impact that our CaC program with New Hope and Straight Talk can have on the community of Busia.

Bashir, me, Rich, and JB reppin’ Straight Talk.

Clearly, the kids there are facing some really serious issues and I think that football can be an incredibly effective tool to teach them about the CHOICES they have in their lives and keep them from becoming just another statistic. It was a new experience for me to be leading a CaC program, but I am really happy with how the program is shaping up and I feel confident leaving the program in the capable hands of Harvard’s finest football/debate duo of all time, Richard Smith and John Bryant.

Rich and JB with a group of kids.

As long as they don’t die from inadequate levels of meat consumption (the meals provided at the house are quite starchy and not so proteiny), I think they are going to leave a lasting mark on Busia…and most certainly come away with something in return.

To donate to CaC’s work in Africa, please click here!

To see more pictures from Busia, please check out the following links!

Busia 1

Busia 2

Busia 3

I just completed my last program with Coaches across Continents for the summer. Before I get all nostalgic on you (that will be in a later post once I’ve had adequate time to reflect on my experiences), I’d like to share a little bit about our program in lovely Busia, Uganda.

Nick, Sophie and I took a bus over to Busia from Kisumu on June 2nd. Busia is on the Kenya/Uganda border, so we had to get off the bus and go through customs on foot.

The bus to Busia…almost empty, which was nice.

Everything went well until we had to pay for the Ugandan visas. Nick went through without any problems. I was a little short of the $50 fee (which they make US citizens pay in USD), so Sophie gave me a $5 bill…or so she thought. Turns out the bill was counterfeit, so the guy thought I was trying to use counterfeit money. AWESOME. Luckily Nick had a little US money too, so I was okay. But then it came time for Sophie to go through. She got her wallet out to pay and realized that her $100 bill was missing – she thinks it was stolen at our hotel in Kisumu – and immediately we had some issues. Since they refused to take anything but USD (even though Sophie is a French citizen), Nick and Sophie had to compile enough money in Euros and then exchange with the money changers outside the customs office. That proved to be really fun when Nick got someone to agree on an exchange that way favored us, then grabbed the money from the guy as quickly as possible and gave it to Sophie to pay. She got her visa, but then we had to wait for Nick and the exchange guys to exchange pleasantries, if you will, for a few minutes before they finally agreed and we walked away unscathed. It was really quite a funny experience.

After customs, we got our bags off the bus and were met by a few people from New Hope Orphanage, the CaC partner group in Busia. New Hope was founded and is run by an incredible man named Ken Mulago. Ken has worked to provide a place that houses and feeds 75 children. There are also about 200 kids who attend primary school at New Hope or are given scholarships to attend secondary schools in the community.

Ida, one of the New Hope orphans…absolutely precious.

On the night that we arrived, Ken took us to the orphanage to meet the kids. As soon as we pulled up, a hundred kids came pouring out to greet us, every single one of them shaking our hands and saying “You are most welcome!” Then we went into a hall and were given a warm welcome through song and dance. It was an incredible experience, being welcomed with open arms by those smiling kids who were complete strangers to us but knew we were coming to work with their orphanage.

For the first couple days in Busia, we had meetings with Ken to decide what our project in Busia would entail. We all decided that it would be best to do a community outreach program so that we could do sessions with school children and teachers all over Busia and have a wider impact on the community. So New Hope and Coaches across Continents joined forces with a Ugandan-based organization called Straight Talk, which works with adolescents in the community to talk about issues like HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy and marriage, and sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation is a big problem in Busia, since it is a border town and has a very transient population. Many women and girls in Busia are sex workers – some by choice and some by force. The head of Straight Talk in the region is an amazing young man named Bashir, who has basically committed his life to the welfare of the young people in Busia.

Bashir joining in on the fun with CaC.

He has extended the Straight Talk to many schools and thousands of adolescents in Busia. Along with Ken and Bashir, we developed a program that will involve CaC coaches doing 5 sessions each with 16 different schools that have Straight Talk programs, over a period of eight weeks.

The letter to be handed out to all of the headmasters of the schools we are working with.

It is a little different than most CaC program since we are working a lot with kids and only indirectly with teachers/coaches who come out to watch the sessions. However, we hope that Bashir will help to train his staff so that they can incorporate the football games into the Straight Talk curriculum!

After a few days in Busia, we were joined by a new brigade of coaches who are beginning their work with CaC – Steve from Switzerland, Ivan from Venezuela/New York City, Rich from England/Harvard, and JB from New York/Harvard.

JB, Ivan, Rich, and Sophie during a staff meeting…so serious!

Also joining in on the fun was Deb, one of the members of the CaC business team! Deb is my favorite person in the entire world because she brought me Snickers (because they are life-saving), Carmex (because my lips have been sunburnt for the last 2 months), and a CamelBak (because mine has a leak). ALL THE ESSENTIALS. During the wonderful few days with the whole crew, we had a few meetings, did some staff trainings, and had LOTS of laughs. On the field, us veteran coaches taught the new staff the CaC coaching style (aka FUN) as well as many of the games from our curriculum.

Deb and Steve participating in the Circle of Friends as Sophie and Ivan look on.

We did the training by running sessions with the kids from New Hope, but we ended up having a lot of random kids joining in. When you bring out a football, every kid in Busia comes running…halfway the first day (which started about two hours late in another shining example of “African time”), there were so many kids that Sophie and I had to take all of the non-New Hope kids and play random games with them so they weren’t completely left out of the fun.

Me with one of the kids hanging out at the field.

The only problem was, we had no balls, no cones, and tons of kids of all ages, many of whom spoke little English. The result was one of the best sessions ever, consisting of some Duck, Duck, Goose, some half-field races, us making animal noises and faces for the kids, me showing off my dance moves and teaching the chicken dance, and Sophie taking the kids on a little running/skipping/jumping trip all around the field. After that late-starting and crazy session, we decided to do training at the house in the afternoon, teaching HIV education games to the new staff in a much more tranquil setting.

That evening, we received another, even more incredible welcome from the kids at New Hope. In addition to the new CaC coaches in town, there were also some American volunteers who had just arrived to New Hope, so it was a huge celebration.

Some of the girls singing for us, with the other New Hope kids looking on behind.

This time, it was an outdoor ceremony with more song and dance, and we even got to join in on some of the traditional dancing! We were walking around shaking our butts while wearing grass skirts, which was absolutely hilarious to take part in and to watch. I wish I had pictures, but I was too busy getting down to catch the moment on film. I’m not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most enjoyable and memorable evenings of my entire life.

All of the CaC staff and other New Hope volunteers enjoying the welcoming festivities.

During the few days with the entire staff in Busia, it was almost like being at summer camp – especially when the power went off for three and a half days and we had no lights, no running water, and no access to the outside world. Why wasn’t there any power, you might ask? A big storm, faulty infrastructure, or a bad connection coming into the house? NOPE…turns out some jerks had cut the power lines so that they could sell them across the border, resulting in a 3 1/2 day power outage for the entire town of Busia. HOPE IT WAS WORTH IT. Apparently, the power has gone out for two weeks at a time in the recent past, so I guess we were lucky! Unfortunately, Deb, Ivan, Steve, Sophie, and Nick headed up to the Pader region of northern Uganda to start another program before the power returned, so they didn’t really get to experience the blackout in all its glory. When the power finally came back on, I was literally dancing and screaming with joy as we were all sitting in the main room eating dinner. I’m not gonna lie, I truly appreciate the modern world sometimes…I guess I’m just a spoiled American.

To be continued…

If you would like to donate to CaC’s work in Busia and across the world, please click here.

It has been a few months since my last post so I wanted to catch you up on my pre-trip planning for Tanzania.  No I haven’t gone yet!  In case you forgot my trip is not until late August into September.  There is a lot to do and plan as getting to Africa is no small task.  Since there is no trip coordinator, no travel agent, and no pre-trip planning handbook I have spent a lot of time on the internet investigating and learning.  Fortunately, I have had several months to gradually chip away at it all.  I’ve also been calling and emailing lots of friends who have gone to Africa to get as much insight as possible.

Christian Aviza – Coaches Across Continents volunteer who spent last summer working in Kigoma, Tanzania where I will be (as well as other locations)

Lorrie Fair – UNC ’96-99, US-WNT – www.thekickabout.org

Ashley Riggs – UNC ’91-95 – Summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Anna Rodenbough – UNC ’05-’08 – www.africa2010orbust.blogspot.com

Sonja Trojak France – UNC ’92-‘95 – visited Kibera slums in Kenya

See the Tarheel connection?!?!  Lorrie and Anna are actually both in Africa as we speak.  So check out their blogs!  They are both doing amazing work all over Africa and I am learning a TON from their adventures. 

MEDICAL PREP – Malaria is just one of the many health risks with traveling to Africa.  There are plenty of other diseases, parasites, bacteria, etc to be aware of.  It’s been quite a while since I have been immunized thus I had a lot of catching up to do.  There is a long list of health concerns when traveling to Tanzania, so I chose to immunize against the ones that I felt had the highest risk: Yellow Fever, typhoid, Hepatitis A&B, meningitis, and an adult polio booster.  In addition I will be taking anti-malaria drugs and have an anti-diarrheal on hand should I have that issue.  From what I have been told apparently no matter how careful you are about not drinking the water, not using ice, and not eating  fruit or veggies washed in the water it is still hard to avoid nasty bouts of diarrhea.  Surprisingly the UNC Travel Clinic allowed me to get all my shots in one day!  Certainly more convenient, but I would have expected that they would have recommended spacing out the shots so as not to overwhelm my immune system?!?!  Instead I left feeling much like a pincushion. 

In the process of investigating about the health risks and getting immunized I learned some staggering and shocking facts on the diseases:

• HIV/AIDs is estimated to be present in 6% of the adult population of Tanzania, putting it in the top tier of all countries.
• Tuberculosis is common in all developing countries.  However, Tanzania has a prevalence of over 100 cases per 100,000 population, the highest WHO (World Health Organization) risk category.
• The parasitic disease malaria is responsible for a staggering 1 million+ deaths per year.  The majority are children under the age of five.  A child dies every 30 seconds from malaria.  This death rate can be DRASTICALLY reduced with the simple use of a $10 mosquito net, which many Africans do not have. Today, 90 per cent of malaria cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa.  This would be why I will be traveling with my own mosquito net, using lots of bug spray, and taking my malaria drugs!
• Yellow fever, a viral disease that occurs primarily in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa and South America, kills 30,000 each year.  The virus is transmitted most often through the bite of the female Aedes aegypti mosquito. Once controlled fairly well by widespread vaccination and mosquito control, the disease is making a comeback and outbreaks are becoming more frequent.
• Measles, a viral respiratory infection, killed over 500,000 children in 2003, more than any other vaccine-preventable disease. The measles death toll in Africa is so high – every minute one child dies – that many mothers don’t give children real names until they have survived the disease.

These are just SOME of the diseases that children and people in third world countries have to fight on a daily basis with little to no health care.  Aren’t we all so fortunate!

FLIGHTS – Getting to Africa is not like flying cross country or even to Europe for that matter.  I spent hours and days investigating various flights, routes, and costs on Orbitz, Priceline, Expedia, and Kayak.  I tried every possible combination of airlines and routes to keep costs as low as possible so more money can go to Coaches Across Continents.  I finally settled on a flight(s) that has me traveling from Raleigh-Durham, NC to Washington DC, to Rome, Italy to Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, and FINALLY to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania in a mere 27 hours!  $1650 later my trip is booked via EthiopiaAir (shockingly that is the cheapest fare available 3+ months out from my travel date!)  Problem is that only has me part of the way!  Once I get to Dar I will still need to catch a flight from Dar, which is on the east coast of Tanzania, to Kigoma, where I will be volunteering, which is on the westernmost border of the country.  Getting that flight booked has proven quite difficult as there aren’t many airlines/flight options in Tanzania.  It is not like the US where there are multiple airlines, lots of choices, and airline agents you can call for assistance.  Most Tanzanians cannot afford to fly, so there simply is no demand for the massive airline infrastructure like we have.  Thus I am currently struggling to figure out a way to book the one flight from Dar to Kigoma that I can find on Air Tanzania through an agent since the AirTanzania website, email, and phone don’t seem to be functioning.  To quote Lorrie Fair,

“T-I-A (This is Africa!) You will see anything and everything and when you think you’ve seen it all, you will see something new.”

My camps start this Thursday, June 10^th and run the next 7 weeks through to July 26^th.  It will be a busy summer and August 27^th will be here before I know it.  I am already feeling excited, apprehensive, anxious and nervous all at the same time.  Several of you have asked me if I am still fundraising for the trip.  Yes, I am!  So far I have raised $2155, and, therefore, I am 32% of the way to my $6600 goal.  A HUGE thank you to all who have donated, your generous donations will cover my flights (the inside Tanzania flight will likely run $400-500). Additional donations will go to cover my entrance fee into the country, lodging and food expenses (minimal), and supporting the Coaches Across Continents program in Kigoma where I will be working.  If you are considering donating please understand that ANY amount will help, even $5!  You can pay with a check or in even easier through the secure First Giving website www.firstgiving.com/tracynoonan with a credit card.  It is quick and easy.  Seriously, by forgoing one Mocha, one Caramel Frappuccino, one Vanilla Latte, a movie out, a bottle of wine, a new pair of shoes or outfit that you don’t really need, etc you could be making a difference in the life of a child in Africa.  Your investment CHANGES LIVES!

I also want to tell you about another great fundraising program that Coaches Across Continents has just started.  A private foundation has committed to matching all donations that end in the amount of ‘27’ up to the amount of $27,000!  So by donating with an amount that ends in $27 ($27, $127, $1027, etc) your money will count twice!  How cool is that!?!?  To find out more about the CaC Matching Donation Program go to: http://sportingcommunities.edwardswan.com/?p=2267

• $127 buys a ball, pencil, shirt, and other program supplies for a child to participate in the program for three years.
• $527 enables a local teacher to participate in CaC’s train-the-trainer program where they learn skills to create a sustainable year-round program in their community.
• $1,027 supports a whole team of kids in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia or Haiti.
• $2,527 supports a CaC volunteer coach to work in Africa.
• $5,027 starts a new partnership between a local African NGO and CaC (we have a long waiting list).
• $10,027 becomes a founding investor in CaC and effect change throughout the world.
• $27,027 runs a full Hat-trick initiative for one year.

To end this blog I want to leave you with this quote that I read on Anna Rodenbough’s blog.  It seemed to sum up my thoughts and hopes for this journey I am on better than I could.

“The magic of travel is that you leave your home secure in your own knowledge and identity, but as you travel, the world in all its richness intervenes. You meet people you could not invent; you see scenes you could not imagine. Your own world, which was so large as to consume your whole life, becomes smaller and smaller until it is only one tiny dot in space and time. You return a different person.

Many people don’t want to be travelers. They would rather be tourists, flitting over the surface of other peoples lives while never really leaving their own. They try to bring their world with them wherever they go, or try to recreate the world they left. They do not want to risk the security of their own understanding and see how small and limited their experiences really are.

If we don’t offer ourselves to the world, our senses dull. Our world becomes small, and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don’t lift to the horizon; we don’t hear the sounds around us. The edge is off our experience and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days.

Travel, no matter how humble, will etch new elements into your character. You will know the cutting moments of life where fear meets adventure and loneliness meets exhilaration. You will know what it means to push forward when you want to turn back. And when you have tragedies or great changes in your life, you will understand, that there are a thousand, a million ways to live, and that your life will go on to something new and different and every bit as worthy as the life you are leaving behind.”  -  Unknown

The field where we were working in Kisumu is in the middle of a beautiful park with some places to eat, a merry-go-round, some places selling dresses or credit for your phone; there are people relaxing under a tree or playing pool at one of the restaurants. This creates a strong contrast with the street children who are wandering around the park. You can recognize them from their torn clothes that are the same day after day, some of the boys wearing a shirt that was clearly designed for little girls in a developing country, and from the bottle of glue they continuously place at the tip of their lips to be able to sniff without interrupting any of their activities (they are even able to run and play soccer with the bottle somehow stuck in their mouths). They say they sniff glue because it keeps them warm at night or because when the older boys hit them, it doesn’t hurt as much (an “initialization” to street life consists in being sodomized). Many of these children live in the street because they were abused at home or because their parents died (because of war or disease) and other relatives do not want to take care of them. We do not see the girls, but the boys who usually come and try to snatch a soccer ball to play with are between ten and eighteen years old. Their eyes stare into space and they waddle along and cannot stand straight. The glue makes them aggressive as well but their reactions are made ten times slower. However, they always get excited when we talk with them about soccer (they know more about the teams and players in Europe than most American children) and the opportunity to pass around the ball for thirty minutes before the beginning of our session must be a wonderful relief from the stress and tensions of street life.

Tyson and another boy with a bottle containing glue

But then comes the story of incredible little Tyson. Tyson is eleven years old and found himself in the streets after his parents died and his aunt, it seems, did not want to take care of him. Tyson is very clever and does not sniff glue because he sees its effect on the other boys’ eyes and behavior (this is what he told us). He leaves when there seems to be trouble and stays far away from the other “glue kids.” He is able to survive by selling empty water bottles (1 shilling for two bottles; 75 shillings = 1 dollar). However, he cannot have any money left over at the end of the day because it will get stolen at night. One morning he bought a fanta and a coke bottle and shared some fanta with other children. He owed Nick 1 shilling for some leftover chapati from tea break and the next day he came back brandishing a 1 shilling coin. We are so happy that he chose to join a center that welcomes street children called HOVIC. If we hadn’t been having our sessions, and if he hadn’t been interested in playing soccer, he wouldn’t have heard of HOVIC and who knows what could have happen to him.

Tyson's smile

HOVIC is a day center for street children and is run by many amazing staff members.There are teachers, counselors, social workers and nurses working at HOVIC, which is situated in an old garage. Some teachers help the children get ready for going back to school, others teach them carpentry or carving skills for them to be able to earn a living. When we visited the infirmary there was a boy laying down on the bed. The nurses told us that his little finger had been cut by members of the motorcycle mob who wanted to know where he had hidden some money he had stolen. HOVIC tries to find out why the children or adolescent ended up on the street and has for main goal to place them back in their homes, with a relative,or at boarding school that way they can go back to school. There is also a night shelter where the children can go if they want to (otherwise they go back on the streets for the night).

Playing with the street children at HOVIC

One afternoon we visited Tyson and the other thirty street children at the night center. They were all proud to show us their own beds and sang a song for us in their dormitory. One child knew all the players and most of the teams of the English Premier League (and told us that France was going to win the World Cup, I instantly liked him). Afterwards, I played soccer with them with a ball that they had made themselves. We stayed at the center for a few hours and talked with them. Many of them had come to the center after being taken to the police station one night. They said that the policemen beat them. One of the children had many cuts on his arms and had two huge scars right above his left eye. He said that his parents had done that to him. They started asking us a lot of questions about the United States and France, and how it was in our world (if there were street children, if I had parents and if I lived with them, what kind of food we eat, how long does it take to go to Europe or the US, how much does it cost…). They knew a little about the US because of what they saw in the action movies they like (they asked us if Schwarzenegger and Bruce Lee are still alive). I was impressed at how curious they were and how much they wanted to learn. It is amazing how different they are when they are not sniffing glue. Some of them have stayed at the center for two months, others – like Tyson – for only a few days.
We left, content that these children had a safe place to stay for the night and promising to come back in a few days.

If you want to help these street children and help Coaches across Continents change lives, you can donate here. Thank you!

Sophie

My excitement to work with Coaches Across Continents in Uganda grows daily while the FIFA 2010 countdown continues and the days until kick-off wane.  Currently, I stay in Cape Town, South Africa and study at the University of Cape Town as a semester abroad student from Occidental College located in Los Angeles, California.  I now consider Cape Town my home.  Living here since January, I am well acclimated to life as a Cape Townian.  However, I anticipate Uganda to be extremely different from Cape Town and cannot predict what adventures I will come upon once I finally reach Busia.

Cape Town along with much of the country, continent, and world eagerly and anxiously await June 11^th when the soccer World Cup begins.  The buzz around the World Cup is inescapable.  Billboards, such as one in city center reading, “A mountain to the left. A ocean to the right. And a stadium in the middle” and radio advertisements stand as constant reminders of the commencement of the biggest sporting event in the world.  Kwaito songs about Bafana Bafana, the South African National team blast from mini taxis on Main Road by day and from clubs on Long Steet by night.  People with fohawks (fake mohawks) of the South African flag litter the streets.  Street vendors haggle all sorts of merchandize including knock-off jerseys and the famous vuvuzela, the long horn blown by fans during games at the stadiums.

Soccer permeates all aspects of life in Cape Town.  Solidarity builds among fellow team supporters in the UEFA leagues.  Men and women alike socialize at their neighborhood bars such as Champs, Pig and Swizzle, or Cybar to watch the game.  Locals and UCT students alike play in the neighborhood park known as Syringe Park with rock goals or in the ‘Cage’ on campus.  Discussions over fantasy leagues ensue during lunch and dinner as well as predictions regarding games and players.

While in Cape Town, I play soccer at a juvenile boys prison called the Bonnytoun House of Safety with a program called Young in Prison.  Playing soccer at Bonnytoun here reminds me of my last summer spent playing soccer with the boys at the Tanzania Community Development Alliance (TACODA) in Arusha, Tanzania.  The boys at Bonnytoun and TACODA live very similar and different lives.  Both experience separation from their parents and families as orphans (TACODA) and inmates (Bonnytoun).  They have limited resources and agency in their lives due to their unfortunate circumstances.  However, the TACODA boys have a somewhat secure future in the hands of the organization that serves as their legal guardian and provides food, shelter, support, and love.  These children enroll and attend school whereas the Bonnytoun boys stay isolated inside their dorms all day with no productive activities.

Twice a week I play soccer with the Bonnytoun boys in their concrete courtyard.  They always sport an array of footwear, ranging from slippers to one Nike dunk on one foot and the other bare.  Often they are bare-footed while sometimes they have on black dress shoes.  They even played in pajamas on laundry day but expressed no embarrassment to be wearing the matching plaid pants and button up shirts outfit.  It is features like these that remind me of days on the dirt field in Arusha.  I recall one game with the TACODA team in which their opponent arrived wearing the same color uniform.  The team quickly and without hesitation or shame borrowed shirts from the junior team of younger players to wear in the game.  The shirts, were appropriately another color yet inappropriately tight and tiny on their more mature and muscular bodies.  This minor adjustment of a uniform change did not even delay the boys from beginning their warm up on time (well that is if you consider African time on time…the game was ’scheduled’ to have started 2 hours prior to when it actually began). The excitement over soccer and their joy to play is evident in each boys attitude and demeanor whether he thanks you for coming to play and talks for hours about his favorite team and future goals or simply he silently smiles after scoring a goal. Witnessing and experiencing the power that soccer has to transform people’s lives by giving them hope, an outlet to release stress, or a means to express themselves motivates me to use soccer as a tool for social change.  I look forward to start my work with Coaches Across Continents in Busia, Uganda!

-Grace

May 24th, 2010.

Exciting News!

Coaches across Continents receives challenge grant of $27,000

Help us meet this challenge! Coaches across Continents (CaC) recently received a challenge grant from a private foundation. The foundation will match any contribution dollar per dollar; basically doubling your contribution!

Your investment in CaC changes lives.

• $127 buys a ball, pencil, shirt, and other program supplies for a child to participate in the program for three years.
• $527 enables a local teacher to participate in CaC’s train-the-trainer program where they learn skills to create a sustainable year-round program in their community.
• $1,027 supports a whole team of kids in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia or Haiti.
• $2,527 supports a CaC volunteer coach to work in Africa.
• $5,027 starts a new partnership between a local African NGO and CaC (we have a long waiting list).
• $10,027 becomes a founding investor in CaC and effect change throughout the world.
• $27,027 runs a full Hat-trick initiative for one year.
• Other sized contributions are always welcomed and appreciated. All donations ending in ‘27′ will be added to the matching gift program

YES! I want to be part of the solution.

Please contribute on-line at www.coachesacrosscontinents.com or send your check to:

Coaches across Continents

24 St. Martins Drive, Unit 10

Marlborough, MA 01752

For more information please contact Nick Gates or Deb Glazer at nickgates@coachesacrosscontinents.com or deb_glazer@yahoo.com

Coaches across Continents partners with existing programs in developing communities to train teachers/coaches on how to effectively use football (soccer) as a tool to educate children on Health and Wellness/HIV-AIDS, Female Empowerment and Conflict Resolution. The partnerships result in the development of a new generation of community leaders, both teachers and children, who are able to respectfully examine local traditions and make informed choices about their futures. CaC doesn’t teach local teachers how to coach soccer, we teach them how to coach about life!

“We have attended other football training programs in Kenya but they do not address the real needs of our communities, they only teach professional football. Coaches across Continents is unique because it helps communities to grow.”

-Festus Juma, Oyugis, Kenya

In 2010 CaC will more than triple in size and serve over 90,000 children in some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities. We will leverage 16,800+ hours (equaling $386,000+) of volunteer time (coaches, medical students, professional footballers, etc…. who will travel to the countries to teach CaC’s curriculum and work in communities), and create sustainable programs that change kids’ lives.

Join our $27K challenge today!