Behind the mist the Sun is waiting for us…

At 9:30 am local time in Delhi, on Saturday 30 November, the dream became reality. After landing in India, in the arrival’s zone at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Suki is waiting for me. A young Indian, who as a good host shows me the bus I have to take and gives me the final instructions on how to get to Rurka Kalan.

I really enjoy my journey, on both sides of the highway there’s a different world: colorful turbans, endless beards, cows crossing the highway, but I always receive a smile and friendly greeting from everybody with whom I make eye contact. Ten hours later, here I am in the rural Rurka Kalan, greeted by Suny, the architect of my trip and a man full of energy whose effort and enthusiasm is contagious to all who participate in the project of the YFC academy. 

This project aims to create a center for youngsters of the region, hard working people, passionate about football and sports. I believe my role can support the organization and sports development, by contributing what I can in the training of physical education monitors, who one day may become great football coaches.

These two weeks in the Punjab valley have allowed me to experience a different society, a rural environment where one can easily miss aspects of a Western lifestyle, but where you can find tranquility and peace to continue to create a working model based on personal growth.  

Every day I hear a new language, Punjabi, which is like Euskera (the Basque language) for an elderly man from Seville. The children and the adult population do not really understand English, and although the trainers help with translations, I would really like to engage in conversations with people, learn about their worries or simply chat during mealtime with the academy’s residents.

"The day starts misty but all of us know that behind the mist,
the sun is waiting for us"

I wake up at six in the morning and take the first training session until eight, after having a nice Indian tea, thanks to my friend and great chef Sunu. After having breakfast with my colleagues, the children go to school and I stay in the office, to get a better understanding of the infrastructure and needs of this project. After enjoying a really spicy lunch, at 16:30 I complete the second training session of the day, every day with a different group, every day a different experience.   

At the moment, everything is going well. The community is starting to accept me as one of them, the Spanish coach that cycles a bike. I have discovered Kabbadi, a traditional wrestling sport played in Punjab that just celebrated its fourth World Cup.

Satsriakal friends!!!

Keep smiling!!!

Written by Xabi Martin Nebreda, Sport Network's volunteer