The value of people

The chain of people, the value of favours, the mixture of phrases that help us move forward.

"I surprised everyone with my speciality,
pasta salad, for Christmas dinner" 

Today, I want to talk about the people, people that are vital to me in India. New friends who make me laugh, friends that explain ancient Punjabi traditions or translate interesting conversations. They are my “Pajis”, a term meaning “big brothers”.

I’ll be honest, during the Christmas season, I missed family, friends, the turrones, the roscones, and of course, thought lots about Ti… However, I took refuge in the smile of the residents of the academy. Like me, they were far from their loved ones but did not understand the reason for my sadness.

Sunny Paji, is the president of Rurka Kalan, but also a great friend who wishes me a good morning everyday. He greets me with a genuine smile and asks me if I need anything. He is a friend who in the evening joins me for a stroll around the football field, talking and dreaming of great projects. He is the friend who invites me for dinner and speaks to me with trust.

Gurinder Sir, is the operations manager, but also the friend who makes me laugh in the office and patiently translates and explains anything I do not understand.

Prateek Chawla is the project and development manager. He is young and passionate about football. He is a friend who stays up late with me to watch live games. He’s always willing to learn and develop.

Gary Paji, is the star man, not because he has over 1 million followers on facebook, but because he is a friend that talks to me about the needs of his village.

Badhu Paji, speaks Spanish and teaches me Punjabi. He is a person that you could spend hours listening to his stories. Budhu, lived in Boliva for two years, and travelled around South and Central America for 18 months.

I would also like to mention, Biri Paji, my Punjabi teacher…Raju Paji our driver… Shandip Paji, secretary and friend who is always full of optimisum…. and more, many more.

The rest is fine. A lot of children, a lot of football, courses with coaches that are willing to learn, celebrations for the “happy Lorhi” or “Maghi Festival”, and the start of the EFL, a football tournament for kids.

From somewhere within the Punjab valleys, where crops grow and sugar canes are cut, the Spanish coach that rides a bicycle is always passionate about telling his story.

Keep smiling!!!

Written by Xabi Martin Nebreda, Sport Network's volunteer

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

Pre-departure: Xabi's expectations

I will begin with a short introduction, my name is Xabi Martin, I am from Bilbao, Spain, and I am starting an exciting project with Sport and Cooperation Network (SCN) in the distant and colorful India.  I hope this trip will be magical, will continue to give me the opportunity to learn new ways of life, and to see if it is always as valid and correct as others think.

I have high expectations to continue training as a person and as a coach, to meet people that will share their life experiences with me and I am sure we will become friends for the rest of our lives, and I will be proud every time I tell a story of my time with them.

I have known the impact of cooperation for several years after taking the specific course in INEF in Madrid, together with the group DIM, a new field where licensed Physical Education teachers and coaches are continuing our variety of work.  The level of the cooperation that fills a person, makes one feel valuable and useful.  The long projects through SCN are a challenge for me, I hope being with the kids in India is a good experience for everyone, and we can open many doors for future collaborations.

Now to discuss the project in India, YFC Rurka Kalan, I hope the people are passionate for football; therefore we will already have something in common.  I hope to learn their football, their sports, and their organization, to be able to see spectacular sports together with them, something that I am passionate about.  If everything goes well, we will watch the Athletic Bilbao matches and I can recruit new supporters!

In 2008, I had a very rewarding experience when I worked on a cooperation project in Peru together with the people of ADDVES, their president, and my friend Juan Abanto, at the head.  We worked on the Villagol Project, where they created sports schools in the human settlement Villa el Salvador, where they performed instructional training course for sports educators and encouraged female football with the participation of a girls team in various tournaments.

Sports are my life and I have made my passion my profession. I always see the good side of education through sports and the positive values generated by of team sports, such as football.  Values like the sense of belonging in a group, team values, being together with a friend, and being able to do something for him, which in turn is good for you; there is no better sensation than that, being together in victory and defeat.

In conclusion, I would like to talk about the factor that I see as the most important and most popular these days, the role of the coaches, instructors, and trainers, with their performances, they represent a person very important in child’s education, not only in their sports education, but also personal growth.  The example will always be in a sporting group, knowing how to interpret the needs of each environment, each family, and each child.

That is all…LONG LIVE FOOTBALL!  LET’S GO YFC RURKA KALAN!

SMILE!

Written by Xabi Martin Nebreda, Sport Network's volunteer

The twelfth player

Taking advantage of the summer holidays, Sport Network is organizing an 11-a-side football championship in Boulembé, which will take place on the recently inaugurated sport fields, constructed as part of the project “Improvement of life conditions for Central African Refugees in Cameroon”. 

The inauguration of this eagerly awaited event took place on the 13th of June with the celebration of the first football games. The tournament will conclude on the 25^th of August, with a grand final. 

The tournament has had a fantastic reception from the participating teams, as well as spectators that come together every Thursday and Saturday to support their teams. All of this combines to create a fun, festive and sporty atmosphere that unite families, youth and children, as well as multiple vendors selling; donuts, corn on the cob, bananas, peanuts, meat and drink. 

The level and commitment of the players is very high, always led by their coach, who gives instructions and makes changes from the side of the pitch. However, I dedicate this blog to the 12^th player of each team. They are the most tireless, the most loyal and I have to say the craziest and loudest players of the tournament, and it’s none other than the supporters of each team. The fans can almost feel more involved than the players themselves, they suffer from every decision made against their team, they celebrate each goal as if it was a goal in the final and while the game is played, they continue to debate refereeing decisions. 

The most beautiful thing about sports and football in particular, is the passion that it generates and its ability to mobilize people. And here we are not talking about famous football clubs that spend millions and millions of Euros on players and advertising. We talk about passion that arise in ordinary people, who enjoy living the sport, either as a player or supporter, and who take pleasure in the capacity to unite people through a common passion regardless of age, gender, religion or nationality. And for this we don’t need many resources, just a bit of creativity, which is highlighted in Africa, where players in the tournament lack proper football boots and play in sandals (the ones that are used on the seaside to prevent accidents caused by rocks).

The tournament continues under the watchful gaze of their 12^th player. Stay informed to find out who wins!! 

Find out more about the community championship in Cameroon!

Written by África Coloma a Sport Network volunteer in Cameroon

A gift to Peruvian children

Last month, Bea Blanco delivered shirts and a number of footballs on behalf of Sport Network, to the NGO S.O.S. Peruanitos / Voluntariado en Perú. Bea is a friend of Sport Network and is currently volunteering with the Peruvian NGO. The shirts given to Sport Network by UEFA include a written message against racism.

The NGO S.O.S. Peruanitos is a nonprofit organization located in Peru, in the city of Trujillo. It develops its work in the Town center in the Nothern part of “El Porvenir” district. S.O.S. Peruanitos provide alternative education for children living in extreme poverty who cannot attend public institutions of education. That’s why they are implementing an educational project, which aims to support the inclusion of primary school children in the Peruvian formal educational system.

Based on Peru’s social reality and in particularly that of “Alto Trujillo’s” town centre and its numerous districts, there is a large number of children affected by economic poverty, problems of violence, moral neglect, emotional problems, and situations of social exclusion. S.O.S. Peruanitos consider education as a fundamental key for the country’s development as well as for its population, thus contributing to the fight against illiteracy and this way improving Peru’s educational system, reaching sectors of the population forgotten by the Government.

The NGO’s team is composed of national and international volunteers, which is enriching for the children, as it teaches values of cultural diversity and equality. Classes like reading, writing, math, English, art, personal hygiene, values and ethics are taught. The aim is to provide children with skills, education and self-esteem, focusing on the future integration of children in the formal education system. At present they are working with 30 children a year due to the limitation of their installations.

During the school year the social worker would go door to door, collecting information about families, a follow-up about the kids, focusing on helping children in the school, and promoting the family involvement in the educational process of the child. They would meet each week with pupils’ parents to advise, inform and support the kids study process, ensuring good communication between school and family in order to achieve the aims.

How was the presentation of the material?

Very touching, the children received the gift with great enthusiasm.

Many of them after receiving the T-shirts, immediately put them on and went home wearing them.

On behalf of S.O.S.Peruanitos, thanks a lot Sport Network!

For more photos visit our Facebook page!

Bea Blanco is a friend of Sport Network

My experience in Zambia

My work as a volunteer at City of Hope was focused in a center, within the same complex, called Auxilium Training Center. It’s a school where youngsters from the area can gain new skills, to enhance their future employment opportunities. In the course that I participated, subjects like Communication Skills, Catering, Tailoring and Information Technology were taught. In addition to the core subjects, First Aid and Physical Education were part of the school week.

My duties

I was in charge of the Information Technology class, which was offered to the Catering and Tailoring students and anyone else that showed special interest. The groups were divided as such:

• I.T. group: a group of 8 students (6 girls and 2 boys) aged between 17 and 20 years. Only a few of them have had previous computer experience and almost all of them have finished secondary school (12^th grade). 

• Tailoring Group: a group of 25 students (24 girls and a boy) whose ages were very varied.

I gave classes in the computer lab, which was equipped with 10 working computers. The computers were given to City of Hope by several donations. My first task was to setup the computers and erase previous data. Unfortunately, the computers do not currently have access to the Internet, but still provide a good basis for teaching basic computer skills.

The tailoring group was predominately formed of women of various ages. Many of the women in the tailoring group had little interest in learning computer skills, as they considered it a tool for men, and for many it was also the first time they had seen a computer.

My experience with the I.T. group was very different, as it’s a group that particularly wanted to participate in this class. Nevertheless, it is hard for the students to study after school, as many of the students don’t have any free time due to their family situation. For example, one of the pupils is living with her father, brothers and uncles, and being the only woman at home she has to take care of the whole household, as men don’t typically deal with domestic tasks.

However, it seems that sport and physical education provides a useful tool to transmit values and promote gender equality.

The other activity that the center organized was Physical Education. We dedicated one hour per week to formal PE lessons and I can tell they were greatly appreciated. The PE lessons, which included Volleyball, football and handball, were conducted at City of Hope’s sports facilities.

Each week we practiced a different sport, to avoid focusing solely on football, even though that’s the most popular sport in Zambia. Every class had two parts. During the first part we focused on the technical and tactical aspects of the sport, and then during the second part we played a game, putting into practice what they have learned during the first part of the class.

In volleyball and netball, sports that I have no experience in, some of the students helped me out, preparing activities for the first part. It was a big success given that girls - who were hesitating at the beginning – helped me voluntarily in the implementation of the activity.

On weekends we had different sporting competitions. On Saturdays 20 boys, aged between 13 and 20 years, from the area visit the City of Hope to play football or handball. City of Hope also participates, with great success in championships organized by other teams in the area. 

The football pitch, which has undoubtedly the most demand, is not in the best condition. The pitch has many stones, which can be quite dangerous, as many of its users play barefoot. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was nice and friendly, the boys spend Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday at City of Hope, getting to know each other and the girls from center. 

Miguel was a Sport and Cooperation Network volunteer in Zambia, sent by the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program. 

How to help

You can help support the City of Hope project, by making financial or inkind donations. The money received will help supply, sports equipment, footwear etc… 

The children of Boulembe

Children are children in every part of the world.

At first, it may not always seem so: when you get to Boulembe, a village in Eastern Cameroon, where Sport and Cooperation Network is working, and you see 6, 7 or 8-year old girls selling fritter or fruit instead of going to school; or when you see their worn out clothes, or their broken shoes (if they have any). They just don’t look like what children should.

 But today is Thursday.  And they know that Thursdays is “ball day”, it’s sports day. As soon as Sport Network monitors appear, their faces change and they run out to the school court, where they usually play. They jump, they shout, they wave, they push each other, they fight, they hug…

About 100 children are watching, impatient to start playing. They take their broken sandals off and start running after the ball, barefoot on the reddish dust.

The girls form their teams. Today they are 4 teams of 5, enough to play a mini football championship. Not all of them understand the rules yet  - one grabs the ball with her hands, another runs in the wrong direction. But they all participate, and they all want to participate.

Like in every school ground, sometimes the boys get in the way of the girls’ games, pulling their hair and laughing. The older girls defend themselves with a kick or a push. “This is the girl’s team!”

And like in every school ground, you can find the shy ones, the leaders, the funny, the daring, the competitive or the curious.

“Everyday before going to school I wash the dishes, sweep the floor and clean the house”, an 8-year old girl tells me, with a smile on her face and the ball in her hands, ready to play.

Although it doesn’t always seem so, children are children everywhere.

Most of them don’t have shoes, but running doesn’t hurt their feet. They don’t cry when they fall, and don’t complain about the uneven field that gives a clear advantage to the other team.

Soon they’ll have a real football field to play on, as well as a volleyball and netball court. But until then, they make do and enjoy.

More information on our project in Cameroon.

Maira Cabrini is a Sport Network collaborator. She is currently working on a cooperation project in Bertoua, Cameroon.