2010 Year-In-Review

My friends from undergrad always write a Year-in-Review at the end of every year. It’s a way for us to all reflect about what’s happened over the past year and to use those reflections to lead us into improvements for the following year. Not necessarily resolutions like “eat less carbs” but things to help us enjoy life more fully.

So, here is my 2010 Year-In-Review:

biggest accomplishment: learning to appreciate myself

biggest failure: did not use free time to learn another language, experiment in cooking, or read! Sigh.

biggest good change: cut back significantly on worrying about everything all. the. time. allowing myself to live in the moment.

biggest bad change: keeping in touch with peeps (this blog only served as a way for me communicate less on an individual level with people I care about)

other notable changes and accomplishments: began volunteering for things I really care about (youth health education), rediscovered how much i love my siblings, created a life in a far off place, experienced a World Cup, became a good host to guests, discovered that I don’t hate running (!), allowed myself to learn to say “no”, allowed myself to learn to say “yes”, achieved a better work/life balance, began to truly believe that those i love are always with me even when they are very far away, was a good friend to my best friend, got my first sister-in-law (!), kissed a hippo, laughed a lot, played with a lion cub,  swam in the Zambezi River, saw lots of wild cats, slept under the stars, camped during a thunderstorm and only got scared once, opened my heart.

places i went:

South Africa (johannesburg, pretoria, cape town, kruger national park, durban, east london, port elizabeth, rustenberg, bloemfontein, ETC.)
dar es salaam
arusha
serengheti national park
tangire national park
ngorogoro crater national park
zanzibar
usambara mountains
victoria falls
livingstone, zambia
baltimore
boston
maine
dc
frankfurt

Banyana Banyana Comes Up Short

When I get older, I will be stronger...

Over the course of two weeks, South Africa hosted the 2010 African Women’s Football Championship, where sixteen matches were played and 58 goals (3.63 per match) were scored. This tournament was especially important as it influenced with teams would qualify for the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held in Germany. For South Africa, it was do or die. In order to advance to the World Cup, they had to win this tournament. A loss? No chance for the World Cup.

Prior to the semi-final match between South Africa and Equatorial Guinea, a team of Show Me Your Number ambassadors, including myself, engaged with game-goers about safe sex. Handing out material is always an interesting experience. Unlike Americans, who do pretty much anything to avoid handouts on the street, South Africans take everything with pleasure – and come back for more.

Banyana Banyana warming up

Condoms tend to be a little bit more difficult to get rid of. People tend to be shy about taking them – well, the women anyway. The men, they’d take 50 if they could. In the end we handed out over 1000 condoms in under 20 minutes.

Once we ran out of materials, we went to watch the game, where South Africa dominated in the first half (without being able to score a goal) and fell apart in the second half, even accidentally scoring on themselves within the last few minutes of the game. It was pretty disappointing, especially since we are friendly with the captain of the team (who scored the accidental goal)

In the end it was Nigeria that beat out Equatorial Guinea for the title.

Vuvuzelas making an appearance

I know what I’ll be doing January 7th, do you?

Instead of flying back the States today, as was originally planned, I’ll be staying in South Africa for an additional three months to continue work on the Show Me Your Number HIV Prevention Project.

Inside the halls of Soccer City in Johannesburg at the World Cup final

See you all on January 7th, when I return to the States. Well, actually, I’m assuming I’ll likely just be seeing my Mom that day, which is fine by me because I’ll get lots of HUGS and probably get to eat COOKIES!!!!

Fun Day

I realize I’m a bit late in posting about this event, but seeing as my digital camera was stolen during the World Cup,

Ball skillz

I had to wait the film to get developed before I could post any pictures. It might also be due to the fact that I’ve been consumed with watching the West Wing series DVD set my mom bought me, and that all of my free time is spent falling in love with the Bartlet administration (ahem, Josh Lyman) all over again.

The likeliest story is just that I’m a lazy blog writer.

On that note…

In addition to the work we did with FIFA during the World Cup, Show Me Your Number also prepared a “fun day” with ECHO, Enhancing Children’s HIV Outcomes. ECHO is an organization that does work throughout the Gauteng

The counter-attack

district with infants, children and adolescents who are HIV positive. They approached SMYN to facilitate a soccer tournament between 4 of their centers, invite our ambassadors to coach, and give the kids a day of fun away from the reality of their daily lives. The kids had a great time, and so did the coaches.

It turned out to be a “fun day” for me as well as I (smartly) did not go out the night before with all my World Cup visiting friends and went to bed like a good girl.

Football for Hope

In an effort to promote its role in using football as a tool for social development, FIFA developed the Football for Hope Festival, to be launched in Alexandra, Johannesburg for the first time, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Manning the tent at the Football for Hope Festival

Some background on Alexandra: Established in 1912 in an attempt to establish a white residential township (with little success), Alexandra was deemed a “native township” that same year, meaning that it was one of the few urban areas in South Africa where black people could own land. Plagued by lack of resources and poor management, Alex has experienced a history or violence (including xenophobic attacks as recent as May 2008) and upheaval. Many of my co-workers told me that when they were kids, they were warned from going to the Alex due to the dangers that lurked there.

Over the course of one week (4-10 July 2010), FIFA brought together 32 teams from across the globe representing organizations that use football as a tool for social development at the Football for Hope Festival.  The 32 teams/organizations participated not only in a week-long 5-a-side football tournament (à la World Cup style), but also in workshops and activities where they showcased their programs and learned from other like-minded organizations from around the world.

At the request of FIFA, Show Me Your Number distributed information regarding HIV prevention and provided free HIV Counseling and Testing to Festival goers. Throughout this week long Festival, Show Me Your Number tested over 200 people and brought HIV prevention messaging to hundreds of festival participants and spectators in the Alexandra township.

In addition to these activities, Show Me Your Number was asked to put together a team of former professional players to play a five-a-side All Star Match. Check out an action shot of the guys playing the stadium below…

Getting dirty

A Final Worth Watching

In my last post, I mentioned that I was able to attend 6 World Cup games. But I spoke too soon! Due to the generosity of my friends, John, Kat and Ned, both Andrea and I were able to attend the final match between Spain and the Netherlands. SEVEN TOTAL!

Instead of talking about how much fun it was, I thought I’d show you in pictures. This is the first time I’ve tried to upload a gallery of photos, so I hope it works!

Enjoy, and VIVA ESPANA!!

Andrea and Kate arriving at Soccer City

Sea of ORANJE

Inside Soccer City

View from our seats

Andrea and Kate letting it all soak in

Miss you guys!

Kate and Malcom. Jaaaa Oranje or Viva Espana?

Closing ceremony

About to head into the stadium – wish you were here!

In a World Cup Haze

Now that we know it’s Spain and the Netherlands in the World Cup final (jaaaaa oranje!), all of my visitors have safely landed back home, and Saturday marks the end of my World Cup work frenzy, it’s time to take a break and reflect on this World Cup experience.

THE STATS

Number of guests hosted: 12

Shira, John and Kate showing off their battle wounds from the USA vs. Slovenia game. Don't worry, Mom. These should be gone in time for Michael's wedding. I think...

Busiest nights: 18-20 June when we had 8 people sleeping in our apartment

Games attended: 6, including the opening, all 4 USA games, and the quarter-final match between Uruguay and Ghana

Injuries sustained: 3 (a head wound, bruised calves, and a cracked rib)

Cameras lost: 1

Hours slept: Not nearly enough

THE COMMENTARY

Part of the reason it’s taken me so long to report on this World Cup experience is due to the fact that I feel I’m in some weird haze where everything is out of focus making it hard to describe what I see. Or in this case, describe what I feel.

Here are my two favorite things about the World Cup. First up was turning our apartment into a make-shift hostel for my World Cup-going friends from around the world. As passionate as I am about the fields of international development and global health, and

The gang en route to Rustenberg Stadium for the USA vs. Ghana match

as exciting it is to live and experience new places and make new (and close) friends, I’ve found that while my world grows, the amount of things I am able to share with those who are most important to me gets smaller and smaller. Sharing this life in South Africa with friends I’ve known for over 10 years made me feel a little less lonely.
Second was being in South Africa for the first ever World Cup on African soil. I think my friend, Angie, who came down from Tanzania for the cup, explains it pretty well here. As much as my US friends might hate me for saying it, my favorite games to attend were the ones where African teams played. The African teams had the support of an entire continent behind them, and it was something you could feel at the stadium. I will never forget being at the opening ceremony or attending the Uruguay vs. Ghana game. Of the 84,000 people at Soccer City that night, I think about 83,500 were supporting Ghana. You could feel the heart of Africa break when they lost and the stadium went silent, and the pride they felt when, as the players sobbed inconsolably on the field, the crowd began to clap, cheer and blow their vuvuzelas once again. Such is the spirit of Africa. On a continent that faces so much poverty, suffering and setbacks, there is a sense of perseverance, hope and faith that allow the people to continue in the face of loss.

Now, if only I can figure out how to be working in Brazil in 2014…

Andrea, Kate and Janna taking a break from cheering at the USA vs. Ghana game

I love this game

Andrea, Kate and Margie gearing up for the USA vs. England game. Don't worry about that bandaid on my head - it's healing quite nicely at this point.

So I received many an email and facebook message asking me about the World Cup. So let me get this out of the way right now: yes, it is AWESOME.

Never in history has a nation so joyfully welcomed the World Cup to its country. As the first country to host a World Cup on African soil, South Africa is determined to welcome the world with open arms. The vuvuzelas might be loud and a constant source of annoyance (especially at 4:30am), but in reality, it’s an expression of their support for Bafana Bafana, and more so, a sign of the overwhelming pride South Africans feel for their country, their people, and their future.

I got a call at about 10:30am last Friday morning saying there was an extra ticket to the opening ceremony and match at Soccer City. I packed up my work station to rush out to the Park & Ride down the street. I didn’t even have my camera on me (shame), so I had to rely on a friend of a friend to take a picture of me to prove,that I actually went (just waiting on that friend of a friend to send picture to me).

But more than this picture, I will remember how I felt the moments I entered the park, the opening ceremony started, seeing Nelson Mandela on video cam in Soccer City, and how I felt when the whistle blew to start the game. I am not afraid to say that I cried when the opening ceremony started. I love this country. I love these people. I love soccer. I love the World Cup.

Here’s why: Anyone, anywhere, can play soccer. One might argue that anyone, anywhere, can play any sport. To which I would say: If you have the (financial) means to do so. Sorry, guys. Skiing is expensive. In soccer, all you need is something to kick. The British first played with cans! It’s the same reason I love baseball. All you need is a stick and ball to play. Or basketball. Anyone can play, and therefore, everyone is equal at least in terms of opportunity. I love that when we run coaching clinics or host a 5-a-side tournament that kids younger than 2 years old run out to the field to play along. Half the time I have to pick them up so they don’t get smacked in the head with the ball, but I’m still overjoyed to have them there. I love when you are driving down the street or along the highway, you can look along the side of the road or up into the fields and kids everywhere are kicking the ball around.

It doesn’t matter where you come from, what religion you practice, or what language you speak. It seems that soccer is an international language, even if we all call it something different. For some reason, soccer seems to be the common ground on which people from everywhere in the world can come together and fight to win.

Go USA! Go Bafana! Go France!

Go WORLD!

The Bee Hive

I think the following pretty much sums up my current sentiments:

Maybe some ear plugs would help?