Oh life here in South Africa

It is Mother's Day but I even fear going into church service that I will hear so much about appreciating and thanking your mother that I don't have here by my side I will only be sad. I miss you so terribly much mom. I even came into the base here early this morning hoping to catch someone with headphones to call you, but no such luck. Sleep well and I pray the sun is bright and shinning for you this morning!
I woke up early because i went to bed early, not only purpose I was just going to take a nap but having been waking at like 7-7:30 all week I couldn't shake it yesterday morning nor today. So after having gone to bed after my game on Fri (out to dinner with a friend as well so we were munching down pizza and catching up til 12 at night) I got home around 1 and woke up early. It's ok though cause I must have needed my sleep having crashed last night about 8, thinking I'd nap then go out (if someone could get me which is always a mission and burden in itself) I slept the rest of the night! The wind and howling woke me up with such a blustery day, but yes like Cape Town never ceases to surprise me, it's sunny with a lil overcast now. I'm in the dinning hall and enjoying my many oranges with coffee and the many faces and teams even singing int he background of a team from England worshipping the Lord this morning. It's such a pleasant atmosphere. Oh and here's my dear friend Emile, who we baked up a storm on Thursday. His SOPA, School Of Performing Arts, which is the first to kick start her ein th ewhole of Africa, he needs funds to get him through it. He' loving the school but thye're washing cars and baking to just get by. I love his heart and that school's just having nothing but hard work and compliments through all they're doing.
Mom you'd be proud, he gave me the most random recipe, and choose me, to make this chocolate pudding cake. I was like honestly Emile, could you really get a harder recipe? I was so strange and we were laughing the whole time, when all we had in the kitchen to measure with was a 1/3 cup measuring cup, when we'd need like 10 cups of this and that, oh man we thought it was going to be a disaster! Ended up after we poured this sugar/cocoa powder mix on top, then we added the 6 cups hot water then baked it, oh man oh man now we know why! It soaked that chocolaty goodness up! We had a real winner! So amen to that, we did pray for it :)
Today is Kimberly's bday! We're suppose to have a braai at the house, however if it rains it could be interesting. The girls have invited everyone to bring meat and whatever else they can. Friday, our friend Rebecca cooked up an Arabian Night's feast (I had a game so didn't participate) but she grew up in Iraq and then moved out to I think Vermont. So she had hummus and all sorts of goodies. These girls love to eat and bake. Oh and I guess since our stove is to be taken soon, Lydia found a cheap one for like R450 that even has an oven since ours never worked to begin with, you have all the girls just dreaming and bragging about the cake offs we're going to have in the house. Man oh man I'm going to stay on my lil apple kick when that happens! :)
Yesterday I went to this whole women's football development seminar that was this FA of England partnering with SA and organizations (who claim to be on board) from SA like City of Cape Town, Coaching for LIfe, etc. all in one room at Athlone stadium. Getting there, oh boy, was a treck in itself. THe Cape Flats, which is where like Heidevelt, Athlone, all the places people say not to go in the flats is where I've been going. I must that where it's all at. I've been really getting to see the culture and liveliness there. Just getting off the train in Athlone and the business of the lil downtown on a Saturday was awesome to see. This crackling sound system with some SAfrica's got talent singer trying to get the people's moving and they LOVE it! I would need ear plugs to stick around, but it left me grinning and loving the market vibe. Muslim's selling their smelly incense stuff and fruit/veg stands everywhere. Stores that say mattress outlet or clothing shop, and they look like Goodwill to me.
The reason I had to take this treck was because yes, even my friend Craig Hepburn, from African Brother's Academy who told me all about it, NEVER told me the time after I asked 3 times, when it began and details TIL Saturday morning around 9:30 saying OH yeah it begin in half an hour. He knows i have no vehicle, knows i live in Muizenberg. So I was frustrated to start, but knew it would be very good to go and see who is who and connect. I knew I'd see Joelle from AIS and her loving heart. I ended up getting there by 1. But it was like this team of young youth girl leaders from England who are touring doing coaching, giving positivity and motivation for girls football here. They already were in Jo berg and to hear the development officers and their struggle even in England itself is encouraging for a country who is so far off. I can remember thinking girls and football was a tragedy in NZ. But no oh now! They're world is far better than what I am experiencing and learning of it here. Here it's non existant. Much worse! When you worry about all around life in itself with eating, nutrition, health, family issues, pregnancy, drugs, transportation, facilities, education, and so much more like HIV and human trafficking, it seems football should be last on the list. Yes seems like it should be last on the list when a whole community is falling down, why build a football pitch? Why put money into something, (which FIFA has done by building structures and SOME facilities here and there, when that R100,000 could have fed people all over) is this really the solution? Having people in that room from the city, development, schools, and many areas it really helped open my eyes to SAfrica and the way things are and need to be. Looking holistically at the picture. Some communities say the pitch can never even happen because of vandalism and crime and so it's never going to be kept. Or having programs instilled where your team or local people living there, where they have no jobs anyways, (even Heidevelt has 97% unemployment) and those people get paid or supported to join in building teh nearby facilities/structures, so they can say they have been a part of that process and the value is brought back into it so they won't go tearing it down or hurting it knowing they put in the work. I hear about the problems of teachers (who apparently are hardly even paid) can't teach whent eh chidlren aren't even fed. They come hungry or their parent was shot last night and dealing with these things overide education in itself! How can you think about sport? Then again those of us who have been through it know, that there must be a tool, must be an outlet. Yes there needs to be food and life skills and much given before you can look to a sport, but the valueing of oneself, (not to use drugs, not to sleep around, not to miss school or practice) comes from finding the value. How will they find value if they are never given opportunity. So these young leaders, players from England came over and talked about opportunity that was provided. Even when they were the only girl on a boys team growing up, but getting this or that chance, or one mentor or coach and then now they're giving by at age 18 or 19 coaching 16 year olds/etc. it's this process that needs to be planted. Sport is the tool. Like JEsus really is the only way, but you can't just tell someone about something they've never really experience, like how to dribble a soccerball without showing them. So at soccer practice, you show them. Why do I need to be at soccer practice? Then you show the value of what you've learned that's being crossed over in games/competitions. Valuing each other. My teammate, my family, my friends, my teachers. It's one big messy conglomoration that needs to work together.
Sorry I'm ranting but the problems aren't just in one solution. What I'm meant to say by this all, is it doesn't need to be rocket science/tons of money/coaching courses/etc., it can be done by linking the schools with teh clubs. This is small but a start. Just like in New Zealand, you start with what you have, small sided then grow. My major input was saying, the kids are hopefully all in school. Yes so you MUST work with and in teh schools. Repay their great work and efforts of even attending school with opportunity. Sport. Then the schools create teams, energy, coaching, leaders, to work with those same spheres in clubs. They should all be nearby and walking distance to make this happen.
But the sport, is what is the tool. For myself. I know I didn't have to worry about tranportation, money, being hungry, getting boots, a kit to wear, a coach to coach me, but I still needed that 'game' to motivate me to better myself. TO challenge myself. To keep me busy and out of trouble (even though I still found trouble here and there I won't lie :)
But sport is the outlet that is probably the cheapest here. It carries over into other avenues of life. So a child says, or youth, that I can't go out tonight I have a match tomorrow I must play in. So I can't party, or drink or I must get my homework done because if I don't keep my grades up I can't play on the team. When I was just at Mario's school on Fri., I overheard the principle saying the school's team couldn't play in some tournament because of the fact that the school's reading and writing scores didn't meet the standard. MY opinion when in that school, was seeing teachers smoke in the bathroom or around the children, was enough to turn me off! I mean even the function of the school could be completely more professional to give the children what they need to learn and deserve for a better environment. Those are their leaders to look up to?
That school in Heidevelt as many, Mario says, pretty much the children can't read and write. At most the ages. I'll be learning more when we go back on Monday.
Let's talk about something more and something else because I could go on and on. I'm only struggling and praying to God to let me know if this is it. Is this the place I've been talking about most my life in saying, I need and want to go where no one wants to go? Is this it? With all the frustrations, when hearing that a teacher, or coaches, or even the only 2 qualified (which means ANY coaching courses at all) were complaining at the seminar that all their input was individual 'leaders' taking ownership of themselves. So when there's meetings...pitch. It sounds like my experiences of soccer already in this Tigervalley Rebel league, that not having a team even pitch to play for 4 weeks, is completely normal. Can you imagine meetings with city council, or with the SASCOL directors. Then I heard that even if you do show, there's about 10% women, so even if they do have input, it's overuled by the men.
I'm saying, is I am looking around, looking at the hope that is desired in these children to push me. I MUST be called back here because I can't even handle the frustrations I'm dealing with and not even having a full hand in the pie. Transport is a must that's for sure. But I was even walking to this Athlone stadium from the train station, and I saw this lil girl and 2 older boys walking her back from a supposed soccer game, and I was shocked instantly. I asked her who she played for. She said some team and I asked if they were a girls league. The older boy said no she's the only girl. But they looked so proud and excited that she plays and they won and they were bragging about her. That was totally cool to hear and see!
Hold on I'm gonna grab some coffee...