Football for Hope Centre Turns 1

On Sunday while Jamison and Talia continued to work hard at the HCT Tournament, the Football for Hope Centre turned 1, Graham enjoyed some time to himself in the intern house and the girls and I headed to Clifton's Beach without sunscreen. It was a Sunday full of reminders...

It was a reminder that there is always more testing that needs to be done and more people needed to do it. If  people are lining up to get tested and we test 922 at full capacity... There is a lot more to be done. Talia made a great point-- Because all of our tournament participants were male (as a side note: teams got 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 2 points if everyone on their team tested-- a pretty cool way of getting people test) the large majority of people tested over the weekend were male. The challenge now is to create events like this for females... Idea time people! Below are some more pictures from the event courtesy of Steven Burton (www.stevenburtonphotography.com)

 

It was a reminder that the FFHC has only been around for 1 year. We, especially those of us that weren't here when the Centre was first launched, often forget that it's only been a year since FFHC kicked off. While there is a lot more to be done, so much has been accomplished in that year. As a praise to all of the coaches working hard out there in the field, Jules Sara Margs and I spent Friday night in the kitchen baking up a storm. Cadbury chocolate buttercream frosting... Yum?!

Kudos to Jamison and Abigail for putting in all of the work on the following...Check out more about Khayelitsha's Football for Hope Centre, one year later at:

http://www.streetfootballworld.org/khayelitsha-one-year-later

It was a reminder that it is okay to have some alone time every once in a while. Since coming to South Africa we have spent over 18 hours a day (often more) together. We spend so much time together that we often feel badly when we aren't spending time with each other. Every single day, we wake up together, eat together, go to work together, come home and work out together, relax together, dine together, and then head to bed together.

One can only think of The Real World:
"This is the true story... of eight strangers... picked to live in a house...work together and have their lives taped... to find out what happens... when people stop being polite... and start getting real...The Real World."

I have never spent some much time with 6 other people. That being said, I can't think of 6 other people that I would rather spend that much time with. My roommates have made this experience for me and I can't thank them enough for being as amazing as they are. I love you guys!

          

Finally, it was a reminder that sunscreen is absolutely necessary. While the day at Clifton's Beach was fantastic, forgetting sunscreen was a very, very dumb move. African Sun: 1, Charlotte: 0

 

HCT Tournament

This past Saturday was another busy weekend in Cape Town. After four months of interventions, fundraising events, Skillz Street sessions, and Skillz Holiday camps, Cape Town had its first HCT (HIV Counseling and Testing) Tournament since our arrival. Vuyo, a CPC for Cape Town, led the charge and got 75+ teams signed up for the weekend. The tournament was held over two days at the Football for Hope Centre and at Kwamfundo Secondary School which is right next door. Matthew Booth, a famous South African footballer, joined us for the day and tested alongside tournament participants!

Jamison and Talia have been working their butts off preparing for a big end of the year-- An HCT tournament, a Skillz Street graduation and testing, and a Skillz Holiday-- and so far, it has really paid off! By the end of the weekend over 922 males and females, boys and girls got tested for HIV. 

Sara and I joined the crowds and put our trust in Life Choices, one of our testing partners for the weekend. I was hugely impressed with their counseling, before and after the test. Even for me, someone whose chances of having HIV are extremely slim, the whole testing process was nerve wracking, so it was a relief knowing that those around me, for whom the chance of having HIV is far more real, were receiving the same top-notch counseling and support. 

While sitting on the sidelines watching some of the games Margaret put it really well, "Events like these are amazing, but it's scary to think of how many people's lives are drastically changed after a day like this." We haven't gotten the final numbers yet, but I'm sure a scarily high percentage of our participants tested positive over the weekend. Thankfully organizations like Life Choices and Grassroot Soccer are out there, but it is so important to not forget that there is much, much more work to be done. Despite what cuts in funding might signal, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is far from over. 

Photo courtesy of Steven Burton (www.stevenburtonphotography.com)

Matthew Booth's signature on our MD's shirt! Woo!!

Sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in little things that don't really matter that much in the grand scheme of things. Luckily, there are little guys like these (who were running around throughout the day at the HCT Tournament) to bring us back down to earth and remind me what life is all about. 

 

Corporate Inspi(RED) Tournament

After a very successful Thanksgiving we spent Saturday, Nov. 27th, shedding some of our newly acquired pounds while working the Corporate Inspi(RED) Tournament. In order to raise funds and awareness Grassroot Soccer invited 16 corporations from around Cape Town to submit a team to our tournament. Abigail did a fantastic job organizing and the day took place with a hitch! Throughout the day corporations battled it out on the field and then were brought together immediately following their games to participate in Skillz practices led by our Cape Town coaches.  All in all, the event was a huge success that resulted in lots of awareness and some very significant fund raising!

Highlight of the Day: One of the corporations signed up a team but then was unable to find enough players. While most people would pull out the team coordinator instead called GRS and asked that we keep their money and invite a team from Khayelitsha to play in their place. The guy from the corp. came to the tournament, spent the morning with the team, and they ended up winning the whole thing!!

Sunday, after far too long, Jules, Jeremy, Emma, Sara, Lizzy, Kristin, Mags, T and I headed to Muizenberg where we got to catch some waves. Cloudy skies but warm water (thank goodness for the Indian ocean!) and delicious sandwiches resulted in a really great afternoon.

Giving Thanks

I've always loved Thanksgiving, but this year in particular felt really special. 

When canned cranberry sauce is hard to come by, half of your co-workers have never tasted turkey breast, and you are in an extremely impoverished country over 7,000 miles from home, friends, and family living with six wonderful "strangers"...You start to realize what Thanksgiving is all about.

To my family, friends, co-workers, and housemates (you guys especially!) I hope you know how thankful I am for your love and constant support. I love you all.

A large part of me wished that I could be in Connecticut with my family, but I was lucky enough to have a very good replacement for the evening. 30 guests, 3 turkeys, 5 pies, all the classic dishes, and 6 unbelievable housemates kept me from feeling too homesick and led to a very fulFILLING evening. (See picture below of Jamison and me comparing stomach sizes)

Guests: Elise + five friends, Ryan and Rob + 3, Leah +2 , interns Kristin (Kimberley), Lizzy (Port Elizabeth) and Wes (Malawi), Hannah Burnett, Tay and Corey, and South African staff (Abigail, husband, and Janks).... FULL HOUSE!

This picture doesn't even include the second turkey table!

Visitors! From left to right- Kristin Anthony (Intern in Kimberley), Margaret, Sara, Hannah Burnett (Princeton in Africa fellow who works for Mothers2Mothers)

"Oh you're a lucky guy to be so alive in the world" -Ace Reporter

Sport-for-Development Office Conversation

In lieu of an exciting update from the weekend (since most of it was spent catching up on sleep lost  because of the excitement around the US Men's team coming to visit) I am going to give you a taste of the sport-for-development world. Every week my inbox is flooded with news articles, YouTube clips, and research updates. When the NYTimes posts something about HIV/AIDS or condoms or behavior change, it is rare to go more than 24 hours without hearing about it.

In a recent conversation with one of my best friends from college I inquired about what gets discussed in her office every day. It took about 2 seconds of conversation to realize that the office space discussion in the investment management world is VERY different than the NGO world. While my friend is busy researching emerging markets and reading up on China, Corey and Graham are browsing through articles about male circumcision and Sara is summarizing the most recent article about multiple concurrent partners. While most of the American public enjoys some Sunday football, we lounge TV-less talking about the 2022 World Cup bid. Beyond the fact that most recent grads are not living in a house with six strangers in a foreign country over 7,000 miles from family and friends, it suddenly hit me that most recent grads are not constantly surrounded by conversation about HIV/AIDS, condom use, multiple concurrent partners, circumcision, and gender-based violence...

So... If you want to feel like you're really kicking it in Cape Town with me, here's a little taste of my inbox and what has been on my mind in South Africa this week:

An email from Clint, an intern in Soweto:

In case anyone needs a little extra motivation for hump day...

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2010/11/fight_against_aids

A news article from the NYTimes about Pope Benedict XVI and his thoughts on condom use (yay!):

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/world/europe/21pope.html

A video clip from Taylor Down's father, Executive Director of the USA Bid Committee for the 2022 World Cup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w

An article sent around by our HR Manager about HIV prevalence among South African farmers:


http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?Reportid=91169

In my inbox 7 hours before posted by NYTimes:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/health/research/24aids.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a2

That's all for now, but if you're interested in the AIDS epidemic, want to keep up-to-date on what is going down in the Sport-for-Development world, or just want to feel like you're a part of the GRS family, check out the Grassroot Soccer homepage for our most recent news, some "Nuggetz" of info about HIV prevention, and pictures from our different sites.

Lots of love from Cape Town!!

Charlotte

USA v. South Africa: 1-0

GOD BLESS AMERICA

November 17th 2010. Midfield. Front Row. US wins with the most rookie squad of all time. Boo yahhh.

 

Time to sport the yellow T

As if typhoid wasn't enough, four days after getting back from Kenya I started getting fevers, chills, body aches, headaches, and a fabulously sore throat. Sickness #3! Tuesday morning Margaret was kind enough to bring me to the Cape Town Medi-Clinic (about 400% times nicer than the Mothers and Children Clinic of Eastleigh, Kenya). Turns out someone on the airplane must have blessed me with a throat infection. Before the fevers started I got a few sickness-free days in and enjoyed a great night out for Sara's birthday at Camp's Bay, a swanky/posh/beachside spot in Cape Town. We all dolled up for the night- See the family below.

Jamison, me, Marg, Julie, T, Sara, Graham

My travels and adventures hit hard, but at long last I am back in good health! This past weekend was spent working. Saturday night was dedicated to helping out at a fundraiser in Llandudno. A fabulous couple (originally from the US) hosted 30 potential funders/people interested in GRS at their gorgeous beach house. 5 of us interns came along to wear the yellow t-shirts, give the 5 minute Grassroot spiel and eat some killer hors-d'oeuvres. The house, location, and guests were all over the top-- in a great way.

Sunday morning we woke up at 7 am and trekked out to Woodstock where we were helping to run water stations for a Fun Walk taking place throughout Cape Town. Again sporting our yellow t-shirts, instead of handing out water to the fierce and furious walkers we spent the morning pouring them cups of Coca Cola. The water hose was broken and Coke sponsors pretty much everything in South Africa, so we busted our butts handing over cups of cola to thousands of sweaty, demanding walkers. One man thought we had given him water and before we could warn him he chucked the contents of the cup straight into his face.... Rough start to a 12k walk.

After an amusing morning (I never realized how funny it is to watch thousands of people speed walking..) we headed out the Football for Hope Centre to meet the US Men's National Soccer Team. Yes. You read correctly. (Photos below courtesy of Jamison Merrill, skilled GRIntern Photographer)

  

 

 

 On Wednesday the US will be taking on South Africa, so the team decided to drop by our center and check out what GRS is all about. Tune in on Wednesday to catch a clip of us cheering from our front row seats at midfield!!!!

Skip through to the middle and you can see me sounding stupid... Good thing my sentences don't even make sense... Rough morning. http://www.ussoccer.com/Multimedia/Media-Center.aspx#/id=65896bbe-0ef9-40ac-a4b3-914411076da2