...
I would be lying if I
said I have not spent a lot of time thinking of things to say in this last
post from Limbe, and clever ways of saying them too. I have had a few decent ideas, but none
stuck. I have been in Limbe, Cameroon
for exactly 12 weeks now and it is time to move on. It is time to move on to bigger and better
things and to, most importantly, finally stop pointing out all of the lessons I
have learned BUT to go home and APPLY EVERYTHING I have learned and
experienced to my life and career.
Since I got here, all I
have talked about with people is how difficult development work is because of
all the cultural differences and the lack of resources here in the developing
world. But every job has its
challenges. Every career presents
obstacles. And everything worth achieving
can be (or even should be) a big pain
in the ass in some way. Climbing Mount
Cameroon was one of the most difficult physical feats I have ever taken on but
it was also one of the most rewarding moments of my life reaching the
summit. I literally overcame my
obstacles. It is odd to think about, but now that I am in my final hours in Cameroon I feel like I have gone back to where I was in my first week here. Because I know that after tomorrow, the sites of Cameroon will only be a memory and I suddenly want to take pictures of everything because I know it might be the last time I see it! I have also pondered how in my final days here I feel just like I did in my final days in Toronto, insofar that I have an amazing mix of emotions. I am nervous, scared, anxious, excited, happy, sad, elated, and excited!
There were a lot of very difficult days here. There were a lot of frustrating moments. There were a lot of times when I thought to myself "what the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this?" There were also moments when I thought to myself "this is the most rewarding experience of my life.”There were phenomenal moments, and phenomenal achievements. At the end of any experience, once all the dust settles and all goals and objectives have been met, all we are left with is the trail of decisions we made along the way. Some decisions we are proud of and others we wish we could take back. Some of those decisions led us closer to our goals and others further away. But observing and analyzing what has already happened can only get us so far. We learn from all of our decisions, good or bad, and we take what we can. BUT at the end of the day, it is insane to focus on anything but what was accomplished and how far we've come, because even the lessons learned should be seen as an accomplishment.
Development work was just
one small piece of the puzzle of lessons that made up my experience here; but I
am very lucky to have learned as much as I have about the field and its
obstacles. One of the biggest lessons I
learned about development is that it requires COLLABORATION. Ego's ruin everything. If you walk into a development situation and
expect that everyone around you should bow down to your ideas and processes
then you are contributing to the problem.
Everyone has thoughts and opinions and development workers need to
understand that personal opinions are just that, and not fact. People who work on a development project,
whether they are volunteers, coordinators, facilitators, teachers, economists, coaches,
or full time employees of any NGO, need to be able to provide insight, receive
insight and be willing to reach THE MIDDLE GROUND; the compromise that allows
the best of all ideas to flourish. A
very wise lady once told me about development work that "it is not
necessarily about changing the local culture, but simply understanding
it." In my 3 month experience I can
confidently say that truer words have never been spoken.
With regard to
collaboration and development workers working together, the personalities of
the people involved obviously have a lot to do with that. When a volunteer on a football coaching
project admits to "not liking or having no interest in working with
children" ... that is a problem.
Teamwork is something that I have stressed at every training session for
the last 12 weeks. Teamwork, I was once
told, is defined by a group of people all working together to achieve a common
goal. When there is a lack of teamwork,
nothing gets done because there is no collaboration and everyone is pulling at
the same string in a different direction.
Like I have told my players and students here, you are all on one
team. Whether you’re on the field or off,
you need to know who and where your teammates are. A teammate is someone you can trust, someone
you can rely on; someone who will help you out of a jam or overcome an obstacle
at a moments notice, and who you would do the same for.
I have learned here that
in any profession people learn to adapt and work with what is around them. You can only do what you can. You can only give what you have. You can only provide support with the
experience you have. You can only do so
much on your own. With the help of the
people around us obstacles become smaller, frustrations become opportunities
and lessons are [always] learned.
Through lessons learned people grow and develop and become who they
are. We learn not only about ourselves and
who we really are, but who we want to be, and what we can and want to
accomplish. I know fully understand why
the dreaded “Experience” has so much
power and influence on our resumes because it is only through our experience
that we shape our understanding of our surrounding and better understand who we
are and what our are goals in life are.
I am extremely lucky to
have a great team behind me. So many
people contributed to my experience here.
The list goes on but I feel obligated to single out a few individuals
both in Cameroon and back home in Canada who provided significant support when,
and how, I needed it most.
My close friends, Ray,
Steve, Ben, Peter, and Jason. You guys
have always been there and have always said exactly what I needed to hear and
always knew when I needed a stern talking to and when I needed a laugh. You guys are the best. I look forward to all of us being in the same
city again soon.
Dr. Laura Cousens from
Brock University. If it was not for you
this blog would not exist. This
experience would have taken on an entirely different role in my head. You helped me sift through the confusion and
point out the obvious and help me realize what I needed to in order to help me
move forward with my goals. All of my
accomplishments here were in some way touched by you.
Humphrey, when I met you
I was lost, confused and scared.
Through getting to know you my comfort level grew and so did my
confidence in my abilities and passions here.
You showed me Seme Beach as well as the truth in life and the
difficulties in Africa. You provided
support, friendship and guidance. Thank
you!
John Molua, you were
always at the field with me helping me with the kids and my message. You were always there with a laugh, kind
words, and were just as excited about the power of sport as I am. I loved talking to you, I loved collaborating
with you, I loved hanging out with you, and I will miss you.
The staff and
coordinators of the African Volunteer Football Academy for the Less Privileged
(AVFAL) and Challenge Charity. Nathan,
John, and Coach Lucas, you guys made this possible with your vision and effort
with AVFAL. It may be a thankless job at
times but when the kids score that winning goal, the look on their faces is the
only thanks we need. Thank you for coordinating this experience and facilitating my lessons learned.
The employees of the Fako
Divisional Delegation of Sport and Physical Education. You guys helped me add a component to my trip
that brought a level of experience I could have only hoped for. Understanding not only local football but
also local Physical Education has allowed me a unique insight into Cameroonian
athletics and education. I can not thank
you enough for the opportunity and for presenting me with the chance to speak
at your Annual Fako Division Physical Education and Sports Seminar on October
10! I had a blast and truly cherished
the experience. I am so happy that I was
allotted the opportunity to share my experiences and passions about sport and
development. You gave me that
opportunity.
Jessi, your positive
outlook on life and development was just as useful at your tough love. Your words always seemed to make sense and
help with the frustrations and make me see that there really is beauty in it
all.
Adrienne, your constant
support, kind words, and consistent encouragement was always welcomed and had
an everlasting positive affect on my state of mind here.
Now for the heavy hitters
...
To my Grandmother,
Estelle. I am not convinced that I will
ever truly be able to express how much your love and support means to me and I
am confident that with you in my corner I can accomplish and overcome
anything. Your 2-3 daily emails were
ALWAYS a cause for a smile. You learning
how to use facebook was another entertaining and touching expression of your
support. I love you and will forever aim
to provide the love to my family as you have to yours. You are my inspiration and I Can Not wait to
see you in November!
To my parents; so much to
say, such little space. It is really
quite simple. If it was not for you,
NONE of this would have been possible.
This trip would cease to exist and I would not be the person I am
today. You guys continue to provide
support in every possible way, providing insight and ready to jump into my
corner for any reason at any time. You
were always taking time out of your busy day and schedule to talk to me about
every little detail here. To send me
beautifully worded hand written letters further providing your support and
helping me arrange donations for this charity and sending them over brought a
smile not only to my face but to about 45 Cameroonian teenagers as well. These past 3 months have really just been you
two casually being the amazing, loving parents you have always been. Before I left you told me that by the time I
got home I would have a new appreciation of my life. You were right. It was also the understatement of the
decade. My life, my family, and my
friends are all amazing. My parents are
amazing. I know you wanted me to stop
using the word ‘amazing’, but it fits.
Saying thank you in my blog does not even come close to expressing the
true substance with which it is being offered.
I love you guys. Thank you for
everything. I know that everyone says
that they have the best parents in the world, but I am confident that I would have
a very strong case for Mr. And Mrs. Budish.
And to everyone else who
provided their support either through comical emails or facebook messages. To those that have read my blog and to those
that I have talked to. Thank you to you
all. I love you guys and can not thank
you enough for your support. Looking
forward to seeing you all when I get home!
The people we work with
and surround ourselves with have a very significant effect on our direction in
life and what we can accomplish. There
is still a lot to achieve in sport and sport for development.
Sport can be, and is
used, as a medium for broader messages simply because of its global
attraction. There is not a society,
country, group of people, or tribe on earth that does not have some kind of
recreation activity associated with its culture. A book I recently read called The Ball by John Fox attempts to answer
the question “Why do we play ball” ... ‘We’ being humans. In his research he interviews a tribal chief
from an aboriginal tribe in North America.
With regard to their traditional sport of Lacrosse, the chief mentioned that
when his team plays another tribe they do not see it as strictly competition
and they do not rate the success or failure of the game only on goals scored or
winning or losing. In fact they put a
higher priority on playing with a pure mind and heart and they view the event
more as a chance for old friends and family to come together and enjoy a
traditional display of athleticism and respect.
A coach once (wrongfully) told me that
he believed that there was no room in coaching for NOT emphasizing only winning
and scoring ... and winning. I believe
that sport has more to offer our society and our youth than teaching them that
if you lose you are nothing. You have to
win in order to be worth anything. Sport
teaches us so much more than that. It
teaches discipline. Teamwork. Unity.
Trust. Patience. Communication. Problem solving. Sportsmanship. Conflict resolution. Not to mention having huge health
benefits. And also not to mention being
able to use football (or any other locally popular sport) to discuss with kids
about making good life choices with regard to drugs, alcohol, smoking, HIV/AIDS
and so on. The point is that Sport is
what we make it. It is what we believe
it is. We can use sport, much like any
other powerful tool in life, for good or bad.
We can use sport for anything we want because the power is there.
I am not totally sure how
to wrap this up. I am confident that no
matter how much I write or no matter how many times I read, re-read, edit, and
repeat; I will think of 20 more things that I wanted to mention in this
post. So how do you sum up 3 months of
life-altering experiences, adventures, triumphs and frustrations? The truth is that it’s really hard. But here goes
nothing ...
I got what I came for.
...
So, for the final time,
THANK YOU to everyone who has followed my adventure here and to everyone for
their love and support. I am a very
lucky man. I send my love to you
all.
See you all on the other
side.
Affectionately,
Josh
P.S. I trimmed my beard today because technically I shaved the day I left Toronto which was Friday July 20 which makes TODAY exactly 12 weeks of growing. Soccer's beard has come and gone.
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