As August nears its end, a number of things cross through my mind; my father's birthday is in less than a week; I can not believe it is already September!; I am already at my half way point!; I can't believe I am only at my half way point!; and of course; I'm hungry.
This past week has seen a lot of developments here in Limbe. Last Friday August 24th, our third volunteer arrived! His name is John and he is from Ireland and is an ex-professional coach and player. He is large and in charge! He is loud and hilarious. He is extremely knowledgable about football and amazing with the kids! He has taught me more about the things that I want to do than he knows. His drills are great and his coaching points are great; and it got me thinking about the things that I came here to work with the kids on and up until yesterday I thought that you could only coach the kids on either life OR football and not both simultaneously. I was wrong. Simply getting the kids running around and having fun and playing the game that they love is enough to put smiles on their faces. From my instilling of values perspective I can sit back to John's football-intensive technical program and facilitate life lessons by pointing out scenarios on the football field that require proper communication or supporting of teammates, or trusting that their teammates are going to be where they need to be to provide proper support.
My realization here was that in classic Josh fashion, I was over thinking it. KISS, no not the awesome band, the acronym. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). I am learning a lot from working with John not only as a coach but also as a player (I am getting so good!).
Moving on from that point I am very excited about moving forward with my plans to work with a local Limbe school. I met with the president of the school this morning and will be going back tomorrow morning to have an informal chat with some of the teachers about my experiences working with kids at Summer Camp and how we use physical activity to promote teamwork, team building, trust, inclusion and so on. I am also going to get an opportunity to come to the school wide physical education class Friday morning to get an idea of how school programs run here in Limbe! So excited! I am really looking forward to seeing how schools run here!
ALSO, on a separate backpacking adventurous note, Andy and I booked our ascent up Mount Cameroon! Next week, Tuesday September 4 and Wednesday September 5 we will be climbing up Mount Cameroon to its 4090 metre Summit and back down. Not to mention spending a night in Hut 2! Pictures of this mountain paradise to come. It will be an interesting evening to say the least!
That is about it for now! Things are going well here, I am comfortable in my surroundings and happy with the opportunities I have made for myself. Still battling some homesickness, but let's blame that on the inherent awesomeness of my family.
I hope all is well with all of you!
If I may end this entry with something I learned very early on in this adventure and have applied pretty much every second of every day so far;
take every experience thrown at you, good or bad, and learn what you can from it. Take every opportunity to make the best of your situation. Most things in life do not go according to plan and if you shut down at every obstacle, you are going to have a very, very difficult life.
Much love,
Josh
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Wash your hands before eating your Gari!!!!
Gari is the yellow blob you see on the plate next to me. Looks like mashed potatoes. Does not taste like mashed potatoes.
1 Month in the review...
It is kind of odd that the strongest sense of Canadian nationalism I have felt in my life (yes Syd's Golden Goal is an unforgettable close second) is while I am the furthest away from Canada I have ever been. In the last week I have befriended a Canadian here who works for a microfinance firm. His name is Alex and is from Quebec City. I can not express how nice it is to be able to sit down and talk about hockey in a country where we might actually be the only 2 people who can have a conversation of the merits of Ovechkin or Crosby.
I have been battling a number of stresses in the past few weeks and dinner conversation here is generally consumed with relflecting on how much easier it is to live in Cameroon at the end of week 5 then at the end of the hour 5. However, I have learned that with stresses comes hard work and if you're patient enough, victory and elation at the end. I have been trying to think about how to run a program in schools here in Limbe both as a way of filling my time once schools start up again but also as a way of spreading what I believe to be beautiful messages through the world's "Beautiful Game." The concept of using sport for social reform has been around since the turn of the 20th century and for me to facilitate emphasizing notions of teamwork, unity, sportsmanship or trust through sport is not difficult because those are all important aspects of being a good athlete. All I really have to do is point it out.
I realized early on in my trip here that the things that I thought I was going to be able to accomplish here were VERY ambitious for only 3 months of work. And actually once school starts I only have 6 weeks left in Limbe which is NOTHING considering the message I am trying to get accross. But I found a school here to help me do these things. I met a very nice lady last night at dinner who happens to run a school here and she loved my idea and wants me to help her facilitate programs for her 400 students using sport to send a message. As well, she has asked me to put together programs for some of her students with learning disabilities AND run a seminar for her teachers on the importance of using phsyical activity in social development. Today has been an exciting day! OH HAPPY WEDNESDAY.
I now look forward to the next few weeks with an amazing sense of accomplishment and an amazing sense of excitment for the possibilities. I still can not believe that in a week and a half it is September and that I will only have 6 weeks left in Limbe after that. I still have not fully grasped that 3 months in the long run is no time at all but I am starting to understand that while at first I may have set outrageous goals for myself, it is OK to take comfort in small victories and that great things can still be done is short periods of time. It just all depends on how you look at them. If I can help just one player make better decisions or just one student with their studies ... well that seems pretty great to me!
Other positive developments include that I now have a working light in my room which is lovely AND I played a pick up game of football yesterday with some very large local Cameroonian men and I did not suck super terribly!!!
Some amazing experiences here in Limbe that I can not express in words how excited I am to apply to the rest of my life!
Cheers,
Josh
I have been battling a number of stresses in the past few weeks and dinner conversation here is generally consumed with relflecting on how much easier it is to live in Cameroon at the end of week 5 then at the end of the hour 5. However, I have learned that with stresses comes hard work and if you're patient enough, victory and elation at the end. I have been trying to think about how to run a program in schools here in Limbe both as a way of filling my time once schools start up again but also as a way of spreading what I believe to be beautiful messages through the world's "Beautiful Game." The concept of using sport for social reform has been around since the turn of the 20th century and for me to facilitate emphasizing notions of teamwork, unity, sportsmanship or trust through sport is not difficult because those are all important aspects of being a good athlete. All I really have to do is point it out.
I realized early on in my trip here that the things that I thought I was going to be able to accomplish here were VERY ambitious for only 3 months of work. And actually once school starts I only have 6 weeks left in Limbe which is NOTHING considering the message I am trying to get accross. But I found a school here to help me do these things. I met a very nice lady last night at dinner who happens to run a school here and she loved my idea and wants me to help her facilitate programs for her 400 students using sport to send a message. As well, she has asked me to put together programs for some of her students with learning disabilities AND run a seminar for her teachers on the importance of using phsyical activity in social development. Today has been an exciting day! OH HAPPY WEDNESDAY.
I now look forward to the next few weeks with an amazing sense of accomplishment and an amazing sense of excitment for the possibilities. I still can not believe that in a week and a half it is September and that I will only have 6 weeks left in Limbe after that. I still have not fully grasped that 3 months in the long run is no time at all but I am starting to understand that while at first I may have set outrageous goals for myself, it is OK to take comfort in small victories and that great things can still be done is short periods of time. It just all depends on how you look at them. If I can help just one player make better decisions or just one student with their studies ... well that seems pretty great to me!
Other positive developments include that I now have a working light in my room which is lovely AND I played a pick up game of football yesterday with some very large local Cameroonian men and I did not suck super terribly!!!
Some amazing experiences here in Limbe that I can not express in words how excited I am to apply to the rest of my life!
Cheers,
Josh
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Mount Cameroon ... See you in 2 Weeks!
I later learned that this is not actually Mt. Cameroon but a smaller peak in the range. Mt. Cameroon is the monstrosity to the right of this mountain. I will post a picture of the actual mountain. My bad.
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