Saturday, 18 August 2012
Thursday, 16 August 2012
Light Bulb.
...Not literally. The light in my room is still out. BUT I had a light bulb "ah hah!" moment yesterday. In fact, it was better than your best light bulb "ah hah!" moment!
I was supposed to start running my coaching program (where I use generic football drills to emphasize messages to the kids about trust, unity, teamwork etc.) but in typical Limbe/Africa fashion my first big moment was not the romanticized experience I was hoping for. Then on Tuesday I was supposed to run my program with the older group of kids again and no one showed up. Having already learned that getting demoralized here at the first or even the second set back will inevitably lead to a full nervous breakdown I kept fighting to get my chance.
Wednesday August 15 2012 was the day it all came together. I woke up to pouring rain which cut off just in time to have the sun shine down on this magical practice. The kids showed up and I started warm up. Which I moved into a simple passing drill where I emphasize trust and patience. Having Coach Lucas (the local AVFAL director) there was a huge help because he was able and willing to translate my explanations and ensure the message was getting across.
One drill led to another where I emphasized ball control and self control. Lucas once again explained my points and the looks on the kids faces told it all.
We ended with a Fair Play Game where the kids govern themselves in the game and I point out instances of both good and bad sportsmanship. For example, if you knock a player over while challenging for the ball you better turn around and help that player up. Because as I told the kids that day, we come to practice to get better not just as individuals but as a team. And at the end of the day we are all on the same team. The youngest and smallest player there acted as my referee and he LOVED having a whistle in his mouth. Not to mention the candy wrappers he found on the ground and used as red and yellow cards.
At the end of this magical 2 and a half hours I took a step back, took a deep breath, took in some sun and smiled and for the first time since I got here thought to myself with confidence that I was able, more than willing and actually accomplishing the goals I set out to. I used a simple football drill to teach a group of young Cameroonian football players about trust and patience.
I was proud to have been able to accomplish one of my goals here and it gave me confidence to move forward and accomplish all of my goals here!
The longer I am in Limbe (4 weeks on Saturday!!!) the closer October 13 seems and I am determined to get on that plane in 2 months and look back on my time here with pride when I tell myself that I positively affected the lives of the amazing kids I have met here.
I am still counting down the days until my departure date but NOT out of excitment of leaving. I am coutning down the days because I am trying desperately to accomplish all of the things I have set out to in my short time here. 3 months has seemed like forever, but at the end of the day it will be over in the blink of an eye. I better get off the internet and make the absolute most of my time here.
Loving this place. EXCEPT for the Nigerian television shows. They are bizarre and very loud and depressing and on EVERYWHERE. Besides that though, all is well.
I send my love to you all.
Josh
I was supposed to start running my coaching program (where I use generic football drills to emphasize messages to the kids about trust, unity, teamwork etc.) but in typical Limbe/Africa fashion my first big moment was not the romanticized experience I was hoping for. Then on Tuesday I was supposed to run my program with the older group of kids again and no one showed up. Having already learned that getting demoralized here at the first or even the second set back will inevitably lead to a full nervous breakdown I kept fighting to get my chance.
Wednesday August 15 2012 was the day it all came together. I woke up to pouring rain which cut off just in time to have the sun shine down on this magical practice. The kids showed up and I started warm up. Which I moved into a simple passing drill where I emphasize trust and patience. Having Coach Lucas (the local AVFAL director) there was a huge help because he was able and willing to translate my explanations and ensure the message was getting across.
One drill led to another where I emphasized ball control and self control. Lucas once again explained my points and the looks on the kids faces told it all.
We ended with a Fair Play Game where the kids govern themselves in the game and I point out instances of both good and bad sportsmanship. For example, if you knock a player over while challenging for the ball you better turn around and help that player up. Because as I told the kids that day, we come to practice to get better not just as individuals but as a team. And at the end of the day we are all on the same team. The youngest and smallest player there acted as my referee and he LOVED having a whistle in his mouth. Not to mention the candy wrappers he found on the ground and used as red and yellow cards.
At the end of this magical 2 and a half hours I took a step back, took a deep breath, took in some sun and smiled and for the first time since I got here thought to myself with confidence that I was able, more than willing and actually accomplishing the goals I set out to. I used a simple football drill to teach a group of young Cameroonian football players about trust and patience.
I was proud to have been able to accomplish one of my goals here and it gave me confidence to move forward and accomplish all of my goals here!
The longer I am in Limbe (4 weeks on Saturday!!!) the closer October 13 seems and I am determined to get on that plane in 2 months and look back on my time here with pride when I tell myself that I positively affected the lives of the amazing kids I have met here.
I am still counting down the days until my departure date but NOT out of excitment of leaving. I am coutning down the days because I am trying desperately to accomplish all of the things I have set out to in my short time here. 3 months has seemed like forever, but at the end of the day it will be over in the blink of an eye. I better get off the internet and make the absolute most of my time here.
Loving this place. EXCEPT for the Nigerian television shows. They are bizarre and very loud and depressing and on EVERYWHERE. Besides that though, all is well.
I send my love to you all.
Josh
Friday, 10 August 2012
Why I am here...
I got here, I freaked out a little, I coped, I adapted, I can now experience and inspire.
On Wednesday of this week the team I have come here to coach, AVFAL, lost in the Semi Finals of the Paco Mellville Junior Football Tournament in a heartbreaking 1-0 thriller. We lost to the 3-peat champions Bel-star for the 3rd year in a row (a factoid I learned only after the game).
Now that the team is out of the tournament we gave the kids Thursday-Monday off and that also means that us coaches have those days off. I was told that the coaching program I have been hounding my advisor that I want to run will be starting Monday morning. Thus, my days off have been filled with reading Sport-development materials and putting together a program for my Monday coaching session. My days have also been filled with some exploring and tourism and have had a blast experiencing Limbe!
Yesterday (Thursday), I trained the younger AVFAL kids and tried out some of my coaching program activities which were a huge hit! Then I spent the afternoon walking around Limbe with one of my players, Leonel. A smart, funny and friendly 15 year old kid who wants to work in development economics. We had a great talk about the tournament, his schooling, we tried some local food (fufu adn eru), we also talked about how soccer (or football as I am learning to call it) can be used to teach the team about such characteristics as unity, teamwork, trust, and sportsmanship. It only made me more excited to start my program on Monday!
This morning we were invited to visit the local military base. The BIR (translated to mean the Rapid Intervention Batallion) was having a graduation ceremony and a local AVFAL supporter named Tato invited me to check it out. I was asked to not take pictures so I can not share the visuals with you but it was colourful, rainy, loud, and they fed us. I was then invited back to Tato's place for a celebration on his graduation. He then fed us more tradtional fufu and eru. This afternoon has been spent hiding from the rain and catching up on the internet as Limbe has been riddled with about 18 power outages ranging from 6 hours to 6 minutes over the last 2 days that has made internet access difficult. Tonight will be filled with eating fish (that literally goes from the ocean to the grill with little preparation .. picture to come) and watching some olympics and an ETB (early to bed) in preparation for a training session with the younger kids tomorrow morning. After that, hopefully the weather will permit a trip to a local beach just north of the city where we can enjoy some sun some football and some ocean! Sunday morning I will be getting up very early, about 6, as I was invited last week to join some local men in a pick up game of football. I am very excited to get running around and to have some Limbe men make me feel useless on a football pitch. The afternoon will be spent preparing for my Monday morning program and hopefully out and about spending some time with players and new friends!
It is still amazing how some days I look ahead to me departure date from Douala of October 13 as seemingly years away and others when it seems just around the corner. Come September, when all the kids go back to school, I am trying to come up with ways to fill my time as the AVFAL kids will only be training 2 or 3 days a week after school. Some of my time will be spent climbing Mount Cameroon and hopefully visiting the Waza National Park in the North, but I am also looking to get in touch with local school principles to try and organize an opportunity to work with kids in schools in the area. This should keep me busy!
For now though, it is 5:30 pm here in Limbe and I am just about to sign off the internet here and head back to my apartment to do some work on my program, relax, maybe play catch with the local kids where they refer to me by my given tradtional African name ... "white man". Then chicken and Olympic Athletics!
Cheers to all and much love to everyone!
Josh
On Wednesday of this week the team I have come here to coach, AVFAL, lost in the Semi Finals of the Paco Mellville Junior Football Tournament in a heartbreaking 1-0 thriller. We lost to the 3-peat champions Bel-star for the 3rd year in a row (a factoid I learned only after the game).
Now that the team is out of the tournament we gave the kids Thursday-Monday off and that also means that us coaches have those days off. I was told that the coaching program I have been hounding my advisor that I want to run will be starting Monday morning. Thus, my days off have been filled with reading Sport-development materials and putting together a program for my Monday coaching session. My days have also been filled with some exploring and tourism and have had a blast experiencing Limbe!
Yesterday (Thursday), I trained the younger AVFAL kids and tried out some of my coaching program activities which were a huge hit! Then I spent the afternoon walking around Limbe with one of my players, Leonel. A smart, funny and friendly 15 year old kid who wants to work in development economics. We had a great talk about the tournament, his schooling, we tried some local food (fufu adn eru), we also talked about how soccer (or football as I am learning to call it) can be used to teach the team about such characteristics as unity, teamwork, trust, and sportsmanship. It only made me more excited to start my program on Monday!
This morning we were invited to visit the local military base. The BIR (translated to mean the Rapid Intervention Batallion) was having a graduation ceremony and a local AVFAL supporter named Tato invited me to check it out. I was asked to not take pictures so I can not share the visuals with you but it was colourful, rainy, loud, and they fed us. I was then invited back to Tato's place for a celebration on his graduation. He then fed us more tradtional fufu and eru. This afternoon has been spent hiding from the rain and catching up on the internet as Limbe has been riddled with about 18 power outages ranging from 6 hours to 6 minutes over the last 2 days that has made internet access difficult. Tonight will be filled with eating fish (that literally goes from the ocean to the grill with little preparation .. picture to come) and watching some olympics and an ETB (early to bed) in preparation for a training session with the younger kids tomorrow morning. After that, hopefully the weather will permit a trip to a local beach just north of the city where we can enjoy some sun some football and some ocean! Sunday morning I will be getting up very early, about 6, as I was invited last week to join some local men in a pick up game of football. I am very excited to get running around and to have some Limbe men make me feel useless on a football pitch. The afternoon will be spent preparing for my Monday morning program and hopefully out and about spending some time with players and new friends!
It is still amazing how some days I look ahead to me departure date from Douala of October 13 as seemingly years away and others when it seems just around the corner. Come September, when all the kids go back to school, I am trying to come up with ways to fill my time as the AVFAL kids will only be training 2 or 3 days a week after school. Some of my time will be spent climbing Mount Cameroon and hopefully visiting the Waza National Park in the North, but I am also looking to get in touch with local school principles to try and organize an opportunity to work with kids in schools in the area. This should keep me busy!
For now though, it is 5:30 pm here in Limbe and I am just about to sign off the internet here and head back to my apartment to do some work on my program, relax, maybe play catch with the local kids where they refer to me by my given tradtional African name ... "white man". Then chicken and Olympic Athletics!
Cheers to all and much love to everyone!
Josh
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
This is Africa ... things are hard.
This is a phrase that I have heard a lot in the last 2 and a half weeks. Since I arrived in Limbe I have been bombarded with a culture seemingly the opposite of my own and frustrations that at first glance seemed insurmountable. Through conversations with friends and family back home and people from here in Limbe, I have learned to cope with these situations and how to make the best of me being here.
Yesterday I received a call from a guy named Humphry. I met Humphry on my 2nd or 3rd night here when I was still very uneasy and anxious about being in Africa and was clearly unable to carry on any serious conversation. But yesterday I got a chance to sit down and talk with this new friend of mine. Humphry and I ended up talking for close to 2 and a half hours and we talked about everything from my expectations of being here to my goals and ambitions to the fact that his younger brother (who studied at Algonquin College in Ottawa the same year that I did) now lives in Limbe and would like to be a friend and source of support for me while I am here. I suddenly went from being anxious about the fact that I have 10 weeks left on my trip to Limbe to being excited about all of the possibilities. It is amazing what good company and a little cultural insight does for your state of mind.
I have since come to the conclusion that I came to Cameroon with unrealistic expectations and a romanticized set of goals and objectives. I envisioned myself arriving in Cameroon and immediately getting off the plane and everything going swimingly and me and the AVFAL kids riding off into the sunset with Elton John playing in the background and lovely smiles on our faces. Frustrations and stresses during the first week demoralized me and made me think that I would be able to accomplish nothing in my 3 months here. But it turns out that I was wrong ... twice.
I need to understand that things are done differently here. I need to have a grasp of the local culture and set reasonable expectations for myself and understand that I will have to accomplish these goals with what is presented to me and THAT IS OK. People that know me well know me as a somewhat idealistic organized nut case who is very self critical and impatient. These will be beaten out of me while in Limbe. Learning to cope has been my best friend here. Learning how to handle situations that arise and learning how to accomplish things on a different schedule have helped with my level of comfortablity.
When I met with Humphry yesterday he looked at me and said "you seem so much more calm now than you did that night we first met." That one statement went a long way to making me feel like I was starting to accomplish something. Not my sunset scene from a 1990s rom-com, but learning about the local culture and learning how life is lived here in Limbe, Cameroon and Africa. This is half the battle. Understanding the people and the culture and what they perceive to be the obstacles standing in between where THEY are and where THEY want to be is extrememely important to someone who wants to work in development.
I hope that it is clear that the frustrations and stresses that freaked me out in my first week are not as powerful as they once were and I am learning to cope and that these things are in not going to hold me back from the things I want to experience and accomplish in my short time here. This is Africa after all ... and things are done differently here. Things are also beautiful here. Views and people that, as a Canadian, I truly appreciate. Because from where I am currently sitting the ocean looks just lovely.
Signing off with an optimistic and hopeful smile.
Josh
Yesterday I received a call from a guy named Humphry. I met Humphry on my 2nd or 3rd night here when I was still very uneasy and anxious about being in Africa and was clearly unable to carry on any serious conversation. But yesterday I got a chance to sit down and talk with this new friend of mine. Humphry and I ended up talking for close to 2 and a half hours and we talked about everything from my expectations of being here to my goals and ambitions to the fact that his younger brother (who studied at Algonquin College in Ottawa the same year that I did) now lives in Limbe and would like to be a friend and source of support for me while I am here. I suddenly went from being anxious about the fact that I have 10 weeks left on my trip to Limbe to being excited about all of the possibilities. It is amazing what good company and a little cultural insight does for your state of mind.
I have since come to the conclusion that I came to Cameroon with unrealistic expectations and a romanticized set of goals and objectives. I envisioned myself arriving in Cameroon and immediately getting off the plane and everything going swimingly and me and the AVFAL kids riding off into the sunset with Elton John playing in the background and lovely smiles on our faces. Frustrations and stresses during the first week demoralized me and made me think that I would be able to accomplish nothing in my 3 months here. But it turns out that I was wrong ... twice.
I need to understand that things are done differently here. I need to have a grasp of the local culture and set reasonable expectations for myself and understand that I will have to accomplish these goals with what is presented to me and THAT IS OK. People that know me well know me as a somewhat idealistic organized nut case who is very self critical and impatient. These will be beaten out of me while in Limbe. Learning to cope has been my best friend here. Learning how to handle situations that arise and learning how to accomplish things on a different schedule have helped with my level of comfortablity.
When I met with Humphry yesterday he looked at me and said "you seem so much more calm now than you did that night we first met." That one statement went a long way to making me feel like I was starting to accomplish something. Not my sunset scene from a 1990s rom-com, but learning about the local culture and learning how life is lived here in Limbe, Cameroon and Africa. This is half the battle. Understanding the people and the culture and what they perceive to be the obstacles standing in between where THEY are and where THEY want to be is extrememely important to someone who wants to work in development.
I hope that it is clear that the frustrations and stresses that freaked me out in my first week are not as powerful as they once were and I am learning to cope and that these things are in not going to hold me back from the things I want to experience and accomplish in my short time here. This is Africa after all ... and things are done differently here. Things are also beautiful here. Views and people that, as a Canadian, I truly appreciate. Because from where I am currently sitting the ocean looks just lovely.
Signing off with an optimistic and hopeful smile.
Josh
Friday, 3 August 2012
Week 2 (almost) Update
Limbe oh Limbe ... why must you give me such tough love?
As most of you know, I came to Africa as a way of exposing myself to the wonders of working in development through sport. I chose a program based on its ability to both teach me about the field as well as allow me a chance to take those lessons and apply them to my own programs. With those criteria in mind I purposely chose a smaller, less established organization. At first it appeared that this decision backfired directly in my face. However, with the help and insight of people much smarter than I, (you know who you are) I am now more focused on the positives of this situation.
I was informed that sometimes in development a lack of organization is apparent and thus programs that you feel passionately about must be done under your own accord. On top of that, actual, sustainable change is barred by issues ranging from a lack of accountability, a lack of focus, a lack of organization, a LACK OF ORGANIZATION, and a seemingly overwhelming lack of sense of time or priorities not necessarily by an organization but by a culture or a community.
At first I was frustrated that aspects of my trip were not so much geared towards playing and coaching soccer as they were towards dealing with issues and providing myself amenities for the apartment. However, I quickly learned that while I signed up to learn about development through sport I am also being given a severe crash course in LIFE NOT IN CANADA. How to prioritize, how to deal with people from around the world, how to communicate with people of different ages and cultures, how to learn on the go and take what comes at you with a smile, and how to thrive in circumstances so vastly different than your own.
Despite the frustrating times and the bouts of homesickness, I find myself looking forward to every day I get to work with the players here as they renew my encouragement for this trip. As I grow closer with them and get to coach them more intimately I am reminded of my thoughts prior to coming of how something as trivial (to me) as referreeing a game or running a drill will affect them on a larger scale than I will ever understand.
We are in the midst of a tournament and it is very exciting. So far we are 1-0-1. We have our third game tomorrow morning and if we win or draw then we advance to the Semi Finals I am very excited. For now I am enjoying a rare sunny day (second in a row!!) and might go for a swim and then stroll around Limbe enjoying the views, smells, people and experiences.
At the end of the day, I have learned a lot about the field of development, and am being thrust into a position of more intensified learning than if I had gone with a more 'established' program which may be more frustrating now but considering my plan to work in this field for my career, these lessons will be invaluable to me being able to really erect change throughout my career.
At first my frustration was at the organization, then it was at myself, and now, after much debate and realization I am less frustrated and more hopeful and excited about the things I hope to bring to the table and leave with the kids and the organization here. From day 1, my goal was to leave Limbe thinking that I had done something positive in the community and I believe that I can and will do that with the help and support of my friends and family back home and my new friends and family here in Cameroon.
Signing off with a smile.
Josh (Or George and most of the locals seem to think my name is)
As most of you know, I came to Africa as a way of exposing myself to the wonders of working in development through sport. I chose a program based on its ability to both teach me about the field as well as allow me a chance to take those lessons and apply them to my own programs. With those criteria in mind I purposely chose a smaller, less established organization. At first it appeared that this decision backfired directly in my face. However, with the help and insight of people much smarter than I, (you know who you are) I am now more focused on the positives of this situation.
I was informed that sometimes in development a lack of organization is apparent and thus programs that you feel passionately about must be done under your own accord. On top of that, actual, sustainable change is barred by issues ranging from a lack of accountability, a lack of focus, a lack of organization, a LACK OF ORGANIZATION, and a seemingly overwhelming lack of sense of time or priorities not necessarily by an organization but by a culture or a community.
At first I was frustrated that aspects of my trip were not so much geared towards playing and coaching soccer as they were towards dealing with issues and providing myself amenities for the apartment. However, I quickly learned that while I signed up to learn about development through sport I am also being given a severe crash course in LIFE NOT IN CANADA. How to prioritize, how to deal with people from around the world, how to communicate with people of different ages and cultures, how to learn on the go and take what comes at you with a smile, and how to thrive in circumstances so vastly different than your own.
Despite the frustrating times and the bouts of homesickness, I find myself looking forward to every day I get to work with the players here as they renew my encouragement for this trip. As I grow closer with them and get to coach them more intimately I am reminded of my thoughts prior to coming of how something as trivial (to me) as referreeing a game or running a drill will affect them on a larger scale than I will ever understand.
We are in the midst of a tournament and it is very exciting. So far we are 1-0-1. We have our third game tomorrow morning and if we win or draw then we advance to the Semi Finals I am very excited. For now I am enjoying a rare sunny day (second in a row!!) and might go for a swim and then stroll around Limbe enjoying the views, smells, people and experiences.
At the end of the day, I have learned a lot about the field of development, and am being thrust into a position of more intensified learning than if I had gone with a more 'established' program which may be more frustrating now but considering my plan to work in this field for my career, these lessons will be invaluable to me being able to really erect change throughout my career.
At first my frustration was at the organization, then it was at myself, and now, after much debate and realization I am less frustrated and more hopeful and excited about the things I hope to bring to the table and leave with the kids and the organization here. From day 1, my goal was to leave Limbe thinking that I had done something positive in the community and I believe that I can and will do that with the help and support of my friends and family back home and my new friends and family here in Cameroon.
Signing off with a smile.
Josh (Or George and most of the locals seem to think my name is)
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