Safari!!!

So, I had been bugging Lindsay and Hooter about going to see rhinos at a nearby national park and they finally gave in this weekend. Although the park, called Mokala, has many other animals, I was most excited to see the rhinos. In second grade, when we learned about endangered animals, the rhino was my favorite and this was finally my chance to see one!

Before even entering the park, we spotted these zebra and I immediately hopped out to snap their pictures. They're gorgeous and I couldn't believe how close they were!



One of the best parts of the park was that there were barely any other people visiting. We only ran into one other car during our drive, which lasted over three hours. Another fun part was that we didn't need a guide and were able to drive ourselves. The first animal we saw once we entered the park was a Kudu. Kudu are giant and quite impressive with their huge, squirrely horns.


And then we saw warthogs! I was reminded simultaneously of The Lion King, and my Beagle, Lucy. Needless to say, the warthogs can run a lot faster than Lucy.



We also got extremely close to a group of probably almost one hundred buffalo. At first, I was really excited and then, quickly got scared as one just a few meters from the car started to stare us down. Only later did we learn that out of the Big Five (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, and buffalo), the buffalo kills the most people per year. So glad I learned that after the fact. Fortunately it never charged and we cruised past the rest of them, completely in awe.





We also saw a lot of these animals, which are pictured on the license plates in the Northern Cape (the province that Kimberley is in).



Towards the end of the afternoon, I became pretty convinced that we wouldn't see any rhino. I tried not to be disappointed since we'd already seen a ton of animals. But suddently, Hooter spotted one! It wasn't very close, but it was definitely a rhino. I hopped out of the car for a better look and sure enough, there were two larger rhinos with their baby off in the distance.




Although we didn't see the rhinos as well and as close as I'd hope, we'd still seen rhinos. I definitely didn't need to see any other animals after that. But soon enough, we found a beautiful herd of giraffes, which was probably next on my list after rhinos and zebra. Their bodies were larger than I had imagined, yet their colors were stunning.





Last but not least, we almost ran over this little guy on the way out. He was too cute to pass up, although he was terrified of me and scurried away as fast as possible.



So I got to check two of the Big Five off this weekend (buffalo and rhino). I can't wait to see the rest soon!

Rocking the Daisies

Last weekend, Lindsay, Hooter, and I made the long drive down to Cape Town to hangout with other interns at Rocking the Daisies, an eco-friendly, camping, music festival. We made the 10+ hour drive with two interns from Lesotho and two interns from Richmond, South Africa. The drive was pretty fun and comfortable since we rented a huge 10-seater van. One definite highlight was driving on a dirt road for over 100km to reach Richmond, in our attempts at a shortcut. We took advantage of the desolate road by taking turns riding on top of the car in a beanbag chair – something I never imagined I’d do in Africa.


Rocking the Daisies took place at Kloof Winery, which is about an hour outside Cape Town. The setting was gorgeous and the vineyards reminded me of home. We had a mini-reunion of sorts with almost twenty interns joining in the festivities for the weekend. By the time we arrived on Friday evening, the music had already started. It went past midnight and started again the next day at 10am. My favorite group of the weekend played on Friday night. They were a South African group from Joburg, called The Gang of Instrumentals. There were three main singers, who had nonstop energy throughout the performance. I think I’d probably classify their music as hip hop if I had to choose a genre, which is probably why I liked them so much. At the end of the weekend, we bought their album and now I can’t stop listening to them.


The food was great too. I had some shwarma, which reminded me of my time in Spain and some delicious soups and breads. The overall scene, including food and people, was entirely different from Kimberley. There were very few Black people at the entire concert and those who were there were mostly working. I definitely realized that the Cape Town interns are having a very different experience from me this year. Just seeing Cape Town again was a shock to me. I could not believe how many different restaurants and stores there were in a one block radius. Admittedly, I was quite jealous of the opportunities that the city has to offer, especially in regards to the scenery and the outdoors. Overall, the weekend was a great escape and I was sad to leave after a few short days.

Kim Dribble

Lindsay and Hooter, my fellow interns in Kimberley, wrote the following story to be featured on the GRS website. It details one of my favorite experiences in Africa thus far and I thought I would share it with you.




In early September, GRS intern Peter Glidden was contacted by his former employer, The Greenwich Country Day School, about an all-school fundraising event called the “GCDS Walk-a-thon.” This walk-a-thon is an event that raises money for two NGOs every fall—one domestic and one international. Students, faculty and staff spend an entire day walking laps around the school campus to earn donations per miles completed. This year the GCDS community selected Teach for America and GrassrootSoccer as the organizations to support. The event was a great success, raising over $5,000 for GRS, and in a notable departure from the traditional GCDS walk-a-thon, participants embraced the GRS vision and dribbled the majority of their miles.

Somewhere over 7,000 miles away, on a different continent, in the opposite hemisphere, on a seemingly sunny October afternoon, Peter and a small group of fellow GRS interns embarked upon a similar expedition. This adventure unfolded in the sparkling city of Kimberley, South Africa. The four interns, Peter, Kristin Fladseth, Anna Barrett, and Lindsay Rotherham, were outfitted with only their bright yellow GrassrootSoccer t-shirts and two Nike soccer balls. Their goal: to dribble approximately 15 km from their home, throughout the heavily trafficked roads and lively neighborhoods of Galeshewe, the nearby township, and finally loop back to return home.



Excitement was in the air with a fast approaching storm in the distance and many kilometers to be traveled. The interns started strong on some of the quieter and well-maintained streets of the city. As they neared the township limits, however, the atmosphere changed, and they were greeted by honking cars and enthusiastic bystanders. Interest mounted as the group dribbled toward a local park and called out to people in the native Setswana. Slowly but surely kids emerged from their homes to join in the football festivities, including participants from the most recent Skillz Holiday Programmes.


A left hand turn took the group onto the busiest road of Galeshewe, where they were ambushed by a horde of intrigued and ecstatic kids. It took only a few passes and dribbles amongst the group of twenty plus children before they were totally hooked to these strange yellow-clad foreigners. Together, they continued on down the road into the heart of Galeshewe, laughing, dribbling, dancing and generally loving this bizarre experience. When the group reached the round-about in the town center, storm clouds had fully formed and rain began to fall upon this unlikely group. Grabbing as many of the small boys and girls into their arms as they could, the interns headed for shelter in a local school. After several minutes of soccer drills underneath an overhang, lightning moved the crew into a classroom, providing an opportunity for some familiar American games. “Heads up seven up” was a big hit as the kids struggled to guess which intern had selected them.





Eventually the sky cleared and the group began their long journey home. A bittersweet goodbye was said to the young, shivering troopers as the wet, deflated soccer balls rolled on their proverbial path through Galeshewe Park and back onto the wide, soggy road home.

Skillz Holiday

Last week was entirely different from our usual routine. We ran two different programs called Skillz Holiday that were intended to keep the kids out of trouble during their week-long break from school and learn about HIV/AIDS while playing soccer. Lindsay and I shared responsibility for one of sites. We basically tried to control chaos everyday. It was exhausting, but well worth it to finally be in the field rather than the office. In total, 103 kids, between the ages of ten and sixteen, graduated from our program.



The daily schedule alternated two Skillz Core activities that taught about HIV/AIDS with two Skillz Street soccer games. Skillz Core has 8 practices in total, which left Friday for a fun World Cup style tournament and graduation for all participants who had attended at least 6 practices. The Skillz Core practices are 45 minutes in length. They begin and are interspersed with “energizers”, which are used to excite the kids and maintain their attention. My current favorite is “Besh”, which involves the coach naming a body part in Setswana, the local language, and everyone moving that body part in a side-to-side dance. I love it so much that I frequently walk around singing it. The coaches and kids also find it hysterical when I try to do it. Apparently my dancing skills aren’t quite up to par.



Following a few energizers, the practice begins. My favorite practice is Risk Field. I may be biased since I taught this game to kids when I volunteered in the Dominican Republic, but I really think it’s the best game because it perfectly combines a soccer activity with learning about HIV/AIDS. The game begins with the kids lining up in two separate groups. In front of each group, there six cones in a straight line that they must dribble through. The ball that each team has represents their life. Each cone represents a different risk in their life. For example, one is labeled “sex without a condom” and another is “sugar mommies and daddies”. The goal is to have all team members dribble through the cones as quickly as possible without touching the cones. During the first round, if a player hits a cone, he or she must do five pushups. In the second round, his or entire team must do five pushups. In the final round, all teams and coaches must do pushups whenever someone hits a cone. The point of the game is that when you take a risk in life, you are not the only person affected. Your friends, your family, your teachers – everyone in your life is affected, especially when it comes to HIV. There is a brilliant quote that captures the essence of HIV in South Africa, that goes along the lines of: If you are not infected, you are still affected.



The Skillz Street games focused on Fair Play, which emphasizes sportsmanship and awards teams extra points for following three extra rules that the teams agree upon. For example, one of the rules they may choose is that whenever a goal is scored, both teams have to celebrate, regardless of whether it was their team or the opposing team that scored. Another rule is that if an opponent falls, you must help him or her up. It was amazing to see these rules diligently followed by the kids. I’ve never seen a team erupt in celebration with their when a goal was scored upon them. I really liked it and hope that the kids incorporate some of the Fair Play philosophy when they play outside of Skillz.



On the last day, we held the World Cup style tournament. We assigned each team a country and they played to reach the championship. Many of the games were decided by penalty kicks at the end, which created a really fun atmosphere. All of the kids in the camp gathered around the goal and the kicker for each kick. Immediately after the shot, the teams would explode in celebration. The winners, runners-up, and best sportsmen of the tournament were awarded special Skillz medals and all graduates were presented with Skillz certificates and Castrol hats (Castrol sponsored the program). They were all pretty pumped to get some goodies.



The last part of the day and perhaps the most important, was an HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing area that I arranged. New Start, an organization that provides free testing and counseling, agreed to partner with us to test interested participants and coaches. Many kids wanted to be tested, but unfortunately they were not allowed to test unless they were fourteen years old. Most of our kids were younger, but it was great to see their excitement toward learning their status. In total, we had 28 kids test the two sites. One child tested HIV positive and was referred to a local clinic for more counseling and treatment. It’s sad to face the reality of having a child test positively, but the upside is that the child now knows his status and can start treatment immediately. Hopefully, after attending Skillz, he will also take steps to prevent spreading HIV to others. I have so much more to write, but unfortunately not enough time right now. Hooter, Lindsay and I are heading down to Cape Town for Rockin the Daisies with a bunch of other interns. It’s an outdoor, eco-friendly, camping and concert series. We have a massive 10-seater van for the road trip, so it should be a great time. I’ll post more about all the great adventures next week!