Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog! As many of you know, I graduated from Dartmouth in June and was selected to be a Grassroot Soccer field intern. Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is a South-African based NGO founded by former professional soccer players. It intergrates the cross-cultural appeal of soccer with evidence-based HIV prevention and life skills programs that arm African youth with the knowledge, skills, and support to live HIV free. Translating research into action and leveraging the excitement around the 2010 World Cup, GRS attracts and engages African youth through schools, community outreach, and social multimedia. It is focused around the realization that the true power of soccer has always been connections that it creates between people. By using soccer players as role models, and the popularity of soccer to engage hard to reach young people, GRS combines social theory, public health methodologies, rigorous evaluation, and a huge dose of passion. Since 2003, over 270,000 youth in 16 countries have received comprehensive HIV prevention education through programs linked to GRS. By bringing the model to scale through innovative and sustainable partnerships, GRS aims to educate many more by World Cup 2010.

I am truly passionate about this cause and organization. However, in order to participate as an intern, I have been asked to raise $10,000 to cover my living expenses and I am currently $2,000 short of my goal. Please consider supporting me in the fight against HIV/AIDS and making a tax-deductible donation with the icon below. Thank you for the support and I hope you continue to follow this blog as I post updates throughout my internship.

Donate Now!

$

Monday, October 19, 2009

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.

Posted by at

1 comment:

  1. Dom FitzpatrickOctober 20, 2009 at 12:13 AM

    Kristin,

    This post is great, though it does make me miss you all very much. So excited to see all of you at Haloweeen! The blog is great and I really loved the pictures of the animals. The dribble-athon looked like a ton of fun too!

    Dom

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)