Tuesday Martino and I returned from Uganda after spending seven weeks there. We feel that, again, Soccer Without Borders has been able to improve and enrich the lives of the children we work with.We started our first day at Hope School on June 15 and had our first practice with the team. We found that we had quite a few good players and an age diverse group that went from P2 to P7 (British primary school system). The next day, with little time to prepare, we had to coach the team in a town tournament with the winning team advancing to a regional tournament. The team was extremely excited for the games, especially once they began putting on their newly donated uniforms and cleats. For our first game we dominated possession but let in an unlucky goal as no one had been trained to be goalkeeper and we had to put a field player in there. We lost 1-0. For the second game we played the tournament winning team and lost 3-0 but our team played well.
After this first day of games we began a daily schedule of what is equivalent PE class (but based entirely in futbol/soccer) in the morning w
ith art classes in the afternoon. On Thursday afternoons we would take the team to practice at the one full-sized field in Ndejje, albeit its position on a hill. We found a few more players to add to the team, some that are in P2 which give the team a good future. During this time we oversaw the completion of the Ndejje Community Center, which was funded entirely by Soccer Without Borders. In time it will be a place where all the youth in the town can borrow balls and cleats and take part in activities. We also located a proper place for the school to have a 7 v 7 field and at some point in the future we hope construction of it will begin.In addition to this, Martino worked with another volunteer, from Italy, named Julio. As a graduate of microfinance he was sent from another organization to help parents of the children attending Hope to pay the school fees. After two weeks they had created a traditional clothes shop which will open to the public this week.
It employs some of the parents and one third of the profit will go to funding the school. Eventually there will be a website from which "Westerners" can purchase the indigenous products.Lastly, Martino and I met the manager of Nakivubo Stadium in Kamapala (the second biggest stadium in Uganda) and he was able to plan for a day of soccer at the stadium for our players and another school we discovered that hosted children formerly living on the street. We played the other school, The Kampala School of Excellence, which is run by a former professional soccer player, and lost 2-0. That being said, the team was far better than any team at the tournament we encountered our second day and we saw drastic improvements. The kids were also extremely excited to play on a flat field with grass, especially in a stadium. At this tournament played one other team which we lost 2-1 to.
After the game we explained to Jacque, the director of Hope School, that they needed to hire someone to coach the team and they needed to reserve more time on the large field. He agreed, as this will stop the pattern of SWB sending volunteers to
work for two months and then having much of their coaching lost in the ten months without a coach. Between this and the shop we are glad to say that SWB and its ambassadors are continuing to make lasting positive impacts on this planet.-Jeff Fonda
SWB Ambassador
Summer 2009
