About Grassroot Soccer

Mission: Grassroot Soccer uses the power of soccer to educate, inspire, and mobilize communities to stop the spread of HIV.

Vision: A world mobilized through soccer to prevent new HIV infections.

Strategy: To achieve our mission, we continuously improve our innovative HIV prevention and life-skills curriculum, share our program and concept effectively, and utilize the popularity of soccer to increase our impact.

http://www.grassrootsoccer.org/

Grassroot Video: Who We Are, What We Do.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

JOBURG!

Last weekend we had a major intern reunion in Joburg.  There were 19 interns + 2 GRS employee/ex interns in a 2 bedroom house.  It was an insane weekend that I will never forget and which I needed.
 
 We left PE Friday evening to fly to Joburg.  Our flight was delayed an hour so we got in around 11:00 pm.  I had my money stolen from me - my first robbery happened in Joburg (fittingly).  It was due partially to my own stupid mistake, but really...

On the budget airlines here you can "hand check" your luggage.  So my bag is a carry on, but it's a little big for the overhead compartments on the tiny planes so I can hand it off on the tarmac right before I climb the stairs into the plane and they'll put it underneath and I can grab it when I get off.  I forgot to take my wallet out of my bag, but I didn't really worry because you can literally watch them and your bag from the windows.  However, when we departed the plane it was onto a ramp.  No one could see their bags and I was a little worried.  I was one of the last people to get mine carried up to me.  I checked immediately and all my money for the weekend was gone.  That sucked. 

So anyways...we arrive around 11 and the Cape Town crew had gotten in about 1 hr before.  We went to the airport bar to meet them and had a drink while we waited for Ben to come pick us up (Will bought me a nice drink to make me feel better).  When we got in the car we had two options: 1. Go to the house and drop off our luggage and then head back to the bar everyone was at (1 hr trip), or 2. Go straight to the bar.

We opted for the bar (I was wearing a crew neck t-shirt, sneakers, and my flannel, but I was ready to just go out).  When we got to the bar it was chaos.  I hadn't seen most of the people there since August in the states.  There was so much excitement in the room.  Everyone was hugging and going crazy.  We stayed at this place for a little bit and drank and caught up before we moved on to more of a dance-club.  Ended the night there after picking up some new hats.

Back at the house we found whatever piece of floor we could to sleep on and passed out.  Woke up on Saturday to a beautiful day.  We prepared the kiddy pool and hung out in the sun for the better part of the morning.  For lunch we got Cotas (who knows if I spelled this correctly - derived from "Quarter") which is a Sowetan specially I guess.  It is a quarter loaf of bread with fries and whatever else in it.  Delicious.  Soweto was much nicer than I expected.  The area we were in (literally went to a guy's back yard for lunch) was like a cute little town.  Different from PE townships for sure.  It was quite amusing though to drive up with 15 or so white people into a township to buy cotas.  There were other guys who would come in and ask us what we were doing there.


Saturday wasn't for relaxing though.  We had congregated in Joburg to watch the Pirates play the Chiefs - the two largest clubs in South Africa.  After seeing the Chiefs twice previously and being underwhelmed (read watching them tie twice) I was rooting for the Pirates.   Ben had bought us all tickets, but was having issues getting them printed.  He had recently replaced his bank card so the Shoprite he was trying to get them printed at was saying they couldn't verify he was the purchaser etc. etc.  Alice ended up sweet talking them and we got our tickets around 2:45.  The game started at 3:00.  Traffic was pretty bad, but we enjoyed ourselves.  We had a little caravan going and people were switching back and forth between cars when we were stopped and we were chatting to guys walking to the stadium. 

We ended up sitting down just before half time.  The pirates were already up 3-1.  The second half was less exciting and we only saw one goal.  The game ended 3-2, but you'd never have known it.  Everyone was happy.  This was the friendliest rivalry I have ever experienced.  People were just enjoying to sun, the soccer, and the booze.  It was a great atmosphere.  Back at home we spent the evening braaing, sharing favorite ZA music, dancing, and hanging out. 

I flew home early on Sunday and had a day to relax before work on Monday.  The weekend was so hectic, but totally worth it.  Now I just want to keep seeing people.  I haven't done much traveling yet to other intern sites and haven't spent much time with people.  I have been really occupied with PE and getting closer with people here and getting to know this city.  So much so that I completely forgot how much I enjoy my intern class.  It won't be long though before we see each other again.  I hit Zambia for a mini-reunion for Easter (though I'm missing out on Zimbabwe to go see my family in Germany).  The puppy will have to wait.

HCT Teams

Work is going well.  I finished recruiting teams for next weekend (with much help from the coaches).  We even had teams asking to join after all our brackets were filled.  I call that success I guess.  I am writing this on a Wednesday at an internet cafe because we have work off today!  Public holiday.  All of our coaches are at a training for next week's Skillz Holiday, but Jess and I made tons and tons of sandwiches for their lunch yesterday so that we wouldn't have to go in to work today.  Thank you Siya.  In a strange place right now.  In 2 weeks I will start traveling a lot - first Vic Falls for an intern Easter and then family time in Germany.  I am very excited and these 2 weeks of work are just me counting down.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Trevor Hits PE

Trevor came to town this past weekend.  He got in early Saturday, we went to the City Lads game, went home, braaid with a bunch of people, and went to Castros.  I got kicked off the city lads bench because my shorts were "too short" for the sideline referee.  It is a big deal here that soccer is a "lesbian sport" and turns girls into lesbians.  I think it’s weird how they try to de-feminize the players though.  Nails have to be cut short short shot, like a wrestler, and now I can't wear normal shorts, but have to have them down to the knee to sit on the bench.  It's strange. 

Anyways, the braai at our house was amazing and we had a bunch of people that moved on to Castros.  It was such a fun night.  Sunday we took Trevor to the ocean and spent the day in the sun before he hopped a bus back to Kimberly.  Great weekend.  Hopefully the next, in Joburg, will be as fun.

Recruitment

This week is pretty much preparing for the HCT.  On my side, I have completed the schedule.  All teams have to play their games in addition to going through 2 skillz activities, eating lunch, going through testing and counseling, and having breaks.  It was actually quite fun to put it together.  My first try had a few conflicts, but the second one is quite good if I say so.

The past two mornings I have taken the car with Siya and VIP to schools to recruit schools to play in the tournament as well.  Things are promising so far.  I hope it all goes well.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Phinda

Phinda is a private game reserve in Kwazulu Natal - a bit south of the big national park: Kruger.  There are a few different resorts within Phinda and we stayed at Vlei lodge.  This place is top to bottom awesome.  It is very small, only 6 bungalows and it has a very personable feeling.  You have a lot of time with the staff...plus there is an amazing chef staff!  I had an amazing 3 days in Phinda doing what people have been waiting for me to do - see the big 5.  To break down the time I spent in KZN I'm going to give you all a low-down on the animals I saw.

Marc and Chris

Marc and Chris were our guides through this excellent adventure.  Marc was our trusty ranger.  He was amazing.  Super knowledgeable, nice, fun.  He was great.  Chris was our Zulu tracker man.  He sat on a chair on the front of the vehicle and just watched the whole time for tracks.  He also held the flood light at night and found animals.  He found a bush baby and a tiny tiny chameleon from the light shining off their eyes.
Bungalow
Luckiest moment of my life.  The bungalows were 2 person per room.  Jess already had a friend on the trip with her so he parents got me my own room.  This place was spectacular.  I had a huge bed, a pool in my porch which overlooked a field that animals would graze in, a big bath tub with salts and oils, a stacked complimentary mini-bar...everything basically.  I can never thank the Borislows enough for what they gave me this weekend.  It was amazing.

(pants)
Nyala
Nyalas are the white tailed deer of South Africa.  They are EVERYWHERE and aren't very exciting.  The males are actually quite cool because they have cool horns and look like they are wearing pants, but the females and little ones are boring boring boring.   In other words- they would probably be my dad's favorite animal here.  No matter how many times he has seen a deer in his life - even if we are on vacation in the UP and see them every half hour, he ALWAYS stops the car and watches while he waits for them to run away.

Impala
Impalas are a lot like Nyalas except the males are lamer.  They do however have black stripes outside their butts which have been hypothesized to attract more heat from the sun, thus drawing ticks to the sides of their butt cheeks where their tails can fling them away.  So, if you watch an Impala its tail will be clenched real tight over its butt crack and then suddenly flick side to side and go back clenching. 

On Friday afternoon I was laying by my pool and a bunch of Impalas were grazing just in front of my porch.  A couple came and drank from my pool.  One was really cautious of me though and kept eyeing me up so I had to pretend to be asleep before he would drink.

Elephants
Jess's friend Ashley is obsessed with Elephants.  For this reason the elephant was the first animal we requested to see from our lovely ranger.  We weren't driving long before someone called in a sighting at a watering hole nearby.  We dashed through the woods along the bumpy two-track, past elephant dung and multiple Nyala, to the modestly sized watering hole.  We pulled up to find a group of elephants in the road taking dust baths.  There appeared to be a baby in the middle of all the shimmying and rolling.  When some decided to break off and head towards the lake we pulled off the path and parked along the banks of the pond/lake.  At first there was just one elephant who seemed interested in drinking from the water, but eventually others came (including the baby) and the situation turned into an all-out bathing frenzy.  They were playing in the water, splashing each other, and rolling around.  Ashley was loving it. 

One of the elephants seemed to be wearing a collar and Marc told us that South Africa was trying a new contreception on elephants.  The one wearing the collar was the matriarch of the herd and she was the testing subject.  I guess that a gooey sack forms around the eggs so that they can't be fertilized.  It only lasts about a year though so that is what is being worked on.  I guess there are too many elephants in South Africa and they are destroying a lot of habitats including farmland and sand forests. 

Later in the week, on our last game drive, we saw the elephants again, hiding in the woods.  It was raining and they were someone fitting between the trees.  One came out and gave us a show scratching herself on the trees.  We watched for a long time before the elephants were tired.  As the moon rose another animal began to grab our attention.
Hippos
There were 3 or 4 hippos in the lake as well.  We were aware of their presence, but they were staying mainly under water.  Hippos have really sensitive skin and are extremely susceptible to sunburn so they stay underwater until they can feed at night.  This is why the hippo is the deadliest animal in South Africa.  People go down to lakes at dawn to fish, or wash clothes, or whatever, and end up getting between the water and hippos returning from a meal.  The hippos get nervous and skittish and charge the observed threat. 

As it got darker the hippos came more and more out of the water, scenting (read pooping), stretching their jaws, and moving about in general.  It was quite cool and their little ears are so cute when they shake.
Lions
We got to see the lions quite a bit.  Our first sighting was our first night.  The sun was almost down (it actually completely set while we were watching).  We came upon two lionesses and their cubs in the middle of the "Marsh" or the big stretch of grasslands in the north of Phinda.  They were sleeping except for one cub who walked a bit, looked at us, and suckled.  As Marc told us, Lions are "communal sucklers" so he took turns at both lionesses.  We watched for a while, but there was really little action.  Supposedly they had made a kill that day and already eaten so they were being lazy. 

Check out the flies on his body
On our first morning drive we were out driving,  just after tea, and watching a black rhino.  As we were there we received a call that a male lion was walking right towards us.  We drove off to locate him.  This single male lion was walking in the broad daylight between zebras and wildebeest.  Marc said that he was sending locating calls and the fact he was walking like he was showed he wasn't in hunting mode.  This, supposedly, gave us a pass at getting too close for comfort to this lion.  We would literally drive our vehicle right in front of him, in his path, and he would just walk around us and keep going.  It was the craziest thing.  After following him for a while he led us right to the pride.  They were escaping the hot sun by laying under some Acacia trees.  The two males slept together under one and the females and cubs slept under another.



Cheetah
Phinda is known for its Cheetah sightings and we saw a few.  The first thing we did when we went out Friday morning was look for Cheetahs.  It didn't take us long to locate two males in the marsh.  They were waking up and moving around scenting a little bit.  Phinda is covered in termite mounds (the reason Phinda, as an old seabed, exists as a game reserve is because termites brought clay up into the sandy top layer so that life could grow) and the cheetahs move from mound to mound looking for prey.  They were so beautiful, but showed no signs of actually hunting so eventually we moved on.

Later, in the afternoon, we were just leaving for a game drive when we heard monkeys alarming near one of the bungalows.  We turned the vehicle around (notice I keep referring it to vehicle because I really don't know what to call it.  It was like a dune buggy/jeep/convertible/safari vehicle thing….I don't really know.  Vehicle will do) and went to investigate.  We found the monkey in the tree, but didn't see anything else.  Marc and Chris went walking to try and find tracks, but turned up with nothing.  We learned as we were leaving that a cheetah was in the field just outside the resort and this was the cause of the alarm.  So many vehicles were already looking at it so we couldn't join, but we saw him as we drove by.  This cheetah stayed in the area and the next morning he walked right by the main cabin where meals were served during breakfast.




Rhino


So, we were lucky enough to see two of the five types of rhinos during this trip.  We saw a black rhino (the tree eaters) hanging out with a wildebeest, a black rhino chilling with its baby, and a white rhino (grass eater) with its baby.  They are so crazy looking.  I love their eyes in relation to the rest of their heads.  So cute.  I kept thinking of Babar during this trip and how elephants are good and rhinos are evil, but I really liked the rhinos.  It was extra cool because South Africa is having so many issues with poachers of rhinos now.
White Rhino (Notice the neck is built pointed down for the grass-eater)

Buffalo


We saw one buffalo the whole time - one male.  He was just laying next to the road so we were lucky to catch him.  He just laid and stared us down.  Marc explained that he was super dangerous because, as a lone male, he had been kicked out of the herd he ran with and now had no lady so he was mad, lonely, and sexually frustrated.  Poor guy.

Giraffe
The Giraffe was the last animal we saw.  Saturday morning we drove south, rather than north, and finally saw Giraffes feeding.  They are the coolest animals - graceful and clumsy.  How they feed though seems crazy.  They wrap their tongues around the end of acacia branches and pull.  The leaves comes off and they eat.  However, Acacia trees are covered in big thorns.  Crazy giraffes.
Zebra
The zebras were pretty, not super interesting.  But I like zebras.  We saw a couple pregnant zebras who were about to "drop it like its hot" in the words of our wise ranger.

Wildebeest
Another weird animal.  Seemingly a mixture of all the animals it is like a horse, but with a sloped back and stripes...i dunno.  Why a Wildebeest was hanging out with a black rhino?  I don' t know.
Dung Beetle
Dung Beetles are the big thing I will take away from this trip.  They are the COOLEST!  Right when we arrived we were being shown to our bungalows and we came across a bung beetle rolling a ball of Impala turd.  It was crazy how fast it was moving, running backwards and rolling a ball. 

Friday morning during our tea break we were by a huge pile of rhino dung so we were checking out all the different types of dung beetles in it.  There are hundreds and hundreds of different kinds (I think actually thousands, but don't feel like checking right now).  They are so useful though.  They help spread out the poo and fertilize land and even out nitrate distribution.  PLUS they eat and lay eggs in poo - a substance that almost everyone else avoids.  Good for them. 

Marc told us a story about dumb Australians and dung beetles.  So, to start, dung beetles all have parasites that feed off of them and serve purposes.  Some are hygienic, some help to cool off the beetles (like those who live in deserts) etc. etc.  So anyways, Australia has a problem with cow dung so they thought importing dung beetles would help with this problem.  They spent MILLIONS of dollars to import dung beetles from Africa, but are dumb so asked that all parasites be removed first.  All the beetles died and Australia wasted millions.  Ha. Ha.
Golden Orb


Gross.  We were driving back at night and saw this GIANT spider in its web off to the side of the path.  This thing is seriously huge.  Marc said he had a guest once who would put Golden Orb spiders in his mouth and open it at people to freak them out and think it was funny.  I guess the Golden Orb isn't super aggressive, but gross.  Seriously dude...
Bark Spider
Chris casually removing the Bark Spider's web from our path
The Bark Spider didn't look as big as the Golden Orb, but just as gross.  I also hate this spider extra because it hung its web across the whole road and Marc threatened to drive though his web and the spider would thus be on my face.  If we hadn't seen it in time this would have actually happened.  For this, I hate the Bark Spider.

Chameleon

Boring creatures which look cool.  We only ever saw them at night.







Alcohol
I drank more on this vacation than I ever have before I think.  Whenever we came into the lodge after 2:00 we were fixed a drink.   Besides this, our mini bar was complimentary so I felt the need to make use of that.  Wine at night, gin and tonics during the day...plus, our tea break, in the morning, in the bush, involved spiked coffee and hot cocoa.  It was excellent.

Durban

I didn't see much of Durban.  I arrived, found a shuttle that would drop me at the hotel for R70 and then relaxed and watched TV until Jess got back.  Her dad then took us and Ashley - Jess's friend from the states - to the Bafana Bafana game that was playing in Durban that day (lucky).  So I watched SA tie Senegal...EVERY TIME A TIE.  Why?????