One battle at a time

That's the thought that came to mind yesterday
as we were at the village 30 km away playing
netball and football/soccer matches.
The games were for women and young girls ( see
above photo). One team (the women's team) is newly
formed and has been in existence for a little over 3 weeks.
They've all played at other places or in school but up until
the recent organization of a team, they hadn't played in some
time. The girl's team is that from the school and they've
played a bit but hadn't until the building of the new
netball court in the middle of town.
Yesterday's starting time for the activities was 7 a.m.
and I was surprised to see them all there on time and
ready to go. We were concerned that many of them
would have been at the shebeen (bar) the night before
and wouldn't be in any condition to show up. We had
a plan to get other players in case we had a problem.
But, they were there and that was good.
We loaded up about 20 people into a little Toyota
pickup truck and off we went down the road and
at the time the temperature was a chilly 50 Fahrenheit
or about 10 degrees Celsius. It was cold, be assured
of that.
We arrived and in time the games began. The young
girl's team played tremendous and won 13 to 5. After
completing an hour of netball they walked the 20 meters
to the soccer field and proceeded to play another hour
of soccer.
They lost 1 to 0 on a fluke goal but that's how the cookie
crumbles.
Then it was time for the big girls to play netball and our
village team lost 13 to 11 on a really well played game
by both sides.
To make an excuse for the big girl's team ... the fact that
the court has been only lately rebuilt is probably a factor
in their losing. But, excuses are just what they are, excuses.
I am hoping that this will become a motivating experience
that will also help to build character. In fact, as in my part
in this, that is what I am looking for. The winning and losing
is just part of it. I am wanting them to become stronger,
independent, self-motivating and through these sport
events.Eventually to become part of their character.
Here in the village, as mentioned in prior blog entries, alcohol
is really the biggest problem. It has lead to contraction of HIV
and also a way too high rate of teenage pregnancy.
The reason why is that alcohol is the first choice of diversion,
because it was the only option, until now.
All these activities is to try and offer other options for especially
the youth or in fact for everyone.
So far, it has worked and as all Peace Corps volunteers know,
could come crashing down instantly.
So to see all the girls there ready to go, especially when quite
a few are known for their drinking, well, it was really a positive
thing for us trying to bring the options.
It told us that they didn't go to the bar on a Friday night and
that they are giving some priority to the sport and their
teams. Also, I have heard that many of them didn't go to
the bar on Saturday night too. I am guessing that they were
too tired and I was tired from just watching them, run, run
and run.
Like the title above states ... a war is won one battle at a time.
We are thinking that the war is against alcohol and boredom.
We know that we didn't solve the problem or win the war.
It is too soon to make that statement. And it too, challenges
us to keep the momentum going. We need to develop more
activities and programs and we do have a lot of ideas on the
drawing board. Not all sports oriented and many of the
cerebral type. First we just need to grab their attention
and change the route of motivation to that of self development.
So, for at least these two days I am feeling safe to say that
we won the battle.
But, there still is the war and we ain't giving up.