Follow our interns on their blog

Our two interns, Kay Adami and Zoey Bouchelle, have started their own blog! Follow their adventures at: http://soccerwithoutbordersgranada.blogspot.com/

Reflections- from Marisa

I have now been living in Granada, Nicaragua for about three weeks, so it is about that time to start reflecting on my experiences, impressions, feelings, and every day occurrences. Before coming to Nicaragua, I spent two weeks in Paraguay, both in the capital, Asuncion and also on a reserve called Mbaracayú, where the Nike Girl Effect movement is in action at an all- girls school that is designed to reach sustainability within five years. It was an amazing trip, and I learned so much by seeing the Girl Effect components first hand, speaking with the different directors, listening in on conversations with heads of foundations, and especially hearing the stories of the girls who were so proud to be the first class of the new school. It was also my first experience in a “developing” country, and it honestly helped me prepare for my trip to Nicaragua.

In order to reflect on my many experiences here, I am going to focus on three events/experiences that have left a great impression on me. The first is last Wednesday’s event in which we all decided to focus on teaching the girls more about Futbol Sin Fronteras, in terms of its mission, its history, its goals, and its worldwide locations. I think that it was very intriguing for the older girls because I think they are the ones who are able to think more outside the box, and particularly at their age, are the ones who are able to get the most out of this organization. Girls in developing countries from the ages of 10-15 are often the invisible sector of societies and it is inspiring to see that FSF is already reaching this group, and that it has the potential to really help in their development. We also noticed on this night, that a lot of the girls in both groups have a lot of difficulty with writing and spelling and that if we want to talk about development, then that would be what we should really address. I think that Suyen did a great job on this night of really explaining to the girls that this is their organization, that they are the ones who are getting the most out of it, that this organization is an example to other organizations worldwide, and that they are also part of the FSF family. We now are focusing more on gathering information on each girl that enters this safe space, because we realize that it will help FSF’s mission to use soccer as a tool for development. It is important to realize that we are the ones who need to constantly take note of the positive changes we see in these girls.

Another event that I want to focus on was my second Saturday practice, and my first with the older girls. In general, it is a lot easier for all of the volunteers here to get to know the younger girls; they are the first to run up and hug you, ask you your name, what you are doing, and are not hesitant in the least bit, which also makes it easier to test out your Spanish skills with them. So, I have been more hesitant with the older group but after this practice, I feel like I am more comfortable conversing with many of the girls. I think that a big part of their hesitance is their age, and I understand now that not all of them know each other that well, where as with the younger girls it seems like the girls are more energetic and animated. However, I like to think that the older girls first need to gain more confidence and trust with the volunteers before they are willing to open up more, which when it happens, I know that a new level of conversation and understanding will regularly take place. Their hesitance also appears on the field when they are playing, because you can see it in some of them that they want to show more and want to try harder, but it seems to me that what matters more at this age is the opinion of the group. I think once we can get this energy out of the girls then practices will be more competitive and everyone will get a lot more out of the time we are at the field. At the end of practice, after doing a couple sessions focused on passing, it was time for the girls to play. It was also starting to rain and the girls were at water break, and I asked them after looking up at the dark clouds above, if they wanted to play, and they all were like “ si, vamos a jugar”. It was a great end to the practice, seeing the excitement in their faces to end the practice with the scrimmage despite the weather conditions.

My last experience that I want to touch upon was the last weekend’s event with Hotel Corazon. It was inspiring to see the coaches preparing for the arrival of the chicos/chicas. They were ready and organized when the students arrived, and what was really amazing was when the students got off the bus(many of them looked like they were in some of their best clothes, some girls even with heels) they all looked at the streets with the Pugg goals, and right away wanted to play. It was amazing to see them running around kicking each other, the ball, stubbing their toes on the street pavement, running through puddles, and simply enjoying every moment of the game. I realized then, that when you have this excitement for a sport and desire to play with a team, then it can most certainly be used to translate into other parts of one’s development. I know that many of the girls here will not go on to become collegiate soccer players, or use soccer as a way to escape their conditions, but it can be used to teach them life skills, confidence, and can certainly help them improve in other spheres of their lives, particularly in the classroom.

There are certainly so many great things going on within the walls of Futbol Sin Fronteras, and at the fields as well. I think that from what I have seen, that Zoey and Kay are ready to take things to a new level, they are ready to focus here on the organization with long-term goals and visions. I think it is really exciting time for FSF because of their duration of their internship and their focus on education, life skills, and specifically literacy. I am thrilled to have been a part of this organization, and within the next week before I leave, I hope to help out as much as possible. Tomorrow night I think we will focus on The Girl Effect, because we found the video with Spanish subtitles, and hopefully we can get the girls intrigued in this amazing movement.

ESPN

Check out a feature on espn.com about the Granada site!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=4493986

It's a very exciting time, as a new set of volunteers has arrived or is about to arrive in Granada. Marisa, Kay, and Zoe are taking over volunteer duties,and we are looking forward to finishing out 2009 on a great note!

Summer fun at home- Mary

The blog has been on hiatus for a little bit but that doesn't mean that things haven't been rolling! Stay tuned for a final update from Carly in the near future!

In addition, there has been a lot of outreach going on stateside, and some really impressive efforts by different groups. Recently, the CPU girls soccer team from State College, PA hosted a SWB car wash to support their two favorite former Penn State players, Zoe Bouchelle and Kay Adami, in their trip to Granada this fall.

A special thanks goes out to all of the girls, and especially to Eve Beaury for doing a lot of the legwork to make the car wash happen. Advance Auto Parts (specifically Gary Gotalt) weas also a key player and deserves a big thank you for letting the girls use their site and for donating the use of supplies!

The CPU girls had earlier set a goal of raising $500 in support of SWB, and did a tremendous job working in the hot sun to not only meet but surpass it! A big thanks from SWB to:

Mikala Hursh
Colby Sinclair
Katie Walsh
Brianna Bevan
Taylor Webster
Megan Ritchey
Morgan Rohrbach
Rebecca Whitney
Ginger Woolridge
Eve Beaury

and to Patty Beaury for helping to organize the girls and liaise with SWB.
Great job and best of luck with your fall seasons girls!

English class with Hailey

For the month of July, we've been fortunate enough to have Hailey, a Teach for America Teacher in Texas, as our most recent volunteer. Hailey has helped transform "Homework night" (Thursday nights at the office) into Clase de Ingles. Kids can still come with their homework, but the appeal of learning English seems far more popular. Homework night has been difficult to nail down, as it seems the kids don't have much homework at all. In a city full of tourists, that imports a lot of its pop culture from the US, learning English is a valuable skill both professionally and in order to under a lot of the music and movies that surround them. Hailey has put her classroom teaching skills to work as the class has averaged over 30 girls the last few weeks!

Hotel Con Corazon! from Carly and Cesar

On July 3, four of the coaches from Futbol Sin Fronteras went and helped out another Non-Profit organization here in Granada, named Hotel Con Corazon. Hotel Con Corazon is a hotel founded by two dutch gentleman who wanted to help out the people of Granada. All of the profits of the hotel go to the Hotel Con Corazopn foundation which is involved in numerous activities in and around Granada. To name a few: they employ a hotel staff of solely Nicaraguans, purchase only local products from local suppliers, provide small loans for Nicaraguan entrepreneruers, help their staff and suppliers to finish their educations, and work with many of the surrounding campesinos (small towns in the country) to provide further educational opportunities, supplies for schools, and education to improve their town infrastructures. It is a really cool program and we were very excited to collaborate with them and hope to do so more in the future.

http://www.hotelconcorazon.com/

Below is a blog post from Cesar describing the event that he was able to help with. He wrote it in Spanish and we translated it together into English.

On July 3, Soccer Without Borders and Hotel Con Corazon had a Super Event in the Region Lagoon II in the School Bertha Gutiérrez. The event consisted of donating material of studies (books, school supplies, pamphlets, and guides), sport materials (balls, cones...donations from Soccer Without Borders). The event started a little behind schedule becasue so many more poeple came than expected. We had a schedule packed full of fun events, many national games, traditional dances, popular dances, competitions and other forms of entertainment. There were approximately 300 people, among them the majority were little girls and boys. The region Lagoon II is located approximately to 10 km outside of the city of Granada and it is a zone very little populated and their inhabitants are of few economic resources, in spite of that the people are very affectionate, amiable, and the many desire to surpass themselves and to continue their educations beyond that of their families. The team of Soccer Without Borders was comprised of Allan, David, Chepe, and Cesar. We were responsible for entertaining the children and teaching them soccer skilles. We played many games and the kids showed much interest and a very good level of play. It was the first tome that many of the girls had ever played soccer, and we had to teach them the objective and the rules. Despite not knowing much about soccer, they played very well and many had great athletic ability. Soccer is usually played by boys throughout much of Nicaragua. At the end, some of the boys challenged us to a game and of course we won! But we were very surprised by their level of futbol.
It was a great event and we were very happy to be involved and look forward to working in future events. It felt good to help out those less fortunate. It was also a good experience to make us appreciate the opportunities we have here in Granada with our families, our schooling, and the available sports we have.

Interview with Allan- from Carly

Todays interview is with Allan. Allan is not only a great and fun coach, but also a great student. He is currently going to University in Managua (2 hours each day on the bus!) studying International Business and Supply Chains. He and Cesar are also participating in a Youth Leadership Program that they both won a scholarship for. A busy guy!

1) What is your name? Allan David Baltodano Arguello

2) How old are you? I’m 20 years old.

3) What is your favorite food and why? My favorite food is “Pollo en Vino” (chicken in wine sauce) because it is delicious.

4) What is your favorite place in Nicaragua? Why? My favorite place in Nicaragua is San Juan Del Sur because it is fun to play futbol on the beach with my friends.

5) Do you have brothers and sisters? Yes, I have four sisters and two brothers and I have one twin sister.

6) How long have you been involved with Futbol Sin Fronteras? 5 months.

7) What do you like most about Futbol Sin Fronteras? I get to share my ideas with my teammates and I get to help the girls develop their soccer skills.

8) What do you want to do when you grow up? First, I want to finish university and then I would like to find a job working for an organization that helps the poor. I would also like to own my own business.

10) What have you learned working with Futbol Sin Fronteras? I have learned that we can learn more and accomplish more working as a team. I’ve also learned how to teach and share my experiences with the girls.

11) What is your favorite class in school and why? My favorite class is international trade, because it interests to me learn how everything is mobilized by what we use on a daily basis.

12) What is your fave hobby? I like to listen to music and play soccer. When I do both of these things I am relaxed.

13) Do you like soccer? Why? Yes, I love it. It is the sport that I practiced from a very young age. It is exciting and fun.

14) Who is your favorite volunteer? Carly, Myra, Allison and Hailey.

15) What would you like to say to people that have helped Futbol Sin Fronteras? All of your help, donations, and work is going to a great cause. I hope we all can continue to grow as a family and help more people.

16) What is your favorite soccer team? Why? And favorite player? Why? My favorite team is Real Madrid because of its great history and grand players. My favorite player is Zinedine Zidane because he plays with elegance and peace.

17) Vigoron o Pizza? (Vigoron is a National Dish here…fried pork skins and yuca served with vinegar in a banana leaf? Both are delicious.

18) Pele or Maradona? Maradona because he had some of the best goals in the world in the biggest competitions. He is a legend.

Interview with Cesar- From Carly

1) What is your name? Cesar Augusto Morales Rivera

2) How old are you? 23

3) What is your favorite food and why? Gallopinto (a mix of beans and rice with a little bit of crunch), queso frito (fried cheese), and tajadas (fried sweet plantains)

4) What is your favorite place in Nicaragua? Why? Granada y Las Islettas (From Carly: there are 365 little islands surrounding the peninsula near Granada. They are gorgeous!) because it is a beautiful and tranquil place.

5) Do you have brothers and sisters? Yes, I have 4. Claudia, Luis, Ronald, y Carlos.

6) How long have you been involved with Futbol Sin Fronteras? 1 year

7) What do you like most about Futbol Sin Fronteras? I like to help the girls and I like the opportunities it has provided me. Alan (another coach) and I are currently taking part in a special university course for young leaders because of the help of Futbol Sin Fronteras.

8) What have you learned from Futbol Sin Fronteras? I’ve learned to work as a team and that by working together you can accomplish more. I've also met many good people through Futbol Sin Fronteras.

9) What is your favorite class in school and why? Psychology, Civics, and Political Science, because it is interesting to learn how nations are formed and how people have changed.

10) What is your fave hobby? I like to have fun, be happy, and help people.

11) Do you like soccer? Why? Yes, because I like to run and I enjoy the adrenaline.

12) What do you want to do when you grow up? I try to persevere and each day I want to improve and help other people.

13) What would you like to say to people that have helped Futbol Sin Fronteras? Thank you for your help and for all of the work that you have done. I hope you know how much we appreciate your help. This program is important to many people.

14) Who is your favorite team and player? Real Madrid FC and Cesar Morales

14) Vigoron o Pizza? (Vigoron is a National Dish here…fried pork skins and yuca served with vinegar in a banana leaf) Vigoron! Claro!

15) Pele or Maradona? Pele.

Bailamos! Y adios! -from Carly

Unfortunately there are many sad faces down here in Granada because our beloved Boston has left us. Boston has been an awesome volunteer for the past three months and he will certainly be missed. He had a ton of enthusiasm for futbol, helping people, and for having fun. A great mix to say the least!

To send him off in style, we had dance night of epic porportions last Friday night. With the DJ (ya, we have a DJ!) pumping a solid mix of Nicaraugua faves and American dance classics, we gave Boston a send off to remember. It was awesome!

Suyen is our dance leader and provided the core instruction, but make no mistake, these chicas can dance!...check out the pics!

Boston, we'll miss ya!

New video compilation- from Mary

Care of Catherine P., who is working to link her Central Park Rangers team with SWB. Catherine, Dani, and Lea play for CPR in New York City and have been working to set up a fundraiser tournament in the city this fall. Stay tuned for details!