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.