Game On!

Sunday, October 25th Hayley and I attended worship at Ndekye Church of Uganda. It was Hayley’s first time attending there, and they asked us to both stand and introduce ourselves. There was not much English spoken during service, as in the previous week. But a young woman playing the drums kept slipping us the references to Scripture so that we could follow along. 2 Timothy 3:12-17 was a major emphasis during service. And, as always, towards the end of the service was the auction for thanksgiving offering. This time there was a live duck and live chicken. I was tempted to bid on one or the other, but I did not yet know how to prepare either and I did not know who it would have been appropriate to give to, should my bid have been the highest. Hayley and I just ended up observing, trying to work on learning our numbers. We both realized we have much room for improvement in that area.

After church, the young woman who had been slipping us Scripture references invited us back to her home. Her name is Catherine, and we soon realized we were being invited into the reverend’s home. We met her mother and one of her brothers, Emmanuel. Her father was away overseeing other churches, so we didn’t get to meet him that day. We enjoyed conversation and were about to leave when Catherine told us that her mother insisted we stay for lunch. So, we stayed and visited awhile longer. It was raining again anyways, so it was good to stay dry a little while longer.

Later in the afternoon the sky had cleared, so Hayley and I decided to go for a walk to get some exercise and do some more exploring. We ended up walking all the way to the turn-off at Katara Lodge, which was an hour’s walk from where we live. We saw many people, especially children, as we walked. We didn’t fear for our safety, as there are many other people traveling by foot, bicycle, motor bike (boda boda), or automobile. Plus, most of the walk there was a woman with her children walking close by us. The woman was carrying a machete. I thought, “Never fear, as long as the woman with the machete is near!”

The scenery we saw throughout our walk was AMAZING! So much lush green scenery! An amazing display of landscape as various crops look like a carefully thought out patchwork quilt. Then, near the point where we decided to turn around and head back, we took in one of the area crater lakes. Looking far down we could see some fishermen and the many nets that had been strategically cast. Across the road we could see the expanse of Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Rwenzori Mountains far off in the distance. We agreed that photos couldn’t possibly do justice for the scenery we were viewing. You can’t possibly capture the 3-D of hills and mountains and the sunshine that breaks through everything.

As we knew dusk was nearing, Hayley and I decided to head back home since we knew we had an hour-long journey ahead. Towards the final length of our journey back a young man was walking right beside us. He didn’t impose conversation or forwardness upon us as some men and children do. But as we were almost back to our place Hayley said, “Let’s hold up for a minute.” We didn’t fear this young man or feel threatened by him at all. But, as Hayley said, “I think he just wants to be seen walking with us. But we don’t really need everyone knowing where we live.” Unfortunately, as we stopped to wait for the young man to move on, he acted as though he was going to pull out his most masculine of masculines and take a pee. So, we moved on and ended up going to the restaurant across the street to visit Uerinia, one of our friends we hadn’t seen in awhile. The young man continued on his way.

Monday, October 26th: Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?! Football camp began at 4:30 p.m. Well, Monday night it actually began around 5:15 p.m. since St. Michael’s had to walk to the pitch near Unique. We decided for the remainder of the week each school would receive lessons and practice at its own pitch, then would meet for the championship game on Friday. Thankful blessing: Hayley has experience with HIV-AIDS education! She has been a very valuable resource. So, we were able to separate and each meet with a school for the week. Hayley stayed with Unique. I stayed with St. Michael’s. We decided to join our girls’ teams during practices as a way to bond with the girls a little. We both had lots of fun with our girls, and we enjoyed lots of laughter with them.

The first night of practice I didn’t have my closed sneakers on, only my slip-ons. So, I went barefoot like the girls. It felt fun and free. Then I realized that I had stepped in something squishy. I looked down. Cow poop. “Eww!” I thought. But, that probably happens all the time. The rest of the week I wimped out and wore my closed sneakers.

By Wednesday, October 28th the championship game set for Friday was mounting with excitement. The coaches from St. Michael’s approached me and requested that we begin after lunch on Friday and also lengthen the playing time from 30 minutes total each game to 60 minutes total each game. Also, the boys had approached their coach to inform him that they were going to get up early before classes so they could run together to stay in shape. Coaches from Unique agreed to the changes, and the championship games were set.

Friday, October 30th: Game On! A SERIOUSLY competitive afternoon of football. All students from both High Schools were let out of class early to cheer their classmates on. A district official, the LC3 chairman, had arrived to watch both games, present the trophies, and offer remarks to the students. It was a much larger exciting atmosphere than I had ever anticipated. I remember as the afternoon began I kept saying, “This is so exciting!!!”

The girls’ game went on without any problems. Though it rained throughout the entire game, everyone understands: Once a football game begins, you finish until it’s over. The girls from Unique High School were victorious, 1-0. Still, I was proud of the girls from St. Michael’s so I went to shake their hands first before congratulating the girls from Unique.

Then came the highly energized boys’ game. Again…RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! No one seemed to mind though. Unique was the first team to score. As during the girls’ game, any time a goal was scored fans rushed the pitch with cheers and then cleared back to the sidelines so the game could continue. St. Michael’s would score a goal as well. Score: 1-1.

During the second period of play during the boys’ game, something went south. After a call by the official, a fight began to break out and people started to rush the field. I looked to Robert and Justus to try to read their expressions and at first I thought that this was normal enough that it would end soon. But I began to feel as though it wasn’t calming down at all so I told Robert, “If this doesn’t stop soon, I have no problem ending this competition. This shouldn’t be happening!” Before I knew it the LC3 chairman had run onto the pitch in the direction of the official and Robert followed him a few steps behind. A moment later, I headed in the same direction and found one of the coaches from Unique and sternly said, “If you don’t get your players and students under control soon, I will end this!” He politely nodded with reassurance and agreement, and then I found a coach from St. Michael’s and told him the same thing. I then turned and saw Robert and he said, “We’re ending this. The competition is over. We will not reschedule. We will take the boys’ trophy back.” The LC3 chairman was in agreement that this was a wise choice.

Disappointing. Disappointing for students. Disappointing for coaches. Disappointing for headmasters. Disappointing for COVOID. Disappointing for me. The week was not supposed to end like this. The week was not supposed to be about the competition. We explained the week before that it was supposed to be a friendly competition and that it was mostly about the HIV-AIDS awareness…not the competition. We were reassured that students would be respectful and under control.

I remember towards the end of all the commotion someone from one of the schools tried to reason with me saying, “It’s a cultural thing.” I replied, “I don’t care if it’s a cultural thing! This is unacceptable! I was reassured that students would remain under control, and that has not happened! If someone gets hurt, I’m responsible!”

“I don’t care if it’s a cultural thing.” Admittedly, not the best choice of words. But in that moment I didn’t feel like being sweet-talked. I wanted to be firm and draw a clear line to separate the unacceptable behavior. Plus, I was already well aware that similar situations break out in the United States. Situations which are deemed unacceptable.

Since the girls’ teams had participated in good sportsman-like fashion, they were still addressed by the LC3 chairman and the victorious team was awarded the trophy. There were plans to distribute sodas and biscuits to all players, but for safety reasons we did not distribute anything other than the trophy and the additional footballs to each school. The sodas are bottled in glass, and my fellow organizers did not want to risk them being turned into weapons. Everyone was then sent home.

Later, when someone asked Robert and Justus how the football games went, they laughed and replied, “The boys’ game ended in style!” The person said, “Oh, so a fight broke out?” (Definitely some learning points from Friday’s events.)

Friday aside, the week also posed some emotional challenges for me. Earlier in the week we were trying to get students to generate ideas for things they can do when they are not in school so that they can stay out of trouble. I was warned before we tried this that it may pose some challenges. I had asked a COVOID staff member the activities or options youth have so that they don’t get themselves into trouble. The best response that was offered was that it depends on the family they come from. “That’s it?” In my mind that wasn’t a good enough answer. But it seems to be reality.

A few nights when trying to fall asleep I would start out being very angry. Then I would be very sad and frustrated to the point of tears. I have met with adults who tell me how they want better livelihoods for their children. That they don’t want their children to get into trouble. But if the children have no choice? Can we blame them for hanging out in a bar where they might get more attention? Can we blame them for having sex before they understand what it was intended for, if passion and lust are the only forms of love available to them? The best possibilities adults seems to offer are church choirs or church activities. I have yet to ask what these church activities are. And, I remember being a youth. Church choir only lasted for one hour each week. And there were not many peers my age at practice. Is it really something youth pick interest in? Also, what about the youth who are not Christians? Are churches the only ones responsible?

Another challenge has sprung from allowing the students to write down their questions about HIV-AIDS, which has proved very helpful with trying to understand what students are curious about. One may be, “Is it true you can lose your virginity from playing football?” Advised that it was actually a serious question, I couldn’t help but wonder what’s happening with sex education. Many others along the lines of, “What exactly is HIV-AIDS? How does it transmit? How does it affect the body? How can I be treated? Why is there no cure?” But the one that probably ripped my heart out a little, “If I’m dating someone who’s positive for AIDS and I’m negative, and we’ve never had sex, can I still continue the relationship?” No matter what I wish this student would decide, I had to maintain that the answer has to be a personal choice. No one can make that decision for anyone else. But I had to be very clear about the possible outcomes associated with the possible choices.

A week such as this has required the need for more concentrated prayer requesting patience, wisdom, understanding, faith, and grace.

Saturday morning, October 31st was COVOID’s end-of-month meeting. We listened to updates from all of COVOID’s current projects. Hayley and I were also given opportunity to update everyone on our first weeks with COVOID. It was an informative meeting, as I was able to get a better understanding of the roles and challenges of the community based trainers (CBTs). We waited at the office, as lunch would be served. I enjoyed some sunshine and, with outstretched arms, kept telling people, “I’m charging up my batteries!” I was able to have some conversation with Benjamin, once of COVOID’s CBTs, as I have not had much opportunity to speak with him yet. We discussed some of the similarities and differences between the United States and Uganda, as he picked interest in wanting to know more. All in all, a great ending to an eventful week.