Grassroot Soccer Training #thispostsforDAVID

Our Grassroot Soccer Training Team. All of these PCV's and Counterparts will be going back to their communities to teach about HIV/AIDS to youth.

Over the past week I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend a training called Grassroots Soccer; a training focusing on educating about HIV/AIDS and other important life skills in Africa, while making connections with the often-played sport of soccer. When Peace Corps told us during our Pre-Service Training that Malawi has a tie with Grassroots Soccer and we would have the opportunity to attend a training of trainers for this program I was so excited. The reason I was excited goes back to a leadership conference I attended in Boston while I was studying at University of Wisconsin La Crosse (it feels so small world). During this conference I was honored by the experience of personally meeting one of the co-founders of Grassroots Soccer. Ethan Zohn, a professional soccer player for the United States and Zimbabwe, a two-time cancer survivor, the winner of Africa Survivor, and a very sexy human being, was the opening speaker for the Golden Key conference I attended. His speech was about achieving goals through times of struggle, not giving up, and thinking about what impact we each wanted to have on this world. He told us about his experiences and how he felt like he has been able to give back to the community. He talked about being the winner of Survivor Africa, and that being the champion came with the prize of $1,000,000. He dove into being a cancer survivor (x2) and the feeling he had that he may not have much time left in this life. And then he asked us, if we won $1,000,000 how would we make change for this world? Well, what Ethan did was put the money towards HIV/AIDS education (after seeing the influence the virus has on the community of Africa) by helping found the organization that I am now working with in Malawi (again, small freaken world). And from what I’ve seen and learned about Grassroots Soccer and the education it is providing to the youth of Malawi, his $1,000,000 is certainly making a positive difference. Now, the point of this blog post isn’t about Ethan’s speech, winning $1,000,000, or even being able to meet (AND hug) him in person. However, I did want to share this information as a start to what may be a very heavy blog post, because it is the reason I first became interested in this amazing organization.

So let’s move on to the more important hero, who lives in Chipoka, Malawi, David. David is my friend. He’s my “let’s talk about current events” buddy. He’s a role model. A change agent for his community. A 22-year-old boy who lives in Chipoka, Malawi. And, David is also the person that I chose to bring to this Grassroots Soccer training as my counterpart who will facilitate the practices to educate the youth in Chipoka to learn more about HIV/AIDS.

David and I after graduation :)

When I discussed and invited David to this training with me, the first thing he told me was that he needed to discuss it with his mom. At first I was thinking, huh? aren’t you old enough to make these decisions by yourself, but then I realized the respect that David has for his mother, a single mother of two boys, is maybe more than the average boy. And…David also shared with me that his mother is HIV positive, as well is his younger brother, but that he himself is not. Does this change anything? Maybe yes, or maybe not. But I’m assuming that this training hits a little bit closer to home because he has been affected so directly by this horrible virus.

David shared this story with me about half way through the training. He told me one night, “Katrrryn, I want to share something with you about my mother and brother.” He shut my door and told me he wanted to create a “safe space” (which only made me smile because it’s something we learned at training). He told me that he trusted me and that he wanted to share this with me so I could understand why HIV/AIDS education is even more important to him personally. He told me that his younger brother doesn’t even know that he is HIV positive, and that he just takes ARVs everyday without any question. He told me that after this training he feels like his mother needs to be open with his 17 year old brother, and that he needs to know that he is HIV positive, that it is not his fault, and that the virus was passed through mother to baby transmission while his mother was pregnant. That he needs to know that he needs to practice safe sex so he is not transmitting the disease to others. David told me that he is both the support for his mother, and brother, and one day his brother may resent him if he knew he know and didn’t tell him. When David opened up to me and told me all of this, all I could be was proud. Proud of what he has learned through this training. Proud that he wants to talk about the situation with both his mother and brother, disregarding the negative stigma. And proud that he is strong enough to go out into the village and teach youth about a topic that hits so close to home for him.

Before I wrote this post I asked David if I could share his story with my friends and family in America, so that readers like you could understand how HIV/AIDS affects so many people in Malawi. In this country ~11.8% of people are infected with this virus, and only about 54% of people living with HIV know their status. There is a huge need for education on prevention, negative stigma, treatment, etc, and Grassroots Soccer is a way to reach the younger population.

After this training and knowledge, David and I are so excited about implementing GRS in Chipoka and empowering young people to stand up and fight the fight against HIV/AIDS. More to come in the future on the progress of GRS in my area and the difference it makes…stay tuned :)

A picture with our trainers and facilitators. Thank you guys for the awesome training.

#peacecorps