Post written Monday August 23rd:
Development session review: Practice 1
Please note: Out of respect for the coaches I have left out their names from my descriptions of the development sessions.
Its Monday afternoon, and I've decided to take this time to review what I learnt at Friday and Saturday's development sessions as mentioned in my last post.
As the week begins we're getting ready for the VCT (HIV Volunteer, Counselling and Testing) soccer tournament coming up on September 24th. This will involve contacting the local hospital for nurses, medical supplies, and first aid. We will also be getting entertainment from Coca-cola, among other perks for what will be a soccer tournament involving 15 organizations from Zwide and surrounding townships (who will be responsible for recruiting teams) and providing a referee each. The idea is to encourage team members to get a free HIV test which we will make available, with free counseling also available before and after the test (should they test positive). For every player that takes the test, the particular team they belong to gets points that go to the overall tally. We plan on having other incentives to encourage players to get tested including shirts and overall prizes for the tournament itself (there are of course points for wins and draws). Importantly the VCT will be open to the general public and we will be advertising it to the community through radio, fliers and the participating organizations. The VCT falls on a public holiday, Heritage day, which we hope will bring more participants and members of the community.
We've decided to ask that teams have members who are aged 15 to 17. There will be about 10 boys teams and 5 girls teams (in separate sections). They will also be awarded points for participating in Grassroot Soccer activities that will be led by GRS coaches during the tournament. Although the VCT doesn't have the same amount of time with the kids as the Skillz curriculum, it is an opportunity to educate these young people in a fun and easy way using some of the most interactive games off the Skillz curriculum. The free testing is crucial in itself too.
The current strike in South Africa is impacting our progress negatively at the moment since places like the hospital are functioning at a bare minimum which means our enquiries will be stalled. I hope the situation is resolved soon and amicably considering the importance of better wages for many South Africans who earn a pittance compared to their peers in the West (although South Africa is one of Africa's strongest economies). I guess its also important that the wage increases don't outstrip the inflation rate too much since this may curtail economic growth. Ok, too much econ! I just hope it all gets resolved!
On to the development sessions in detail which happened last week. Like I said earlier, these were great tools for me to learn exactly what GRS is all about and what the kids get on a weekly basis in the Skillz program. We'll start on Thursday:
Proceedings started outside, led by K. (no real names will be used, I haven’t asked the coaches for permission to put their names online), one of the coaches in Zwide, we did Practice 1 which is vital as it introduces skills, and in my opinion sets the tone for the rest of the program. According to the Skillz Guide to Coaches Practice 1 sets out to get kids to see the Skillz sessions as a "safe space" to discuss and learn about life skills, plus HIV and AIDS. Each Practice starts off with an energizer, which gets participants pumped up for upcoming proceedings and games which are very interactive. We sang songs in Xhosa and most of the coaches showed off their dance moves. One word from this initial 2 minutes of Practice 1, joy! What a way to begin. Although I couldn't understand the songs sung in Xhosa, I was just as energized as anyone in the group. Its important to note that the curriculum is usually taught in the native language of the participants. This increases the comfort level for the kids to fully participate.
Each Practice also focuses on one sort of game or activity that involves all the participants. The idea is to get the kids to learn through action and translate these lessons to real life scenarios where HIV/AIDS is involved. In this practice we played a game called Choices, where the coach describes a category, like "Favorite Car" and participants find people with common interests in the group. Once you find your group you cheer for that choice, and draw others sharing your preference. The point of this game is to highlight the different preferences people have, but also to show that sometimes people have preferences that they hold in isolation from a group, which ties into one of the key messages of this practice which was, "You can make choices to avoid getting or spreading HIV and AIDS."
In order to get the investment of participants into the curriculum, participants are asked to sign a Skillz Trial Contract which forms the basic principles to be followed throughout the curriculum. 3 key words are written in big bold letters by the coach on a flip chart. The words are RESPECT (for one's peers and authority); PLAY (indicating that all participants should fully participate while having fun) and COACH (which implores the individual to be a role model to others through healthy choices and behaviors, while sharing their new knowledge within their communities). Should they agree with the contract as explained by the coach, all participants are then asked to sign the contract.
There were plenty of Kilo!s in this practice and more were to follow in the others. Every so often the coach, in this case, K. would introduce a Skillz term. These terms are words to be reinforced throughout the curriculum in order to help participants in their everyday situations whether they involve the HIV virus or not. One of today's words was "Strengths" which is defined as "the things you are good at, the things you like to do and the things you learn quickly." Another term introduced was, "Coach's voice" which is a term referring to "the coach inside your head, or the inner voice that helps you make good decisions." You could refer to this as the conscience.
Another key message that is established in this first practice is the fact that HIV is a big problem in this case, South Africa. Most of the kids will know this, but it is important to highlight this should any doubt exist. Fighting the disease through the youth is going to prove vital in terms of the future direction the disease will take (downhill we hope), and one of the first steps needs to be to make sure they are aware of how much of a problem it is.
Practice 1 ends with an announcement by the coach. She highlights essential sillz to WIN, in life and in all other endeavors: KNOW THE GAME (know your rights and responsibility, know your strengths); BUILD YOUR TEAM (healthy relationships with family, friends and other supporters) and MAKE YOUR MOVE! (Takle challenges, protect yourself and others from HIV and AIDS). Essential tools in the life of a young person in a world wrought with risks that can cost one's life! Practice 1 has a lot to cover in 45 minutes, it is indeed a whirlwind start to the curriculum, but I feel it provides a solid base to the other 9 practices. Each practice is supposed to last about 45 minutes, long enough to cover a good amount of material, while not losing the attention of a group of 12 to 14 year olds.
From observing the coaches throughout the 2 days and interacting with most of them, I can conclude that they are in it for the right reasons and their outgoing and caring attitudes make them excellent stewards for these important life skills lessons. On to Practice 8! (on Thursday we practiced #1, #8 and #3 in that order)
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