Gav, Dunc, Pike, and an OA crew continue their adventure in Rwanda, coaching soccer and building soccer fields….

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July 19th

So, all 5 OAers arrived at Rebero Orphanage for Day 1 of the 7-day camp on the 19th of July, and (as expected) it was a rather chaotic arrival.

The three OA coaches were meeting the kids for the first time, and the new soccer balls combined with the umuzungu (white person) factor create an uncontrollable excitement. And, the 5 volunteers from Hope Shines were there, further adding to the excitement for the kids.

After about 15 minutes of total chaos, Emmanuel of the Center called the kids in, and the introductions were had…but, to be totally honest, the only name that stuck was Ian’s nickname of “ihene” (goat). The kids could not have found this funnier, and so it stuck.

After the two groups of volunteers (from OA and Hope Shines) gave out the shoes that TOMS Shoes donated (more on this later) to the kids, the 5 of us and the boys headed off to the community field.

The field is about a 10-minute walk down a rugged road that is in the middle of being paved.

The whole way to the field was filled with random shouts and squeaks from the other kids of the neighborhood. By the time we arrived at the field, our pack of about 40 boys had doubled, and we found about four other groups of kids playing soccer there…wow.

Without fail, everyone soon joined our group, attracted by the new soccer ball and muzungu factor. Somehow, the coaches managed to stage a decent warm-up and passing drill in the volleyball court area, but the number of curious kids crawling all over the equipment, the coaches, and the film equipment did not make for any easy environment for the coaches.

At lunch, we decided that there was no way that we could use that field anymore if we actually wanted to have un-frantic time with the kids.

After a few phone calls, a real rental fee negotiated, and some walking/driving around in the dust, we had secured another field for the post-lunch activities. This field was in slightly worse playing shape but had a locked fence around it combined with a maintenance guy – priceless in this community.

Half of the afternoon was spent picking up the large/jagged rocks from the field before the kids got into their first green vs. red game of the week…which turns into quite a friendly rivalry.

Lots more to come…