Sunday, August 20, 2006
Been a while...
...since I last wrote. Those of you who know me as the source of endless ramblings (sober or otherwise) have probably been wondering what's happened to me. Those of you tired of my stories have probably been relieved to have a break from my pointless drivel. Whichever camp you're in, I thought it was time to insert myself once more into your lives if only for a few moments.
I've been in a very strange state of mind since returning from the World Cup. It was more difficult than I expected coming back, and in fact a small part of me wanted to remain in Germany. On the surface some of the reasons are fairly obvious - a party and sports fuelled high unlike any I've experienced before (the Sydney Olympics comes closest, but this was much more than that); a bevy of beautiful German women who loved the Australian version of the male form; some amazing cities of incredible architecture, history and beauty; and great beer that doesn't give hangovers! But below the surface I'm feeling there's a little more - my relief in not standing out simply for the colour of my skin; my endless restlessness in whatever I do; my desire for new experiences at the expense of stability; and... what else?
I've also come back to a few questions and issues that I put out of my mind while I was away. What exactly am I doing next year if I leave Kenya as planned? Or on a less tangible level, what exactly is it that will provide fulfilment and contentment as I go forward in life? Also why is it that some people make judgements on others while quite obviously having a very limited amount of the whole picture? Or worse, why do those supposedly close to you offer minimal support for the decisions you make even if they don't always agree with them? Does it say something about human nature that some can be so negative? Or does that question itself have overly negative connotations?
These are some of the questions I am dwelling on at the moment.
I have come back to a couple of interesting projects however. First off was planning and coordination of the August school holiday club we run every year at a local primary school. We plan a range of activities over 3 weeks with a variety of volunteers from both Kenya and Europe, to entertain and inform the kids. Our overriding goal is to keep them away from the temptation of heading to the streets out of boredom, and away from the trap of falling into glue sniffing and under the influence of older street gang leaders. So far seems to be going great, with the students, teachers and volunteers enjoying it immensely.
My other main project is one that I've mentioned previously, starting a youth football league within the local district. As I've discovered with this project, it's going to be a little harder than I first anticipated to get the local youth involved in the planning and running of it. We have had an extremely low turnout of youth team representatives at the four meetings we've had so far, so much so that I have been busy researching other methods of starting this initiative.
The original aim was to start off a fully-fledged though small scale league, with 15-20 teams involved covering a range of ages, and the youth themselves being involved in the running and management of the league. This is perhaps looking a little optimistic, seems that the youth want to see something in action before getting on board. From my research I have discovered some amazing programs within both Africa and Asia that are based around football and other sports. There is also a UN special advisor to Kofi Annan for sport and development, plus a range of resources on sports and community and youth empowerment and education. Has certainly given me some additional ideas on how to implement our program, and has also partly answered one of my questions above, about what I'm to do next year. Looks like I'll be focusing on sport and development, there's so many examples of great work being done out there, and it's an area that is in its infancy but growing rapidly. Might have found my calling...
Anyway, I think that's probably enough of my ramblings for this overdue update. Apologies for not offering anything of any real excitement, it's been more a time of planning and reflection than doing. Hopefully I'll get back into the habit of writing which I seem to have lost interest in recently, and both get some of my thoughts together on certain subjects a little better as well as provide slightly more entertaining reading fare for my friends and family.
I've been in a very strange state of mind since returning from the World Cup. It was more difficult than I expected coming back, and in fact a small part of me wanted to remain in Germany. On the surface some of the reasons are fairly obvious - a party and sports fuelled high unlike any I've experienced before (the Sydney Olympics comes closest, but this was much more than that); a bevy of beautiful German women who loved the Australian version of the male form; some amazing cities of incredible architecture, history and beauty; and great beer that doesn't give hangovers! But below the surface I'm feeling there's a little more - my relief in not standing out simply for the colour of my skin; my endless restlessness in whatever I do; my desire for new experiences at the expense of stability; and... what else?
I've also come back to a few questions and issues that I put out of my mind while I was away. What exactly am I doing next year if I leave Kenya as planned? Or on a less tangible level, what exactly is it that will provide fulfilment and contentment as I go forward in life? Also why is it that some people make judgements on others while quite obviously having a very limited amount of the whole picture? Or worse, why do those supposedly close to you offer minimal support for the decisions you make even if they don't always agree with them? Does it say something about human nature that some can be so negative? Or does that question itself have overly negative connotations?
These are some of the questions I am dwelling on at the moment.
I have come back to a couple of interesting projects however. First off was planning and coordination of the August school holiday club we run every year at a local primary school. We plan a range of activities over 3 weeks with a variety of volunteers from both Kenya and Europe, to entertain and inform the kids. Our overriding goal is to keep them away from the temptation of heading to the streets out of boredom, and away from the trap of falling into glue sniffing and under the influence of older street gang leaders. So far seems to be going great, with the students, teachers and volunteers enjoying it immensely.
My other main project is one that I've mentioned previously, starting a youth football league within the local district. As I've discovered with this project, it's going to be a little harder than I first anticipated to get the local youth involved in the planning and running of it. We have had an extremely low turnout of youth team representatives at the four meetings we've had so far, so much so that I have been busy researching other methods of starting this initiative.
The original aim was to start off a fully-fledged though small scale league, with 15-20 teams involved covering a range of ages, and the youth themselves being involved in the running and management of the league. This is perhaps looking a little optimistic, seems that the youth want to see something in action before getting on board. From my research I have discovered some amazing programs within both Africa and Asia that are based around football and other sports. There is also a UN special advisor to Kofi Annan for sport and development, plus a range of resources on sports and community and youth empowerment and education. Has certainly given me some additional ideas on how to implement our program, and has also partly answered one of my questions above, about what I'm to do next year. Looks like I'll be focusing on sport and development, there's so many examples of great work being done out there, and it's an area that is in its infancy but growing rapidly. Might have found my calling...
Anyway, I think that's probably enough of my ramblings for this overdue update. Apologies for not offering anything of any real excitement, it's been more a time of planning and reflection than doing. Hopefully I'll get back into the habit of writing which I seem to have lost interest in recently, and both get some of my thoughts together on certain subjects a little better as well as provide slightly more entertaining reading fare for my friends and family.
posted by Dave | 10:25 PM |
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