Writing this almost brings tears to my eyes…First Lady Michelle Obama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, read that again please, spent the day with Grassroot Soccer Cape Town this past week. I MISSED DESMOND TUTU AGAIN! Am I cursed? Yes, probably. I will meet him; I have to. All right enough about me, in any way shape or form, it was amazing press for GRS and the fight again HIV/AIDS and I send out a big kilo across the ocean. Additionally I applaud Michelle Obama for the work and awareness she is creating on this Young Africa campaign trip. While they were visiting GRS, Desmond Tutu and Michelle Obama had a unique opportunity to connect with the youth that Grassroot Soccer works with and also participate in some of the practices including Risk Field, a personal favorite. I believe they also visited our South African partner organization, Love Life.
I know for a lot of people, they look at this initiative and wonder what exactly it has to do with fixing the existing problems our country is facing, but I believe if you think about the impact she is making by empowering the women and youth in other nations, that it will come back five-fold if we can manage to find the patience. Education and empowerment are the keys in helping our country and the world move forward. The Black Eyed Peas said it well, “One tribe, one time, one people, one race. It’s all one blood, don’t care about your face. The color of your eye or the tone of your skin. Don’t care where you are, don’t care where you been. There’s one tribe y’all, we are one people.” Shakira echoed it nicely when she said “This time for Africa.”
Where in the world is Kristin update:
I am currently back in the United States again and I am on the job hunt this time. I am looking for something interesting that will tie back into all of the work I have put in over the last five years, help me put some roots down, but allow me to educate, spread my knowledge, and help my community.
In May I was on an impromptu trip to India (you wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to get a visa to India in two weeks) with my soccer trainer Paul Gibbons, Coerver Coaching, and West Ham United’s International Academy for a couple of weeks to scout talent that could be brought back to West Ham and trained. While we met incredible people and kids, we did not find any one that met the standards we were looking for. We did, however, share our skills and knowledge in hopes that upon return we will find the first big Indian football star. Also, most importantly I rode an elephant on the highway in Delhi and went to the awe-inspiring Taj Mahal. More Indian-related blogs to come.
I was then invited on a trip to Botswana to work with Gibbo again on a soccer/environmental protection initiative, unfortunately we lacked the funding to get me over there, so that will be put on hold for me for the time being. I look forward to finding more out about it and the potential to get involved. Gibbo is also working on a project in Durban, South Africa (he’s got quite a bit going on around the world) that I would love to get involved with as well. We will just have to wait and see on funds and where I can really fit in to help out.
