Last Graduation!

Just writing to let you guys know that this morning we had our 8^th and final graduation for the second cycle of 2010. The graduation was intended for about 25 kids but almost 500 showed up to watch us dance and make a fool out of ourselves. I was actually the blunt of most jokes after I got up to introduce myself. Before I explain what happened, I want to mention that both Rachel and I have been trying to hard to improve our Chichewa in an effort to communicate more effectively with the kids. So I got up first, all excited about the prospect of introducing myself in Chichewa and said “Muli bwanji, dzina lako ndi Eren”. After I said this all of the kids started laughing, at this point I wasn’t too nervous because I thought all of the kids were just laughing at my dumb (azungu = white person) butchery of their language. They always laugh at me anytime I try to speak Chichewa or try to dance so this wasn’t anything new to me. Unfortunately though, it seems that the kids had more reason to laugh at me than I had realized. Turns out I should have said “Muli bwanji, dzina LAKO ndi Eren”. I guess my first attempt meant “Good afternoon, your name is Eren” instead of “Good afternoon, my name is Eren”. I guess you can’t say I’m not trying…

Anyways, after I got past the embarrassment I managed to take a lot away from our last graduation ceremony. This ceremony took place in Chinsapo, the newest and furthest GRS site in Lilongwe. The fact that Chinsapo was brand new to the GRS program in Malawi, and that it is far away from all of the other sites means that there is a lot of work to be done if we want to make the brand Grassroot Soccer well known in the community. For the most part GRS is fairly well known in and around Lilongwe, but the more you go out of town you find fewer people who have heard of our NGO. So today was a great opportunity to get the word out on what we do and what we’re all about. And I think we did that pretty well (except for my language blunder, which everyone laughed off anyway). The really great news is that the event took place in front of so many people, because now there are 500 more people in the area who know what GRS is and 500 more people who know how important it is to get tested.

Before I sign off I want to share two really cool stories from last Saturday’s graduation in Kawale. The graduation itself was a huge success as we were able to graduate about 150 kids and there were a number of celebrated guests in attendance.

Story #1 – One of our most major guests, the head chief of the Kawale district, attended our event and seemed tired all afternoon. Granted he was a fairly old man, maybe 80 years old or more, but I was still slightly worried that he wasn’t engaged or something. After the event the GRS Malawi team went to go talk to him to thank him for coming and it was during this interaction that he said one of the most touching things I’ve heard since I’ve been here. After we were done saying thank you and all that jazz, the chief turned to us and said “Before I came here I was hungry” (at this point all of us were a bit worried because maybe he was upset that we kept him in a room for four hours but neglected to feed him) but then he continued with “now, I am full”. I guess this is a popular saying in Malawi and basically what it means is that his heart and soul are full of happiness. Turns out the chief was absolutely thrilled by the event and as he left he promised us that he would help us in any way possible in the future – a really great promise when you consider how much power this man has in the community.

Story #2 – One of my favorite traditions in GRS is the coach’s story. This is something that each GRS participant and coach is encouraged to create and master during his/her time with GRS. The story is supposed to be very personal, and it is supposed to explain why he/she decided to join the fight against HIV/AIDS. At the Kawale graduation, one of the children got up to share his coach’s story. At first all of us were a bit skeptical because the kid about the share his story was normally a bit of a goof. But as he got up in front of everyone in attendance something in his demeanor changed – as he readied himself for the story you could see that he was digging deep to reflect on a very challenging time in his life. The story was an incredibly sad one, about how his older brother died of HIV/AIDS. I won’t go into too much detail about the story because its actually quite long (if you want to hear the whole thing email me), but all you have to know is that the story involves an absolutely tragic and unnecessary death -- one that might have been avoided if this kid’s older brother got the chance to learn the GRS curriculum. After he was finished wit the story, he stared out at the audience with tears in his eyes. Everyone who had heard his story couldn’t help but share the tears, and as he went to sit down numerous people went up to him and either hugged him or thanked him for sharing. The kid ended his story by explaining that his brother’s death forced him to join GRS. As I write this blog post half a week later, I still can’t shake the image of this kid getting up to share this powerful story.