March 5, 2008
Family and friends-
Hey guys, hope all is well back in the States! Things are great here in Niger; hot season is on its way though. I just got back from one of the craziest road trips ever! I'll give you guys a quick recap of my last week...
I was hanging out at the hostel last weekend since we had a team meeting and the new PCV's on Team Dosso had come back from "live in" where they spend a week at their post. Anyway, this group of white people showed up (I never see white people other than Peace Corps volunteers and staff). They were a group from this organization called "Project Play". The head of the group, Mike Michelle, was w PCV in Zinder, Niger from 1983-86. As a volunteer he began to play soccer to stay sane and ended up playing with the Zinder team and winning the national championship with them! He came back 25 years later with over 2,000 balls to give to PCV's and locals in hopes of encouraging the game.
I had written a proposal and asked for a few balls without realizing how many they had. Well, Dosso was their first stop so instead of receiving the six I had asked for, I received 40 since I was so interested and excited about the project. Mike and the others noticed my interest and invited me to come along and be the liaison between them and Peace Corps. Of course I said yes!
We headed out from Dosso on Saturday morning and went to Konni, Maradi, and on to Zinder, stopping at roadside villages, Peace Corps hostels and PCVs' villages on the way east (look at a map to see how far we went). In Zinder, Mike was able to meet up with many of his old teammates with whom he won the championship 25 years earlier. It was a great moment to be a part of. We were able to donate balls to the current Zinder team as well.
I just now got back from Zinder, tired and with a sore back side. I won't begin to go into the condition of the roads and some of the set backs along the way!
I am now the “in country director/coordinator” for Project Play in Niger. I am responsible for compiling feedback and photos from other volunteers, schools and organizations that received the balls and relay that information back to the Project Play folks back in the States and Brazil, where Mike lives. We were able to give away of most of the soccer balls, bags, pumps and needles (about 600 balls are still in country). I will also be in charge of the remaining balls to give them out according to people's needs.
This has been an amazing week for me, a real landmark in my service here in Niger. It was so uplifting seeing the kids’ faces once they received these shiny new balls. Just as a quick example, one secondary school we went to had over 1000 students and only two soccer balls. You all can imagine how grateful they were to receive over 20 brand new balls. Amazing!
Lastly, I wanted to share a project idea that this adventure sparked for me. Since plastic bags are used for everything here, it has created quite a problem (no recycling, trash collection). The streets and trees are always littered with bags so I decided to do something about it. I will be collecting bags, twisting them together to make thin ropes, tying them together and making a grid which will eventually be made into soccer nets. I am really excited about getting this underway because I think it goes hand-in-hand with Project Play.
I'll need a full week to recover from this road trip but I had the most amazing time. I will try to get some pictures send y'alls way soon. Take care and keep in touch.
Much love,
James
Family and friends-
Hey guys, hope all is well back in the States! Things are great here in Niger; hot season is on its way though. I just got back from one of the craziest road trips ever! I'll give you guys a quick recap of my last week...
I was hanging out at the hostel last weekend since we had a team meeting and the new PCV's on Team Dosso had come back from "live in" where they spend a week at their post. Anyway, this group of white people showed up (I never see white people other than Peace Corps volunteers and staff). They were a group from this organization called "Project Play". The head of the group, Mike Michelle, was w PCV in Zinder, Niger from 1983-86. As a volunteer he began to play soccer to stay sane and ended up playing with the Zinder team and winning the national championship with them! He came back 25 years later with over 2,000 balls to give to PCV's and locals in hopes of encouraging the game.
I had written a proposal and asked for a few balls without realizing how many they had. Well, Dosso was their first stop so instead of receiving the six I had asked for, I received 40 since I was so interested and excited about the project. Mike and the others noticed my interest and invited me to come along and be the liaison between them and Peace Corps. Of course I said yes!
We headed out from Dosso on Saturday morning and went to Konni, Maradi, and on to Zinder, stopping at roadside villages, Peace Corps hostels and PCVs' villages on the way east (look at a map to see how far we went). In Zinder, Mike was able to meet up with many of his old teammates with whom he won the championship 25 years earlier. It was a great moment to be a part of. We were able to donate balls to the current Zinder team as well.
I just now got back from Zinder, tired and with a sore back side. I won't begin to go into the condition of the roads and some of the set backs along the way!
I am now the “in country director/coordinator” for Project Play in Niger. I am responsible for compiling feedback and photos from other volunteers, schools and organizations that received the balls and relay that information back to the Project Play folks back in the States and Brazil, where Mike lives. We were able to give away of most of the soccer balls, bags, pumps and needles (about 600 balls are still in country). I will also be in charge of the remaining balls to give them out according to people's needs.
This has been an amazing week for me, a real landmark in my service here in Niger. It was so uplifting seeing the kids’ faces once they received these shiny new balls. Just as a quick example, one secondary school we went to had over 1000 students and only two soccer balls. You all can imagine how grateful they were to receive over 20 brand new balls. Amazing!
Lastly, I wanted to share a project idea that this adventure sparked for me. Since plastic bags are used for everything here, it has created quite a problem (no recycling, trash collection). The streets and trees are always littered with bags so I decided to do something about it. I will be collecting bags, twisting them together to make thin ropes, tying them together and making a grid which will eventually be made into soccer nets. I am really excited about getting this underway because I think it goes hand-in-hand with Project Play.
I'll need a full week to recover from this road trip but I had the most amazing time. I will try to get some pictures send y'alls way soon. Take care and keep in touch.
Much love,
James
2 comments:
hello this is the niger1.com webmaster i have some question about project play i am interviewing MIke Mitchell please email me at niger1.com@gmail.com
Cool projects! Our daughter is a (new) PCV in the Konni region, & the one soccer ball she took with her has been an object of extreme interest in her village. Turning the excessive numbers of plastic bags into soccer nets is genius.
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