Cause and A/Effect

As most of you know, one of Sports4HOPE’s main activities is a sport and peace education program for people with disabilities.  Most of the participants in our Smile4HOPE program have lower body disabilities directly or indirectly caused by the war.  Over the past couple months of working with our participants, I can’t help but wonder what the deep psychological impact of their condition has been the on each of them.  How have they reacted to their new life.  Do they blame God, saying that He has turned His back on them?  Do them embrace their condition as part of God’s plan for them?  Or do they see their situation as simply something that has happened, and use their faith and relationship with the Lord to turn it into something positive for them?

When thinking about these possibilities, my mind goes to a verse in the Bible that has weighed heavily on me for the past year or so.  In Romans 8:28 Paul states that “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.”  This verse could possibly have infinite meanings depending on who is reading it.  But for me there are two ways to interpret the message.  The first is this.  Everything that happens in a believer’s life is caused by God and it is for the betterment of that person, whether that person knows why or how.  From my experience, people whom adopt this interpretation believe that whatever it is that has happened in their life, seemingly good or bad, was placed there by God for their own good and as part of His plan for them, and now they have to figure out how and why it was good.  

The second way of interpreting this verse is this.  In life things happen, from God, the Devil, or just from other humans, and the resulting attitude, decisions, and actions determine whether that event will have a good or bad effect on that person’s life.  The idea here is that God most likely did not specifically cause this thing to happen but regardless of how good, bad, or neutral it may seem, if you love and follow God and His teachings, then you and He together will make something good, come about from this event.  This interpretation focuses on the second half of the verse, “for those who love Him”.  If you love God and are called according to His purpose, you will be proactive in making whatever it is work toward not only the good of you but also for the good of God’s kingdom.  In Colossians 1:27 Paul reveals a “mystery”.  He says “Christ [is] in you, [and is] the hope of glory.”  If this is true Romans 8:28 has now shifted from God working outside of you and leaving you to figure it out on your own, to God working inside of you (Holy Spirit) guiding you on how to make all things work for your and His good.  To me this is incredibly motivating and exciting.  Paul is saying that if you “love” God, then all things in your life can be good for you.  And you are in control of whether that happens or not. 

For example, many of the people in our Smile4HOPE program, lost their legs due to Polio during the war.  Polio is not a big problem in Congo during times of peace, but during times of war, medical organizations are not able to bring in the required Polio vaccinations due to insecurity of the area, thus leaving those with Polio helpless against the disease and thus often losing limbs.  Those that take the former of the two interpretations may say, “This is all part of God’s plan for me.  I was meant to lose my legs.”  The other side might say, “The war, the lack of vaccinations, and the resulting effect of the virus on me was not an act of God.  It was act of man.”  I believe the problem with the first reaction is that it discounts human choice, and free will.  It discounts good and evil.  To me, the “All things work for the good” part of that verse is all on the inside.  It’s how you react to every situation.  That is what gives God the glory.  Whether the it’s from heaven or hell or fellow man, Christ has given us the option to make it work for the good of those who love Him.  The ball is in our court now.  How will we react, and what role will we invite God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to play.  Will you choose to sit back and wait for the effect of the situation, believing it’s for your own good?  Or will you choose to affect the situation yourself, guiding it in the direction that your faith teaches you to, making it work for your own good?

From 187 to 161:

Fort Portal, Uganda.  “Climb on top.  Let’s go.”  The words of the heavyset man were accompanied by his gesture toward the top of his fully loaded truck.  It wasn’t your normal truck though.  This was a modified flatbed with rails built up on all four sides to allow whomever uses it to transfer a far greater amount of goods than the manufacturer originally intended.  I glanced upward to see 20 people already waiting on top of the cargo filled truck. “OK” I replied and scurried up the rails, finding some space toward the front on top of an oversized burlap sack full of beans.  Wiggling around a bit, I created nice little depression in the sack.  With my feet dangling over the side of the truck I settled in for the two hour trip to Ntoroko. “This is Africa”, I though to myself, and while I was still a “muzungu” to most everyone on the continent, to my 20 fellow passengers I had made a pretty big step toward fitting in with the local culture. 

The above trip was one leg of a three part trip from Fort Portal, Uganda to Bunia, DRC.  Twice now in the past month I have made the trek to Fort Portal to retrieve our Sports4HOPE packages being held there at the post office.  Yes, we have a P.O. box in Uganda even though we live in Congo.  This is because Congo does not have a government sponsored mail service.  The only option for shipping into Congo is through a private shipping company and even that message is unreliable.  We have heard many stories from other expats living here about receiving mail years after it was shipped due to customs hold ups and a lack of organized address/street naming system.  Having said this, most people whom want to receive international mail while in Congo pick it up in Uganda.  So this was my mission.  Take a motorcycle from Bunia to Kasenyi, catch a boat from Kasenyi, DRC to Ntoroko, Uganda (preferably the fast one hour boat opposed to the slow four hour boat), then find a motorcycle again to take me from Ntoroko to Fort Portal.  With a little luck the whole trip can be completed in five hours and cost as little as $30.  However with just a little misfortune, the trip can take days, and cost as much as $350.

My first experience in Fort Portal was in September a couple days after arriving in Africa for the first time.  We stopped here between Kampala and Ntoroko to spend the night and open a P.O. box. Still experiencing the initial culture shock of only having been in Africa for three days, I didn’t fully appreciate Fort Portal.  It was a little more open than Kampala and had more greenery, but still made me a bit uneasy after dark.  I saw it as a place very different, with much less to offer than the Western country from which I had come.  However, upon returning to Fort Portal, after having spend three months in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it truly seemed like paradise.  The paved roads were the first thing that hit me.  Congo has recently been ranked as having the worst roads in the world, basically meaning there are none, just rutted up and washed out dirt paths that have been slowly getting worse since colonial times.  The next thing I now recognized that I hadn’t before is the infrastructure and public services.  I reaped the benefits of reliable running water, constant electricity, city lights, and a police force that made the area more safe rather than less safe, as is often Congo.  The grocery and convenient stores actually resemble grocery stores in which you can walk around with a basket and chose your own items rather than stand in front of a counter and point to things you would like.  On top of that you have nice restaurants, reliable news and radio stations, and of course the post office. 

Another new experience of Fort Portal was actually shopping.  I’m not typically a big shopper, but since I was there a couple days before Christmas I had to take advantage of being in Uganda and do some Christmas shopping.  This quickly became a problem for reasons opposite of what I had expected.  I knew that Uganda would have a much bigger and better selection for potential Christmas presents but I still expected to have trouble finding good gifts.  Instead I found myself wanting to buy everything I came across.  My thoughts were, “Oh, they don’t have this in Bunia.  I better get it while I am here.” or “Selina has been looking for this, I should go ahead and get it for her.”  And if they did have it in Bunia I was thinking, “This is much more expensive in Bunia, I better get it now.”  Needless to say I bought much more stuff than I had intended and the Sports4HOPE team a very plentiful Christmas. 

The last thing, and the one I enjoyed most was the cleanliness and green space of Fort Portal.  On my way back and forth from the post office to my hotel to the market.  I discovered a gem: a little resort-like hotel, fully adorned with an outside patio for eating, a couple separate tiers and courtyards for gatherings and events, quaint little shops for local arts and crafts,  and a bunch of muzungus all over the place.  Immediately I felt the need to have a cup of coffee and relax for a bit.  So for the next hour and a half I sat amongst the trees and bushes of the manmade landscape and drank my coffee while overlooking a babbling brook and listening to classic American love songs.  Refreshed and re-energized, I was able to get back out on the streets and in the markets to complete the intense day of Christmas shopping and mail retrieval. 

Back on top of Salim’s truck, we are now driving through the mountains down toward the lake.  To the right of the truck the road drops steeply off and down the side of the mountain.  To the left the mountain seems to jut straight up into the sky.  In front and behind us huge dump trucks, backhoes, and earth compactors are working on the road.  Every once in a while you will see a Chinaman strolling around with a wide-brimmed hat carrying a notebook and directing the local Ugandans in the work.  It’s a truly amazing project to see.  The Ugandan government has contacted Chinese engineers in a seven year project to construct a road from Fort Portal to Lamia.  For me, sitting there in amazement atop of my sack of beans, I see the project as one that epitomizes what humans are capable of accomplishing.  The sides of these mountains have slopes steeper that 45 degrees, yet there is a perfectly level and uniformly wide road being constructed that serpentinely winds its way around the mountains gradually making its way down toward the lake.  Once we are out of the mountains we will travel through a game reserve for about and hour before arriving at Lake Albert in Ntoroko.  Troops of baboons, tribes of monkey, herd of impalas, and passels of wild hogs are going about their daily lives all around us as we cruise down the road (yes, those are the technical group names for those respective animals).  Guinea Fowl are notorious for hanging out in the road until the vehicles are about 20 yards away before scurrying into the bush as the last minute, but its not uncommon to see the other animals as well enjoying the the morning sun in the middle of the smooth dirt roads.  On my most recent trip an enormous water buffalo covered in mud was standing in the road and refused to move.  It wasn’t until we had almost fully stopped the truck and had been laying on the horn for 15 seconds before he panicked and darted off of the road flinging mud everywhere in the process and nearly taking out the front bumper of Salim’s truck.  

As you can see from above I have thoroughly enjoyed my two trips to Fort Portal.  I have always welcomed the opportunity to travel, but these trips are exciting for a new reason.  Instead of the usual trip from the US, one of the most developed nations in world, to a developing nation for adventure or mission work, I am now traveling from what what is ranked as the least developed country in the world (DRC-187), to a country ranked 26 spots higher on the same UNDP list (Uganda-161).  The difference is as stark as night and day, and it is revealed in numerous ways in everyday life.  I once brushed off these countries as not possessing the amenities I felt were necessary to live comfortably by Western standards,  but now I see them in a different light, realizing that comfort and development of countries and societies is all relative.  While I don’t believe there is anything wrong with having standards of living based on the USA and other European countries, it is very important to be sensitive and open to the standard of living and indigenous luxuries of each and every country.  My favorite Mocha Coconut Frappuccinos still may not be an option, even in Fort Portal, but the hot shower and a juicy steak were truly appreciated, especially since I was traveling on my birthday.

The Proposal of a Soccer Field:

April 2010, Los Chiles, Costa Rica.  As I pass through the gates into the small soccer complex I see that some of the players have already started warming up under the lights.  “Hola”. “Que Paso”. “Pura Vida”.  The townspeople whom have come to watch tonight’s games, greet me in the Spanish phrases that have become so familiar the past couple weeks.  Some of them I have never seen before, some I met last week, and some I have know for years, but all of them make me feel welcome, as if I am a long time friend whom has just as much of a right to be here as they do.  For a moment I forget that I am a foreigner from the USA, only there for a month.  Peter calls out to me to come start warming up, so I head out onto the synthetic pitch, ducking through the opening in the net that encloses the field.  While sitting there lacing up my cleats on the perfectly flat and true surface of the artificial field, I think to myself, “How did a town like Los Chiles, wind up with field this nice?”  Behind me I can hear the chatter of the crowd as they gather to watch.  Even though I understand less than half of what they are saying to each other, I know some of the conversation is about me.  This becomes evident when I hear the words “El Bicileta Blanca” (the white bicycle), a nickname given to me during last week’s game when I performed an overhead/bicycle kick off of a high cross from a teammate that narrowly missed the near post.  Their words leave me smiling as I collect my jersey from Peter and join in the warm up.  Some fifteen minutes later the ref signals for us to take our positions so he can start the game.  The passing is a beautiful thing to be a part of.  It’s like watching a pinball bounce around between teammates as the ball is worked up the field, almost always resulting in a shot on goal.  Playing soccer is not the reason I am spending a month in this small town of 3,000 people on the northern border of Costa Rica, but is has proven to be just as much of a platform for building relationships as the water wells we have been drilling in the nearby Nicaraguan refugee camp. 

November 2011, Vilo, Democratic Republic of Congo.  It’s and exciting day for the Sport4HOPE team.  One of the villages in which we are working has set up a special exhibition soccer game specifically for us.  Stephen and I are welcomed by our respective teams, given jerseys, and taken into the locker room (nearby mud hut homes) in preparation for the game.  When we jog back out onto the field for warm ups I immediately think back to those games in Costa Rica and how much fun I had playing as a foreigner with the locals, however this game would be very different.  Less than a minute after kickoff, I receive the ball with my chest from the goalkeeper’s punt, and quickly control it on the ground.  Finding a teammate to my left making a run down the wing, I play him a pass, which on a smooth surface would have met him perfectly in stride heading toward the opposing goal.  However the surface on which we are playing today is hard packed dirt, uneven, and littered with debris. Not only does my pass hit a mound and change directions immediately after leaving my foot, but my teammate slips on some loose debris while trying to change directions and falls to the ground.  It didn’t take long for Stephen and me to recognize the altered style of play which we were seeing all around us.  Passes were almost always areal passes to avoid the unpredictability of the playing surface.  A couple minutes later one of the opposing team’s players finds himself in front of our goal with the ball.  He lowers his head and places a shot with medium pace toward the lower right-hand corner of the net.  Glancing up at the goalkeeper, I expect to see him already diving for what would be a very realistic chance of making the save.  However, I can see in his eyes a look of contemplation.  He is not completely focused on the ball as most goalkeepers would be.  He is weighing some very important odds in his head; the bodily sacrifice of diving on this uneven abrasive dirt field and making a save, versus staying on his feet and letting the other team score.  Making his decision, he dives through the air, barely getting a couple fingers on the ball and deflecting it just wide of the goal.  The spectators cheer loudly, but the goalkeeper is not smiling; he has cut his hand and wrist pretty badly, and has to leave the game.  Afterwards we tend to his wound with antiseptic, gauze, and bandages, and he is not only one whom has has been injured while playing today. 

This is not soccer. Instead of the beautifully consistent and perfect playing surface of the synthetic grass pitch in Los Chiles, I am now playing on a pure dirt field that has been rendered virtually unplayable from the heavy rains that are inherent to any place which lies less than 2 degrees off of the Equator.  Water runoff has created valleys and ridges all throughout the playing surface, which is littered with debris of small pebbles and twigs.  The most fundamental technical and tactical aspects of the sport have been lost, and its easy to understand why.  Short quick passes, movement off the ball, team possession, and a slow build up attack are a nothing short of a pipe dream on a field like this.  Instead, the only way to be remotely accurate with your passes is to play the ball in the air to your teammate, an inherently tougher skill and less desirable pass to receive.  I could count on my hands how many successful passes were completed by my team for the entire game.  All coaches know that in order to teach tactics, players must have solid technical ability.  And all coaches also know that in order to teach and execute technique a smooth, accommodating playing surface is needed.  The maximum potential of a coach is greatly diminished when the condition of the field is such that the players cannot control what the ball does.  But this is not the only dilemma.  A greater problem is how little opportunity exists for the kids of Vilo to be involved in any organized sport whatsoever.  This is largely attributed to the lack of suitable and sustainable facilities.  Therefore the logical solution to this problem is exactly what we are proposing; help Vilo build a new soccer field.  

Three desired qualities have been laid out as goals for the finished product.  The field must be level, have a flat and smooth playing surface, and it must hold up to the rains of the Ituri District.  This is an enormous challenge considering we have not seen a field in all of Eastern Congo that fits this description.  Nonetheless work has already begun.  The community members are clearing the plot of land on which the they would like the new pitch to be built.  Back here in Bunia, the Sport4HOPE team has been researching all aspects of construction, from the leveling of the land, to funding the project, and everything in between.  We have been in correspondence with an American contractor whom has done the majority of his work in developing nations, the head groundskeeper at Red Bull Arena, a sales representative from an industry leading synthetic field-turf company, the local civil engineers here in Bunia, and a non-profit organization in the US that funds the building of soccer fields in Eastern Africa.  Basically we are doing everything we can to find out what it will take to make this project a reality.  I believe our biggest task will not be clearing the land, and it will not be leveling the playing area.  It will be creating a sustainable playing surface that doesn’t end up like all the rest in 3-5 years.  All the research we have done and everything we have learned points toward a synthetic pitch.  A synthetic pitch can receive ten times the use of a natural surface, while needing a fraction of the maintenance.  They can also last over 15 years, all while providing a level, flat, and smooth playing surface.  Therefore, a synthetic pitch is a serious consideration.

Still to this day I am amazed at how Los Chiles, a town of 3,000 people in a developing Central America country, has wound up with a pitch at beautiful as the one they have.  A surface like that, suitable for professionals to play on, makes the game that much more enjoyable.  It highlights the skills of the player and fosters tactical and technical development. That synthetic pitch in Los Chiles, Costa Rica has done more for the community than any field I have been involved with anywhere in the US.  The whole town rallies around this field.  It gets constant use and just about everyone in town has the opportunity to play on it.  Mondays are the youth boys league, Tuesdays are the youth girls league, Wednesdays are pickup night (where I first got my start), Thursdays are the over 30 league, Fridays are the men’s open league, and Saturday nights the professional team plays.  But it’s not just the players that are able to enjoy the field, it has become a social gathering spot for soccer lovers and non soccer lovers alike.  The townspeople crowd the complex every night to watch their daughters, sons, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends play.  I think back to that specific night; everyone is talking, laughing, and having a good time together.  At the walkup concession stand, a group of teenagers are grabbing a bite to eat.  At the gear kiosk, the owner of the local hardware store and his wife are picking out a replica jersey as a gift for their son.  On the pitch our team is celebrating the goal we just scored.  The complex is buzzing with activity and the lights of the field can be seen from miles away.  This is the power of sport, and this is our vision for Vilo.

3 and 3:

The Sports4HOPE team has been in Congo now for over six weeks and Africa for over seven.  There have been highs and lows.  A couple times where I thought, “This could be the thing that makes it impossible for me to stay here.”  And other times where I have thought, “I can see myself here for the rest of my life.”  Despite the times when the work seems to just flow right out of me and the times when I don’t think I have anymore to give, my general outlook has been the same.  The Lord has big plans out here and I feel very strongly that He wants me to be part of them.  This blog entry is a list of the top three encouragements and discouragements that I have experienced since arriving in the country. 

Encouragement #1: The excitement and hope that is seen in the eyes of the villagers.  This is the number one most encouraging and motivating factor that is keeping me in Congo.  In our Vilo committee there is a young man in his late 20s named Ndrusini.  His profession is teaching, but he is also the local soccer coach and captain of the only two teams in Vilo.  Stevo and I had a chance to play with him and his team a couple weeks ago and he is a pretty good player.  We hear the kids of the village calling Ndrusini coach.  And in turn Ndrusini, along with most of the other members of the committee and village, call me coach.  Coach Scott.  But their words tell more that just my role in within Sports4HOPE.  Their words tell of the high level of respect and esteem they have for me.  Their words express their inner hope.  “Coach Scott is a coach from America.  Coach Scott has had top level coaches training from different organizations.  People in America pay him to coach.  He has coached under a professional organization.  And he has come all the way from America to teach us to play soccer.”  When I hear these words I realize not only the potential I have but also the responsibly that comes along with it.  This is just one example of the countless signs of hope we see from the villagers every time we set foot in the communities. 

Encouragement #2: Meeting and developing relationships and a social life with other expats here in Bunia.  Volleyball every Saturday at Medair, Scrabble at Samaritan’s Purse, swing dancing at the Rasmussens, coffee, chocolate, board games, slacklining... the list goes on and on.  I can’t tell you how big a role this has played in helping me to see myself living in Bunia for an extended period of time.  When I am invited over to the Medair compound to sit and relax on the porch over a cup of delicious coffee and a bar of chocolate while playing a good ole American board game, moving to the lowest ranked country on the UN’s Human Development Index, doesn’t seem like quite so much of a sacrifice.  While they are still surrounded by 10 foot walls capped with coiled razor wire and broken glass bottles, some of the NGOs here in Bunia have beautiful garden like compounds filled with flourishing trees and flowers. And in a city with 330,000 people, that has no parks or visible greenery, having a place like this to set up your hammock and slackline goes a long way.  I don’t have too many expats from here in Bunia on my email list but if you are one of them, you can be sure that I am talking about you. Thanks.

Encouragement #3: The overwhelming need of Congo.  This fact alone is what convinced me to come to Congo to begin with, and my understanding of this need has only increased since I have arrived.  As I mentioned in the earlier paragraph, the Democratic Republic of Congo is now ranked dead last on the United Nation’s Human Development Report.  Basically this means that in Congo, quality of and opportunity in life is the worst in the world.  The UN bases their rankings on health, education, income, inequality, gender inequality, poverty, and sustainability.  To let you know how Congo ranks in some of these categories, the average life expectancy is 48.4 years.  The average amount of schooling a Congolese person will receive is .356 years, and the average gross national income (GNI) per capita is $280/year.  If stats aren’t enough for someone, just send them out here.  Visit any one of the surrounding villages and see the hundreds of children without shoes and the dozens of people whom have lost their legs due to Polio and war.  Have a conversation with the village chiefs for more than five minutes and you will learn of the building crescendo of tension between the Hema and Ngiti over the same issues that caused so much bloodshed less than a decade ago.  The atmosphere in Bunia is grim, the need is great, and the current support is only a band-aid for this bullet wound.

Discouragement #1: Sickness has definitely been the most discouraging part of being in Congo.  Forget about the fact that we work in a country that closes all land borders three days before and after presidential election periods due of the country’s history of violence and insecurity surrounding election time (elections are Nov. 28th and the Mission Aviation Fellowship has already started evacuating non-essential expats).  As long as find myself healthy, I also find myself happy, and able to survive. However, twice in my first three weeks here, I found myself in bed for entire days at a time.  I had a fever, my stomach was very upset, I was dehydrated, achy body, headache, the whole package.  There was nothing I would have like more than to take a long hot shower, and curl up on the couch or in my bed with an oversized down comforter and have my mom take care of me.  But alas, this is Congo; we don’t have hot running water, I sleep on a foam pad with a single sheet, and my mother is on another continent in another hemisphere.  When you are sick you don’t feel like doing anything, you feel as if you have no control of your state of being, and all your thoughts go toward how you can prevent this from happening again.  Luckily, for the past month I have stayed healthy and free of sickness.  This is a relief, because if I were to be sick for two or three days at a time every couple weeks, my time here would be much less enjoyable, and I would be much less enthusiastic and productive in my work. 

Discouragement #2: The complete lack of infrastructure.  Regardless of geographic location, in a city the size of Nashville you might expect paved roads, stop signs, parks, grocery stores, street lights, public restrooms, and public transportation.  Or at least a couple of these, right?  Well you will not find any of these things here in Eastern Congo.  The lack of infrastructure does not just affect the public sector.  If you are able to afford it, you will have a house that is set up for internet, electricity, and running water, but that doesn’t mean you always have internet, electricity, and running water.  In the house where we live it is not uncommon for the water to be off for days at a time.  We have two back-up sources of energy (solar panels and a generator) because the city electricity is about as reliable as the city water.  And if the generator is out of fuel on a cloudy day or at night, we light oil lanterns and play cards to pass the time.  All these affect the work we are able to do.  When you are working with slow internet, which it always is here, what takes you five minutes in North America or Europe, will undoubtedly take you an hour here.  When people talk about African time, this is what they mean.  Patience, patience, patience.  The bigger-better-faster mentality of North Americans must be thrown out the window here because all those ideals hinge on reliable infrastructure. 

Discouragement #3: Insufficiency of funds.  Sports4HOPE had proposed a budget before departing for Congo that we believed would sustain us for a year.  However fundraising was a bit of a catch 22.  Without experience in the field and proof of what we were able to do, people and companies had a tough time justifying a donation.  But without money we were unable to get out to the field to acquire that experience and prove what Sports4HOPE is capable of doing.  Therefore we were left asking people to donate based on their belief in us as individuals. And many people did.  Thank you.  All in all we have secured about 25% of that initial budget, which was enough for us to get out here, get settled and start our work.  Now that we are here and making waves we are seeing how much more we could do with supplementary funds.  Having our own source of transportation would allow us to be out in the villages more often, instead of in the office, here in Bunia.  However, transportation is just one of the funding issues we are juggling in this startup project here in Congo.  Some of the others include building a soccer field on the side of a mountain, dealing with high cost of living, renewing our visas in the coming months, acquiring supplies and equipment for our sports and peace education programs, providing a stipend for our local liaison, and the selfish thought of returning home once or twice a year to see our family and friends.  Ultimately it’s not the money, it’s us implementing the project that have the biggest impact on it’s success, but adequate funds do allow us to push their project to the fullest potential.  

Some look at being out here as a sacrifice, and in some ways it is, but the bottom line is this: If I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t be.  This work is rewarding, and there is nothing in the world I would rather be doing.  Funds or no funds, hot water or cold, slow internet or no internet, sick or healthy, Bunia is my home now. This is where I live.  

NGO Work, Relief vs Reconciliation:

When you think of the type of work of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), there are two basic aims; relief and reconciliation.  A huge number of NGOs working in developing nations are relief based.  This means something has happened that has left a group of people in need of some sort of help, and they aim to be that help, relieve that need.  Work like this is incredibly valuable and serves millions of people per year.  For example, an organization that donates clothes to those that don’t have any, doctors that treat people wounded by war, or the providing of water for victims of floods and earthquakes.  The other basic aim is that of reconciliation; reconciliation of lack of education, reconciliation of suppressed people, reconciliation of neglect and/or exploitation. While there are gray areas and combinations of the two, most NGOs fall into one of these two categories.  Sports4HOPE has chosen reconciliation.

Relief is the obvious undertaking for an NGO for a couple reasons.  One, relief is always needed.  In 2003 almost 300 people were massacred in Bogoro, a small village outside of Bunia in which we are working.  Many times more than that were left injured and in need of medical attention.  Doctors and medical staff came from all over the world to help.  You can see the same situation in Haiti after the earthquake.  Disasters happen, and no matter what kind of infrastructure and economy the country has in place (Tsunami in Tokyo, Hurricane Katrina in the USA), people are in desperate need of aid.  Two, relief can produce immediate results.  Due to the nature of relief based projects, gratification is often instant, and a long term commitment is not always needed.  Residents of a Nicaraguan refugee camp just across the border into Costa Rica are sick from drinking unclean water or no water at all.  A mission based group goes in for 30 days, drills two wells, and sets in place a system that will provide clean, potable drinking water for 15 families.  This is tremendous work, it serves many people, and the results are instantaneous.  Three, fundraising for a relief project is quite different, and often easier, than for that of reconciliation.  A shoe company starts up and says, buy one pair of our shoes and we will provide a pair to a child without any.  Print ads and brochures show pictures of orphans starving in Malaysia due to drought and food shortages: “one dollar a day will provide this child with food and a bed in which to sleep.”  There is always a need, the results are instant, and donors can have a direct impact. 

Reconciliation, on the other hand, is different animal all together.  While needed at the same magnitude as relief, reconciliation efforts rarely provide instant results, and sometimes results are never achieved.  Reconciliation work often takes years or an entire lifetime of dedication and commitment to a project.  Here in Congo, Sports4HOPE is in the process of immersing the youth of three previously and currently conflicted villages in soccer and volleyball leagues, developing a passion for the friendships a team brings.  Through being part of teams they can learn teamwork, leadership, problem solving, honesty, integrity, fair play, how to win and lose graciously, and many other life lessons.  They also have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the youth playing on teams from the neighboring villages.  The players will also be taught peace education through school and “Peace Clubs” in which the kids will serve the village, as well as learn the value of being in community with each other.  The Lendu, Hema,  and Ngiti tribes have been warring off and on for the past 20 years and a sustained peace will not come easily or quickly.  However one day the youth of these villages will be the leaders.  We believe, and models all over the world have proved, that people involved with peace based sports programs are significantly less likely to be involved conflict.  So the work of a reconciliation based NGO is not fast and it’s not easy.  It’s a tougher model to present for fundraising, and an even tougher sell to possible donors.  Why support an organization that can’t guarantee anything when you have another established organization that for a small price can provide instant relief?

The answer to this question can explained through contrasting initiatives here in Bogoro, where hunger has always been a problem.  In times of crisis a handful of international NGOs bring food into the area to feed the villagers.  This food lasts only as long as as the NGOs are there to give it.  Once the crisis is over and the village is no longer in a state of emergency the NGOs pack up and move on to another area where the huger is needed more.  However Synergie Simama, a local NGO has other ideas.  Their money is not spent on buying up food in mass quantities to feed the hungry.  For the past 3 years, since the official end of Africa’s World War, Synergie Simama has been teaching the Hema people of Bogoro to farm.  A native Hema agronomist is on hand in the village and the nutrient rich soil of the surrounding mountains is being utilized in the form of a 35 acre farm.  All the maintenance and work is done by the villagers and multiple times a year the crops are harvested.  Some of the food goes to feed the Hema people of Bogoro and what is left is sold to neighboring villages.  A portion of the profits are used to subsidize the Bogoro markets with food that is not grown on the farm, while the rest pays for the upkeep and expansion of the farm.  Now the villagers of Bogoro have developed a skill and resource that will help to sustain them on an ongoing basis.  

Another way to look at it is aloe vs sunscreen.  Aloe relieves the skin after a burn, while sunscreen prevents the the skin from being burned in the first place.  Sports4HOPE aims to be the sunscreen. 

Reconciliation: 1 Year vs An Entire Lifetime

Bunia, DR Congo.  It’s 2:00 AM and I lie restlessly in bed, my feet extending off one end of my 6 foot long mattress and my pillow hanging off the other.  There is a blue bug net that hangs over my bed on the flimsy wooden members that have been daintily nailed to the four bedposts.  Across the room, despite the sweaty sheet that has become virtually useless as it now covers only one of his legs, Stephen, my roommate for the next year, is sleeping soundly in his bed.  But not me.  The short bed, uncomfortable pillow, sticky heat, and constant buzzing of mosquitos play only a small part in my tossing and turning.  The main reason for my sleepless nights is the monster that has been staring me in the face since I first stepped out of the boat, onto the dock, and into Congo.  Reconciliation, the seemingly insurmountable journey that I have felt called by God in which to engage.  Can we set the ball rolling in only one year?  Or does this task require an entire lifetime?

What we call today the Democratic Republic of Congo has had many different names, the Free State of Congo, Belgian Congo, and Zaire.  But one thing about this area of land in Central Africa that has never changed is the relentless conflict to which it has been witness.   Exploitation, corruption, and greed from foreign countries as well as it’s own political leaders, have led to the unjust deaths of millions and millions of people.  Most of this conflict and strife can be attributed to the fact that Congo is home to massive amounts of natural resources coveted by what often seems like every other nation in the world.  Even after 50 years of independence, DRC is still exploited not only by other countries, but also by its own government and countrymen.  When one thinks of reconciliation, we often think of restoring a broken relationship or bringing something back to when it was peaceful, but how does this work in a country that known nothing but conflict its entire existence.  People and organizations working toward reconciliation in an atmosphere such as this, must not only re-evaluate the definition but also re-evaluate how to make it a reality.

After a day of meetings with two of the surrounding villages, the Sports4HOPE team sits down to dinner around a dimly lit table with our host and his family.  Electricity has been out for hours, as is usual in Bunia, and our food is lit by a lonely bulb hung from the ceiling and powered by a the noisy generator out back.  As we help ourselves to another boiled banana and helping of rice, a particularly sensitive question is posed by the Sports4HOPE team.  I ask, “How can two villages whom pray before every meeting and seem to keep God in the forefront of their daily lives, be in constant hatred and war with each other?”  Our host, although having grown up in one of these villages, does not take offense to this question, but his answer reveals how deep the wounds really are.  

“Less than three years ago, before the end of ‘Africa’s World War’, while the surrounding villages were still fighting on a daily basis, preachers would often find themselves face to face with a gun, machete, or spear, and forced to denounce their faith, or speak prayers in favor of the opposing village.  In turn, later that night they would be praying the opposite, ‘Lord please allow my tribesman to kill the enemy tomorrow, bring them home safe, and protect my people.’  When these people were faced with hunger, death, and protecting their own people, their faith, while in Christ, was distorted and perverted.  Kill this man and eat, or let him live while you starve to death.  Protect your family, by murdering other innocent people, or watch them die before your eyes.”

Conversations like this are not uncommon between us and our host, but they do not get any easier.  They do however, help in our understanding of what we are facing.  

Having lived through the war, our host speaks up again to lift our spirits.  He explains that, we (the Sports4HOPE team) have come a long way, from America.  We have a particular skill set, and we have a passion/calling put into us by God.  Sport can have a huge impact on building relationships and reconciling these people.  While completely foreign to them, peace is something that people are willing to learn about.  Stick to what we know.  “Pole pole, pole pole” (pronounced polay polay ) means “slowly, slowly” in Swahlili.  This is what he says to us.  Gather the kids, start one game.  It will lead to one training session.  The kids will keep coming back.  Word will spread, interest will grow.  You can teach them the path of reconciliation and peace.  It will undoubtedly take years and years and you may not be here to see it through.  But now, you have set the ball rolling.  No one has ever run a marathon without taking that first step.

Back in my bed the next night it doesn’t seem quite so hot, the bed doesn’t seem quite as short.  I can’t hear the buzzing of mosquitos anymore, and although I haven’t fallen asleep yet, I am content just laying there.  I still face the monster of reconciliation, but I am no longer scared.  The task is just as great but I know that I am not alone,  I have Stephen, I have Selina.  I have the Sports4HOPE team back in America, as well as support from many others around the world.  I have Kalongo and the Synergie Simama team.  But more than all of these, I have God.  He has called me here and I will do all that I can, the best that I can, for as long as I can.  When the Lord tells me my work is done, I will go.  If this is a year, I will stay for a year.  If it is a lifetime, I will stay for a lifetime. 

Sense of Fear vs State of Security (First Night in Africa):

It’s quite amazing how ‘different’ is so often associated with ‘danger’.  When we are around what is known to us, we typically feel safe, however throw us into an unknown culture or area that we have never been around before and we get nervous, close up, and honestly get a bit scared.  It can happen in your own city as well as in a foreign land.  Sometimes these fears come from what we have seen on TV and in movies, what the news tells us, stories we hear, and sometimes they are simply just a fear of the unknown.  No matter what the reason, we are often mistaken, as our senses, emotions, and feelings do not always guide us in the right direction. This was my experience the first night in Africa.

Kampala, Uganda. 
It is 12:00 at night and the city is littered with huge piles of unbagged trash on the side of the the streets, residents in dirty threadbare clothes are wandering around with no apparent direction, men with semi-automatic machine guns are scattered around the city also wearing street clothes, not govt. uniforms, and homeless people are sleeping wherever they can find a dry spot on the ground.  Oh, and did I mention and there is not a street light or lamp on in the entire city.  This must be a dangerous city, right?  That is how I felt.  Especially when our taxi driver stopped at the steps of the Galaxy Guesthouse, the hotel where we had planned to stay for the night.  A line of 20 or 30 shadowy figures sleeping under tarps on the side of the road stopped 10 feet from the front door of the hotel.  l thought to myself, “Stephen, don’t make us stay here. Don’t even get out of the car.”  Our peace of mind is worth finding a nice place and spending a little more money on our first night in a country that two out of the three of us had never been to.  We did find another hotel.  We paid a bit more, but it was worth it.  I rested my head for the first time in Africa five floors above the city street that had me so uneasy and on edge that first night.  

We woke the next morning to the sounds of a torrential downpour.  Because of the climate, Kampala is a very open-air city, and therefore many windows don’t have glass and storefronts have doors that roll up opening fully to the city streets.  The rain was soothing.  We could hear the honking of car horns, and the voices of people going about their busy lives below us despite the heavy rain and muddy streets.  I walked out of our room and down the hall that opened up onto a balcony.  Protected by the overhang from the balcony above, I gazed out over the expansive city and immediately felt 100 times safer.  People scurrying around with a purpose.  Tons and tons of people buying, selling, and trading their goods and services to the locals and travelers from neighboring countries.  There weren’t any sidewalks and the people on foot took over the streets outnumbering the cars at least 35 to 1.  Amidst the cars crawling along honking for the pedestrians to get out of the way, were the weaving motorcycles, which immediately revealed themselves as the most practical way to get around in Kampala.  As I sat on the balcony eating breakfast looking out over the street,  I felt calm, at peace, and safe.  

Looking back, I learned a lot about sense of fear vs. state of security.  While I believe most people whom are unfamiliar with that culture would have been nervous, anxious, and fearful in that situation, I was later informed that Kampala is one of, if not the safest, citiy in Eastern Africa.  It sure didn’t feel like it, but it just goes to show that appearances and feelings can often be deceptive.  Our sense of fear, especially in unfamiliar places, is not always depictive of how safe or unsafe a place actually is.   We have an inherent fear of the unknown that is often unfounded.  This is a tough hurdle to get past but we should always strive to live by truth and not by sight. 

The truth of the matter is this: the whole time I was in Uganda, I was never made to feel uncomfortable or threatened by the actions of any individual, day or night, alone or with friends.

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 Taken in Uganda