What a whirlwind... 29 countries visited through 2017, over 100 communities, 10,000+ kids now on the programme. It’s hard to take it all in.
To summarise, here are the top four learnings:
1. We don’t need much to be happy
The reason for the project was for personal reasons. A break from the day-to-day coaching and programme management - my form of daily-grind and a bit of a reset button from this and a chance to gain some perspective. My first questioning of this purpose came to me in the first country, Brazil, when I played tennis with a child in the favela who seemed to have nothing, but somehow seemed so happy… How was this?
They clearly didn’t need tennis in their lives. It was later in the year, in Myanmar when I saw children around a flip-flop, creating their own game where they had to steal both of their shoes back without getting caught by the main catcher (photo below), I realised here that that you don’t need much in life to be happy, just the four things, food, water, shelter and relationships. If you have all of that, the rest could be seen as a bonus, or even a distraction. It became clear that sport can be a vessel for building life skills in the community that are directly transferable to life in general. Skills like resilience, confidence, communication and so much more. We don’t need much, just a lot of love.
The fact that we don’t need much in life to be happy was reinforced when my own resilience was tested... I hit the lowest point in the trip when I was in Guatemala. Within the space of two weeks, I found out that my Grandpa had passed away and I had to go back early for the funeral and support my family, my phone had broken and wouldn’t turn on and my laptop and wallet were stolen out of my bag on a coach trip transfer. Therefore, all I had on my person was my passport.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get much worse...
We went on a guided tour in Samuk Champey (a place of natural beauty in Lanquin), where we joined in some cliff jumping (in this case off of a bridge), on the last go of the day, having completed the 15m jump many times before I slipped, tumbled, hit the water and came up not being able to breath (image below of the bruise from the fall into the water). I was pulled out and when managing to catch a breath, still in shock, a friend passed me a can of fanta and said to ‘get some sugar in you, have a drink’. I happily obeyed and as I gulped from the can a bee flew out of my mouth! Leaving a sting in the roof of my mouth.
At the point of the guide trying to get the sting out with his hand, my ear seeping from the fall (later finding out I had perforated my eardrum) and having nothing to my name but my passport, I laughed uncontrollably. It was either that, or cry . This sounds harrowing, but this low point probably gave me the most perspective, as it was from here that I managed to make it all the way up to Mexico, and to arrange a flight home (with my sister booking for me) to get back to the UK. You really don’t need much in life and I have never looked at material positions the same way again. If they benefit your life and make it better, great, but I won’t become emotionally attached to the point it will ruin my day/life if an item gets destroyed or lost. There are more important things, like your health and relationships. You don’t need much to be happy.
The bruise from hitting the water falling from the bridge in Guatemala
2. People are inherently good
Of all the warnings I had from friends, family and others around solo travel, as long as you’re sensible i.e. not going to the dark alleys late at night (like most built-up cities in the world). I felt safe. Even more so, I realised that people are inherently good. Yes, I came across some shady characters, but it’s when you realise that they are often like that due to their situation or environment they are in. I have lost count of the amount of times I needed help and had to ask a stranger and barely ever was I turned away or that trust abused. From not knowing which bus to catch in Bolivia to needing to get my yellow fever vaccination in Brasil, there was always a willing local ready to help a person in need. The amount of times I was welcomed into homes, fed and treated as one of the family. I aspire to have a family and household like that myself one day. An example of these good deeds was in Brazil when my camera tripod was snapped due to someone falling onto it and snapping one of the legs. Any technical equipment is hard to replace/buy in South America and I came across a welder in the street, I got the tripod out showed the breakage (neither of us being able to speak each other's native tongue) and he did not hesitate but to take it upon himself to help solve the problem. He swiftly welded the leg back on. I offered money as I this was the first week of the trip and I needed this fixed but he flat-out refused with a big smile on his face. With me knowing that that had made his day and also mine.
A local man welding the broken camera tripod
3. Corruption is everywhere (it seems to just take different forms)
The Zsig Sports kit packs are all being sent out to the locations and the programmes being delivered. With seven at their destinations and three more to go out. In this logistical nightmare (which I will forever be grateful for Beverley at Zsig Sports for administrating) it became clear that all the warnings of the corrupt postal services were correct. An example of this would be the package sent out by DHL to Colombia which arrived in the country, with the last leg of these international couriers handed over to the local postal services. It’s at this point that, although all the customs had been pre-paid, they kept the package and asked for more money, refusing to release it to our community leader. Finally stating that the package had been destroyed, which I’m sure wasn’t the case. In fact probably sold on. For this reason, we will be delivering the other packs by hand. This ensures that the packages make it to the community and will be our model moving forwards, coaches visiting with the equipment and leaving it there each time. Each country we went to seemed to have an element of corruption and I’m not sure any more than others, just more developed worlds tended to be able to hide it better.
Children in an orphanage in Phuket, Thailand opening their new Zsig Sports tennis kit
4. Voluntourism is a thing
Voluntourism is something I was aware of, but didn’t realise it was such a problem in these countries. In fact many actively warn volunteers away. This is because I saw examples of foundations that purposefully keep orphanages in poor states to try and gain more donations from those visitors. The other side of this is the emotional detachment that these children feel when they have all these people in and out of their life. Which is why we quickly realised that to make this project sustainable and impactful, we needed to work with the community leaders who could dedicate the time to these kids. Please do make sure when you travel or want to do good you do this through a reputable company and you give your time or equipment to those that make a difference to the whole community in a sustainable way
A warning sign of voluntourism
Next steps,
We firstly need to get the rest of the equipment out to their locations to ensure all the communities can continue to play, revisit communities where we can (with both time and money restraints) and then to help further support the community leaders and programmes through content and guidance.
I feel privileged to have made so many meaningful relationships along the journey, I don’t say lifelong friendships, because what we gave each other was enough - although I know that if we did come back into each other's worlds it would be with open arms. I was accepted into peoples homes and communities. Attending 4 weddings throughout the year (Buddist, Hindu, Chinese, Christian) and countless home cooked meals. From those that did not have much they gave the most. Love wins.
What a blessing to have experienced this and I hope to tell the story on a wider scale and ensure that these communities continue to feel the impact of this programme well into the future.