Butter Sandwiches

Today marked the start of the last week of holiday for the kids, and thus our last week where we have all day, everyday access to them; next Monday they are back in school - plus, my 2-week countdown will begin!

Last Thursday both our boys teams had a match against teams from our sister program in Nsambya. When we arrived around 8:30am at the Center, boys were already starting to gather! We had a great turnout of about 35 kids: our “older” boys team was made up of 13-18 year olds while our “middle” boys team were the younger ones of 11 & 12 years. Not only did the boys look so smart in their uniforms, but I could tell they really felt part of a team. It was a great moment for us as coaches. I’ve also always loved travelling with our teams to a match: piling into a 14-seater taxi bus, singing “Waka Waka” at the top of our lungs or shouting Ugandan chants (that one is more the kids than me…). Half the time I have no idea what is going on, but I love every minute of it. It's funny to watch passerby on the road as we loudly roll by…

The middle boys played first and had a bit of a tough first half. Players looked a bit scattered and our darn goal kicks kept going straight up the middle to the other teams strikers – not a good defensive plan! And not to take away from the other teams win, but I have a sneaking suspicion some of those kids were quite a few years older; nonetheless, our Ndejje guys tried their best and although they lost, they certainly put up a good fight and even turned the game around the second half. They all came off the field at the end with smiles on their faces. It was encouraging, too, when some older guys cheered and even helped out with suggestions. Hopefully these kids stay in the program for the next couple years and who knows – maybe they’ll end up being a SWB coach one day!

The older boys took the field next and had a much closer game: they looked good and in sync and it was evident they had actually been listening during our practices over the past couple of weeks – good news for us! Although they too lost, they seemed to be in much better spirits when compared to our match (and loss) last holiday break – another sign they were listening when we talked with them about sportsmanship and attitude (woohoo!!). I’m so proud of the achievements and definite progress these boys have made over the time we’ve been together. They act as a team now. We, of course, send a shout out to Raphael and his coaching team in Nsambya – his teams are certainly benefiting from his excellent coaching and it showed. But, we’ll get them next time, I feel it! Everyone had a fun-filled afternoon, complete with butter sandwiches as after-game snacks and can you believe the kids were asking for more?! What ever happened to orange slices??

For me, Alison, Courtney, all of our regular players and most certainly Adam, the afternoon was bittersweet, though. It would be Adam’s last day with the kids; Adam was being forced to leave Uganda by the Commissioner of Immigration. His visa was refused renewal and he had to schedule a flight for Friday AM. As Adam said his final goodbyes to the kids before we left to head back to the Center, I felt really sad; it just seemed to make everything more real. More real that my own time is coming to a close here. More real that I’m going to have to say goodbye to these same kids in just a few weeks. It all hit me so suddenly and although I tried not to get upset, that seems often impossible these days (I’m blaming the malaria pills…). My best little bud Julien, who I STILL need to blog about, was sitting next to me in the taxi and put his arm around me for comfort. Naturally, this just made me more emotional (again, those darn pills send me on a roller coaster!). I wanted to try and be the stronger person, most especially for the kids sake, but turns out the kids were the ones comforting me. They were definitely sad, they were quiet and it was obvious they were trying to process Adam’s departure just as us adults were. I'm so grateful that I'm still able to be here with them in Adam’s sudden absence. Today was our first day back at training sans Adam and it was a bit weird. Adamu, if you’re reading this – Ndejje misses you…also, Espware & Shandracki came back home Saturday; they’re really going to miss you! They’ve given me some drawings to take back for you!

Although I can’t help but be excited about returning home, I am really dreading my own goodbyes to these beautiful, incredible people. They’ve made my time here more than worth it. They’ve turned around my bad days and made them good again. Their smiles and laughter will always be on my heart, I know that, and thankfully these next few weeks they’ll be right beside me…