Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Plenty of Walking

by Bob Cutler, June 30, 2008

Eleven Hour Flight, speeding ticket, first day on the courts and students listening to Brooke talk about safer sex- it has been a wild 48 hours.

Sunday:

Once we landed in Johannesburg the fun really started. Customs and Passport Control was a breeze, converting US Dollars to Rand couldn't have been easier, renting the two vehicles for the five hour drive was an efficient use of time, the van breaking down 5 KM from the airport was priceless.

Over the walkie-talkies you would hear the following conversation:

Bob in Working Car: “Can't you guys go any faster?”

Juddy in Broken Car: “No, we have serious problems?”

Bob in Working Car: “Like lion problems?”

Juddy in Broken Car: “No like engine problems”

So the first van wasn't going to make the drive and need to be replaced. Done, one hour later, we are off, AGAIN.

After a drive that tested the limits of human stamina and driving abilities, we arrived safely in Thembalethu around 4 o'clock. The initial tour of the community center was lead by Brooke, a cow and two goats. Brooke was the best communicator of the team but the cow and goats left their own mark on the tour. As the sun was setting we voyaged a short distance to the basketball courts near the old Community Center. Expecting an empty court on a Sunday night was probably foolish; at the court we found 12 athletes playing full court basketball . Please keep in mind that this court has two backboards that are currently angled at 20 degrees and the three point line is littered with cow droppings. After an eleven hour flight, five hour drive and a tour lead by a cow and goat it only makes sense to play a game against a group of teenagers, so that is what we did. The final score was closer then I would have liked, but three of the players were still figuring out how to stay in their lanes in a fast break and avoid cow droppings. I am udderly amazed at the speed and athleticism of these players. Their foot speed and agility don't seem to be hindered by their lack of shoes and proper athletic wear.

Around eight o'clock on Sunday night we checked into our accommodations. Not having any idea what to expect I was pleasantly surprised with the hospitality, room conditions and the brightness of the evening stars. It didn't take long for the seven of us to inhale our dinner, talk briefly around a fire and retire for the night.

Monday:

I don't think I have ever slept so soundly. Sure Juddy, who says he never snores snored loudly and the roosters are motivated not by the sun but a body alarm that goes off at three AM but my sleep was sound.

After a quick breakfast and looking for the crocodile that Brooke says lives in the lake next to the eating area, we headed back to Thembalethu for morning meetings with the administrative team and HIV counsellors. This was my first introduction to South African meetings. Words are never spoken louder then a whisper and my sarcastic jokes do not translate well. The meeting ended thirty minutes after it started and we had a schedule for the remaining time here. For the next three days we were to work with the teams in Thembalethu, then drive on Thursday and Friday to work in Mangweni, back for the big regional tournament on Saturday—where we have coordinated the sports programming with the mobile VCT team in order to test as many players, coaches, and fans as possible. Heather, Ali and I head home on Sunday to Boston . The others will be around until next Thursday.

Around noon on Monday with our meetings finished I took a short walk to the basketball courts with one of the Youth in Action coordinators, Clifford. For the rest of my visit will refer to him as Uncle Clifford. Uncle Clifford is 24 and currently attending university on a scholarship for agriculture. Once he completes his degree he has to work three years for Selati, the huge South African sugar company to repay the money for school; he is hoping he can stay close to Thembalethu so he can continue to help at the Community Center and play basketball with his teammates. In the five minute walk to the court this is what I learned.

1. Their biggest needs are courts and fields. There are only two courts in this region (please remember my fine description of the court above) and most community centers don't have a court for their teams to hold practice.
2. Uniforms and balls: most teams don't have proper uniforms including shoes. Most players don't even have shoes to wear to the court let alone while playing. Imagine jumping and diving after loose balls in the same gear as you walk to the court in.
3. The importances of these tournaments are life and death, literally. At these tournaments every player and coach is educated and counseled on HIV transmission and testing. These tournaments allow TRIAD and the VCT teams to test players, coaches and fans from all over the region for HIV and educate on how to stop the spread of the disease. This is just not a game: it is critical to the continued existence of the friends, teammates and families of those who compete at these tournaments.

Once at the court Todd, Meghan and Ali took over the court and ran a mini clinic filled with drills, games and scrimmages. There is as much if not more raw talent on this court then any neighborhood in the United States . Again, their apparel would get them laughed off the courts at any Boys and Girls Club but their passion for the game, willingness to learn and smiles would make them a coach favorite on any team.

Monday night was another short night aroundthe fire before Tuesday brought our first session in the classroom and our second clinic on the court and this time Todd promised not to give me and evil look when I asked a question about the Flex offense ou Flex offense.

En Route to Thembalethu
by Brooke Wurst, June 28, 2008

And we're off. TRIAD staffers left from New York and Boston en route to another program-filled two weeks at Thembalethu Home-Based Care in rural South Africa. Deep in the Nkomazi region, nestled along the Swaziland and Mozambique borders, the seven of us will have the opportunity to work directly with more than 100 local leaders and 1,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). Heather Coubrough will be fronting a brand new Oral Health and Hygiene training program for local caregivers that focuses on special care for HIV/AIDS patients' needs. She'll also lead a special youth-focused initiative that teaches kids how to keep their smiles bright! Jonathan "Juddy" Judson will be leading drama workshops with more than 600 OVCs who will be participating in Thembalethu's life-skills camps. He will also work with Thembalethu's Drama Team, who go into schools to teach the facts about HIV/AIDS using the arts as their vehicle. The Drama Team and kids in the life-skills camps will work to perform original pieces by the end of the program. And our all-star dream team of basketballers, Ali Argentieri, Todd Palmer, and Meaghan Leahey Palmer, and sports education leadership expert Bob Cutler will conduct coaching and leadership workshops for coaches and skills clinics for hundreds of players. There will be a tournament at the end of the first week of our programs. At all the communal events, Thembalethu's Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) staff will be on hand to offer free, confidential HIV tests.

The other exciting news is that we will be introducing a full-scale, electricity-independent fingerprint-based medical record management program. It is the first of its kind in the world. It guarantees patients' confidentiality and anonymity, streamlines the process for and provides instantatenous relevant patient information for VCT staff, offers powerful and comprehensive information for our health care team and potential funders, and provides an easy way to attract new patients to be tested for HIV. The patented technology was conceived by and designed specifically for TRIAD's programs, but has tremendous flexibility to be scaled to other health care needs in resource-challenged areas of the world. Stay tuned!