It was early in the afternoon on a Saturday, and I was sitting with a bunch of our U18 players on a mini-bus that was chasing down the mini-bus that I was supposed to be on. The kids around me were giggling with joy and would even let out a boisterous laugh every time we passed another vehicle that was traveling ahead of us. I found myself in this position after I had spent the morning watching our girls scrimmage at their morning practice in Nyamirama, before sitting in on “My Voice My Power,” a youth gender equity workshop series led by our nonprofit partner, Paper Crown Rwanda (PCR). After an electric morning filled with empowerment, dancing and lots of learning, I was catching up with Clementine, who leads the sessions for PCR, just before I was meant to ride the bus back to Rwinkwavu with our players. I thought that I was keeping an eye on the buses, but after a quick jog down to the bottom of the driveway, I realized the one that I was meant to be on had already left. I told the other bus drivers that I would simply take public transport, but the one who was meant to be headed 40 minutes in the opposite direction was not satisfied with that answer. He insisted that we leave right away and catch the bus that had already been able to make pretty good headway on us. In about 10 minutes, we caught up to the bus in front of us and honked until it pulled over, and all of sudden, I was sitting on the right bus and enjoyed an easy ride back to the Shooting Touch house.
This experience pretty much sums up what the month of February felt like – in some moments, I thought that there was no way we could finish everything that we needed to do in the time allotted, but somehow someone (or everyone) would pull through and the result would be spectacular. In February, our Shooting Touch team accomplished a lot. We began our second unit of Adolescent Reproductive Health (ARH2) at five of our six courts, and there is much to be done before we start teaching a lesson. At the end of January, I ran a three-day long health clinic, where I covered all of our curriculum with the coaches, with the support of our Kayonza District Community Engagement Coordinator, Melissa. It was my first time teaching a group that large, but I personally thought it went really well, with our biggest issue being our coaches’ inquisitive nature sometimes taking us into much more detailed explanations than are needed for our curriculum. At the same time, Melissa and our Bugasera District Community Engangement Coordinator, Ingrid, were conducting focus groups with our Women and U18 Boys and Girls groups in order to gather more information on their experiences relating to our health education , including but not limited to questions about contraception, family planning, and menstruation. Melissa and Ingrid also mobilized field staff to conduct short surveys to reach even more of our players, and at the courts our coaches facilitated a ARH2 pre-test with our players. It has been such an amazing experience this month to see our players interested in learning more about reproductive health and our coaches doing an amazing job teaching!
After launching ARH2, I quickly began reviewing our next unit that will launch at the end of April, which focuses on HIV. Reviewing each curriculum provides me with the opportunity to research and learn more about these health issues and how they affect Rwanda specifically, so I really enjoyed reading through the curriculum and working with the team to update some of our lessons. At the same time, I have begun to process all of the data that we have collected, both at the start of ARH2 and from our previous unit. While I have been busy working on our health curriculums, the whole of Shooting Touch Rwanda has been busy planning our registration periods at all of our courts, as well as the two big community events that we have planned for March.
The first event was a Community Day in Bugesera, the District where our two newest courts are located. The coaches’ selected teams for each of the age groups and players from the two courts came together to compete against each other. We also mobilized the community in order to test adults 35+ for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and hypertension, and community members 15+ for hepatitis C. It was a hot and sunny day at our Rilima court, Shooting Touch’s new court built just last year, but the players, healthcare workers, and coaches (and Nate) all showcased their commitment, passion, and hard work in order to put on a super amazing event at the beginning of March. This also served as a practice run for Nate and I, as our International Women’s Day (IWD) event quickly approaches.
Our IWD event takes place in Nyamirama Sector, Kayonza District, and we bus in players from the three other Kayonza courts. In addition to the basketball tournament and health testing, we also lead a 5K March to the courts in the morning. This event is usually our largest community gathering, and March will surely be busy, with all hands on deck to make sure everything runs smoothly, and we can maximize our impact. In March, I will also have the opportunity to attend the African Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) and listen to Chloe speak about Shooting Touch as a speaker on one of the panels at the event.
On a personal note, this month I moved into my new house near our Mukarange court, which is central to all four of our locations in Kayonza District. I was without water for the first week, but luckily, I had the support of my landlord and some of the women that work in his house to make sure that I always had water on hand. Since getting water back, it has been smooth sailing, and I even have a hot-water heater, which is a luxury in the Provinces. Another personal highlight was when Sam treated me (since the Eagles beat the Niners) and Chantal, friend of Shooting Touch, and her three kids to lunch at “Jambo Beach” to celebrate the youngest’s birthday. Nate then treated us to a boat ride on nearby Lake Muhazi, and we got to witness Sam geek out over all of the birds that resided near the water. I could describe the day in more detail (including some very heavy rain fall), but life out here is pretty exhausting at times, and I’m tired. Until next time. XOXO.