From Coach 'Tricky Vicky'

The kids continue to amaze us everyday.  As a Grassroots Coach I feel so lucky to be a part of this trip.  Yesterday, two DC kids and two Soweto kids shared their coaches’ stories.  One of the kids discussed how she dealt with the death of a family member.  When it first happened, she did not talk about it, but through Grassroots and hearing other kids and athletes share their coaches’ stories, she realized that talking about grief, and being able to share her feelings with her support team allowed her to deal with her sadness.  Another student talked about how a family member with HIV died a couple of years ago, and only recently did her family tell her that he was HIV positive.  She spoke of the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, and how she wishes that everyone could have been accepting of her family member.   I am so amazed and proud that the kids are willing to open up and share their personal experiences.

This trip has allowed everyone to become amazingly close; we spend every waking hour together: playing soccer, visiting historical sites, and learning life skills and how to protect ourselves from getting HIV/AIDS.  What I love about Grassroots, is that despite all the grief, sadness, and tragedy surrounding this mature epidemic, we can bring so much life and energy to everything we do, whether that is learning about HIV/AIDS through fact nonsense, hearing about Edwin Cameron’s stories, or hearing how HIV/AIDS has affected friends and family.

My most memorable experience on the trip thus far was walking through the Hector Pieterson museum with Hopwell from Soweto, who has visited the museum many times before.   He knew more than I could ever imagine about the 1976  Soweto Student Protests and Soweto’s history during Apartheid.  He spoke of the violence and hatred committed against the residents of Soweto .  As we walked through the museum, he discussed how blacks were physically removed from their homes; meanwhile, a video depicted a bulldozer knocking down a home and reducing it to a pile of rubble.  We stopped at a picture of a man with blood dripping down his face; Hopwell told us how the man’s nose was slashed by a knife, and then he was shot with a bullet in the head. 

       
Later that day in an interview, Hopwell told us that before the exchange when he heard the word Americans the word “rich” jumped out at him.  He has realized, he spoke, that they have blood, and we have blood, and it is all the same.  When we visited Mandela’s house an hour later, he continued to stress Madiba’s rainbow nation.  I am so amazed that an 11 year old boy, who is aware of extreme violence and hatred committed against his community, understands that the only way to move forward is through reconciliation and forgiveness.  I can’t wait to see what the kids surprise us with today!  

-Victoria (aka Tricky Vicky)