From Rural Cambodia to the World Cup

Three Months On

2010-11-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been three months since the Cambodian team returned from South Africa. The team returned to their villages in time to work in the rice paddies with their families and the strong memories from South Africa started slipping away like sand through the hour glass.

Luckily, we had our first rendezvous three weeks after returning. The team reunited in Battambang, sans Vrak who's family had moved to Southeastern Cambodia following his father's serious stroke. Vrak had to stay with his father to help take care of him as he is semi-paralyzed.

The first order of business was sharing photos from the trip. Each player had a scrap book they made from photos during the six months of training. We printed out hundreds of pictures from the trip, laid them out on the table and the team went nuts oohing, ahhing, giggling and nudging each other as they relived their incredible journey to South Africa. One of the memories which gets the most laughter is the photo of Linda and her crush, Johann, the German blondie. Another team favorite is Sengvy with a player from Brazil and a player from South Africa who could be his brothers.

After scrapbooking and reliving highlights of the festival, the Football For Hope team played a match against the the Spirit of Soccer coaches. The experience playing together as a team and the fitness level of the FFH team was no match for the Spirit of Soccer coaches. The FFH team won 5-1. After a team dinner with the entire SOS family, everyone gathered to watch a slide show of the trip to South Africa, put to the team's favorite songs - Shakira's Waka Waka & Kanye West's Wave Your Flag, the World Cup anthems which we heard hundreds of times during the Festival. After the slideshow, the team did a question and answer with the SOS coaches, giving everyone a chance to hear more about the journey. With questions such as "What was it like to be in an airplane" to "How was the food in South Africa" to "Why do you think the organizers put on the Festival", it gave the SOS coaches a better understanding of the trip and it helped the team realize all they had done in South Africa and what a unique opportunity they had been given.

We asked the team what they would like to do with their experiences from the trip and how could we build on the experience. Collectively, the team said they would like to come together once a month in Battambang to continue learning English, begin to learn computer skills (especially facebook as they had seen all the other teams on facebook in the game room) and begin to learn coaching skills. Done. We committed to meeting every four to five weeks with the team to ensure the Festival experience would continue to have a positive impact on the team's lives.

At the second session post-South Africa, we prepared a presentation for the team to follow the slide show, which included prepared questions and answers. The idea was to help the team with their public speaking and leadership skills to enable them to share their experiences with other children in Cambodia. After practicing the presentation several times, the team had a coaching clinic with Coach Heang and Coach Kamsort.

The next day, we took the show on the road. The team did a presentation to a crowd of 75 kids at a local orphanage, who watched the slide show in wonder. They couldn't believe kids just like them went on an airplane and played football in an international tournament. The question and answer sessions was a huge success with the FFH team proudly sharing their experiences and the kids from the orphanage excited to ask specific questions about the trip. A football clinic followed the presentation, with the FFH team assisting the SOS coaches. The FFH team took their role as coaches very seriously and they were amazing with the kids. The kids mobbed the team at the end of the session begging for photos with the superstars, giving high fives and asking more questions about South Africa. The day could not have been any more successful for all parties involved.

We had found our way to help the FFH team grow into leaders and to share their experience with other disadvantaged kids in Cambodia. The team has done three presentations thus far and they are becoming more and more comfortable speaking in front of a group. They are more confident and now realize the importance of them giving back to their communities. Each of the team members is now coaching kids in their communities with their new-found coaching skills and confidence.

Homeward Bound

2010-07-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

After many tearful goodbyes to all our new friends from around the planet, Spirit of Soccer Cambodia headed to the Jo'Burg airport with 45 bags, including ten new/used laptops from the Football For Hope Organizers, and one big metal case with our Fair Play Trophy. Check-in was a bit of a nightmare and through smiles, gifts and pleading, we did not have to pay any extra baggage fees. Thank you Malaysia Airlines.

Despite the elation from winning the Fair Play Award and numerous crushes on other players (especially Johann the German blondie), the team was more than ready to get back to Cambodia, the Kingdom of Wonder. They desperately missed rice, pra-hok (fermented fish paste which is put in most dishes and totally nasty) and warm weather, not to mention family and familiar faces.

The trip home was no easy task - a ten hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, a three hour layover in KL, a two hour flight to Phnom Penh, a four hour drive to Battambang and then anywhere from two to five hours by dirt road to get back to the teams' individual villages. Couple the long journey with the fact that most of the team had finally succumbed to the flu which was going around the Team Village, it was going to be a long, painful journey home. Luckily for us, complaining is not part of the Cambodian make up and as we anxiously checked their foreheads and asked the team how they felt, they kept saying they were fine.

A few nights prior to departure, Vanneath woke up with a high fever and we took him to the Village medical center. He told us his mother always gives him malaria medicine when he has a fever and he was certain that was what he had. Poor little guy didn't realize there are no mosquitoes in South Africa in winter and that he had the flu because he had never had it before. The temperature got down to freezing every night during the Festival, but often was as warm as the 60s by day and none of the buildings had heat or insulation, so it wasn't surprising that the flu swept through the delegations.

After a little last minute shopping in the Jo'Burg Airport, we gave the team advil and cold medicine and loaded them up for the long flight to KL. The excitement of being on the plane tided them over to the meal service and then they all cashed out for most of the flight. Cambodians can sleep anywhere, at any point, especially if they're in a moving vehicle. After snoozing through the three hour layover as well, the team was bouncing up and down in their seats the entire way to Phnom Penh. They were especially excited to see so many Asians on the plane and not so many Barangs (Cambodian word for white foreginer, which actually means French).

Customs and baggage claim was a breeze at the tiny Phnom Penh airport, and the Spirit of Soccer crew was out front to welcome us home. The team and all their bags were quickly loaded into the two Land Cruisers for the drive to Battambang. We waved goodbye to our team with tears in our eyes, looking forward to our next rendezvous in a few weeks.

What a incredible experience it has been for all. We have so many people to thank for making it possible. First and foremost, Scotty Lee, Founder of Spirit of Soccer for creating this incredible organization. A huge thanks is owed to the Football for Hope Team, which includes Streetfootballworld, FIFA, the South African Local Organizing Committee and the City of Johannesburg. A big Al'kun Cheran to the Cambodian Football Federation and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport for their support. Thank you Spirit of Soccer employees for your help and willingness to do what it took to get this team to South Africa, especially Sokhorn who worked all the magic behind the scenes. We can't forget our friends Britt, Casey and Laura at adidas and Agron who helped outfit the kids and the US Embassy who helped us receive the product. Of course none of this would have been possible without our donors, especially the United States Government & PMWRW and the Laureus Sports Foundation. There are dozens more who have helped us and we owe you all a huge thank you for helping change all of our lives for the better.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who is the Fairest of Them All?

2010-07-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.streetfootballworld.org/news-center/newsfolder/football-for-hope-festival-2010-ends-on-a-high-note

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1271673/index.html

After six days of Festival activities and six days of playing soccer, the Spirit of Soccer Cambodian Team had met just about every player, coach, delegation leader, Festival organizer, dining hall worker, security guard and volunteer involved with the Football for Hope Festival. All of these new friends were taught the Cambodian prayer and bow and some of them were able to say hello and thank you in Khmer. Every time someone passed the Cambodian team, they would bow and smile with the newly learned custom. The Cambodian team was diligent in their pursuit of “hello” in as many languages as possible and it was adorable to watch them interact with the other teams and write down all their newly learned words.

The dining hall staff repeatedly told us how well-behaved and polite the team was and what a pleasure it was to have them in the Festival. On a couple nights, Channou, one of the team social butterflies, decided to hop behind the food line and help serve rice. Despite not being able to speak more than ten words of English, Channou was able to ask players from nearly 40 countries if they wanted one or two scoops of rice.

On the field, the team continued to be the epitome of fair play, despite continuing to tie or lose most games. The other teams enjoyed playing with the Cambodians. As the tournament progressed and games got more serious, we continued to remind the team that Fair Play was more important than winning and winning without Fair Play wasn’t why we were here.

The last day of the tournament consisted of the quarter finals, semi-finals and finals for both the Alex Cup and the Festival for Hope Cup, however the Cambodian team did not qualify for the advanced matches. The team was sad to be finished playing and wished their record had been better in the matches. After watching two gifted, strong African teams win their respective final matches, all the teams were called to the pitch for the final ceremony. The winners of the two tournaments were given their trophies and the coveted Fair Play Award was saved for last.

For the two competitive awards, Alex Cup and Football For Hope Cup, the reception from the teams and the crowd was lukewarm, anti-climactic.

But the mood completely changed when Spirit of Soccer Cambodia was called as the winner of the Fair Play Award, an award voted on by the 32 delegations. The applause was deafening and over 3,000 people were on their feet clapping and cheering for the team. The team jumped for joy, hugged, smiled and went up to receive the trophy from the FIFA and Streetfootballworld Directors. Our emotions were on high and the tears were flowing as we accompanied the team to receive the award. As we were congratulated by the Festival organizers and other delegation leaders and coaches, they were all wiping away tears while hugging and congratulating us on the award. According to the Steetfootballworld website, "The beloved Cambodian delegation was voted by its peers as most deserving of the Fair Play Award". It was a definite career high for us to be part of this amazing process.

After seven months of hard work, dedication, determination and love, this award made it all worthwhile and filled our hearts with joy. We couldn't be more proud of the team and the coaches. They truly were the darlings of the Festival and left a lasting impression on all who they met.

Play On

2010-07-10T02:12:00.000-07:00

Bringing together teams of varying abilities, cultural differences and team ethos and expecting them to self-regulate their games is a risky proposition. The idea behind the “Fair Play” model at the Football for Hope Festival is that there are no referees, only mediators, called young leaders, monitoring the games. It is up to the teams to call fouls, out of bounds, free kicks and so on. The teams agree to particular rules prior to each game in a pre-match meeting and then discuss the game in a post-match meeting where each team decides whether to award the opposing team one Fair Play point or not, which gets added to the three points for a win, one point for a tie or no points for a loss for overall scoring. At the end of the tournament, a fair play trophy is awarded to the team with the most Fair Play points, which also includes a separate vote from each team on the "Fairest" team at the event.

Throughout the six plus months of training with the Cambodian team, a great deal of emphasis was placed on Fair Play and how it is more important than winning the tournament. Our goal going into the tournament was to win the Fair Play award. To ensure Fair Play was part of the Cambodian play, the model was utilized in all training, practice games and was emphasized repeatedly by the coaches. In the spirit of Fair Play, prior to each game, one of the Cambodian players gives the captain of the opposing team a Cambodian krama, the traditional scarf worn by all Cambodians.

From the first day, it was clear many of the teams came to win the tournament and not much thought or instruction had been given to the Fair Play aspect of the tournament. Fair Play means no slide tackles, no arm grabs, pushes, etc. After the first few days, many players were injured due to over exuberant play and all delegation leaders were implored to ensure their teams followed the Fair Play rules. Team Cambodia may have taken Fair Play a little too far as they bowed and prayed to opposing teams after being fouled. All games played by Team Cambodia were extremely fair, perhaps the gentle Cambdians bring out the best in other teams.

As expected, Team Cambodia had a tough time playing against the bigger teams and did not win many games. The team played well, especially the goalkeeper as they got hammered with shots. It was hard to explain to the team they could lose a game and still play well. The girls cried after most games, which broke our hearts. It was emphasized that we didn't care how the games went, we were here for the experience. During the last day of play, Team Cambodia fell apart, literally. Vith, our star defender and sometime striker, sprained his ankle during the second to last game and had to be carried off the field. In the last game, two other players had to be carried off the field and we were down to no subs. The team held their own, but lost two tough matches.

During the down time at the stadium, teams were able to watch other teams play and interact with the local crowd. Literally thousands of Alex Township kids came to the fields everyday to watch these international teams play. The local kids loved the teams and followed them everywhere, mugging for cameras, mooching candy and giving high fives. In the crowd, they cheered for teams with vuvuzelas blaring. The atmosphere was like the World Cup. The tournament has been an incredible experience for Team Cambodia and they have played very well. We're keeping our fingers crossed about the Fair Play trophy.

Let the Games Begin!

2010-07-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

After a successful first week of Festival activites, it is now time for week two - the Football for Hope Tournament. With the acclimatizion to the winter climate nearly complete, the jet lag licked and the cultural barriers overcome, the teams are ready to play ball. The 32 teams are divided into four groups of eight. Each team will play every team in the their bracket and then the top four from each bracket move onto the Festival for Hope Cup and the bottom four from each bracket move on to the Alexandra Cup. We were pretty certain going into day one that the Cambodian team would be competing in the Alexandra Cup; they just can't compete against the size and experience of the African and South American teams.

Opening day began with excitement at the team village as 32 teams, kitted out in their new, specially designed adidas team uniforms and warm up suits, loaded up on cereal and eggs for the big day. The teams were bussed to Alexandra Township, the site of the Football for Hope brand new stadium, which seats 2500. Alexandra Township is one of the poorest townships in South Africa and is rife with HIV/Aids.

As the teams unloaded from the buses, about a mile from the stadium, they were met wtih drummers, singers, dancers and hundreds of curious township residents. The Cambodian team was overwhelmed by the scene while disembarking from the bus, but they quickly got into the action by joining the masses of kids clapping and dancing with the the local dance troupe. The teams marched to the stadium, carrying team signs and country flags, while spectators lined the streets clapping, blowing vuvuzelas and giving high fives. The excitement in the air was electric and it was as if the World Cup teams had just arrived.

Each team marched into the packed stadium as their name was called, waving to the adoring fans, with the proceedings being shown on the jumbotron simultaneously. FIFA President Sepp Blatter and South African President Jacob Zuma were in attendance and both dignitaries welcomed the teams with uplifting speeches about the power of soccer for social good. The opening ceremonies also included dancers and soccer jugglers/break dancers. The experience of being treated like international soccer stars is something all of the teams will never forget. The Cambodian team was excited, proud and thrilled to be part of the ceremony. Their beaming faces made all the challenges to get them to South Africa melt away.

The facilities include the main field with stands on three sides and the jumbotron on the fourth, a smaller field, pitch 2, several courts, a skate park and an interactive area for soccer games. The Cambodian team had their first game on pitch 2 later in the afternoon against Team Brazil. All games are played under the "FIFA Fair Play" guidelines whereby there are no referees, players call all fouls and teams determine rules in a group discussion with the other team prior to each game.

Team Brazil, need we say more? The smallest Brazilian player, girl or boy, was a good head above the tallest Cambodian player (See example picture to the Left). Let's not forget that soccer and Brazil go hand in hand like rice and beans or fish and chips or burgers and fries. They are born with the ability to play soccer and can probably dribble a ball before they can even walk. Despite being intimidated by the Brazilians, the Cambodian team was excited to play the first game and relieved it was on the smaller pitch 2, without the 2500 screaming and vuvuzela booming fans. To get pysched up for the game, the captain,Sengvy, gave each player a handful of Cambodian soil he carried from his village. They rubbed the dirt in their hands and hair while chanting "Kampuchea".

Team Cambodia held their own against a tough Brazilian team and lost 2-0 in game which could have been 2-1. Both teams were the epitome of Fair Play, and they hugged and laughed while leaving the pitch. We ended the incredible day with pride and are excited for the rest of the tournament!

A Day in the Life

2010-07-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

Managing 400 plus people requires a great deal of organization and flexibility. Throw in over a dozen languages, multiple cultures, a wide age range and you have chaos in the making. The Festival For Hope team is a well-oiled machine who has thought of just about everything and if they haven't, they are ready to make necessary changes to ensure problems and issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently.

The 32 delegations (eight players and three to four adults) are divided into four groups for all activities and two groups eat meals together, an early shift and a late shift. The first week of the Festival is comprised of workshops, clinics, field trips and cultural exchanges. The day begins early in the residence halls with excited jet-lagged teenagers laughing, chattering and running around the hallways to the dismay of us older folk. It was beginning so early that a rule had to be instituted that players had to stay in their rooms until 7:00 AM. The residence hall is divided up by sex on each floor and each room has four people crammed together in a ten by fifteen space with two bunkbeds and a cupboard for two people to share. It is about half the size of my college dorm room with twice as many people. Thankfully, tight quarters are nothing new to the Cambodians and our four girls and four boys each share a room.

Meals are taken in a dining hall where noise levels at times can reach dangerous levels. The kitchen crew has the unenviable task of trying to please the palates of the world. Not enough rice say the Asians, not enough starchy food say the Africans, too much meat say the Indians and more Kosher food say the Israelis. If these delegations can be satisfied, world peace may be possible.

After breakfast, groups are broken into their activities groups which rotate between a Johannesburg tour, an Alexandra Township tour, an HIV/Aids interactive workshop and a soccer clinic. The coaches and delegation leaders also have activities to increase networking with other organizations and share ideas and information. Each group has a dedicated volunteer to help navigate the daily schedule and answer questions. Volunteers have come from around the world to specifically work at this event and most groups have volunteers who speak their team's language. Unfortunately, the Cambodian delegation does not have a Khmer speaker, but foturnately our American volunteer, Amanda, loves the team and has been a big help.

In between meals and activities, players vie for space on seven computers, play foosball, pool, pingpong, playstation and just hang out. There is programming well into the evenings, be it watching World Cup matches, cultural performances by each team or attending World Cup matches.

Thus far, the Cambodian team has toured former apartheid prisons of Johannesburg, which they likened to the Khmer Rouge, seen the South African Capitol Building, been on the pitch of the Pretoria Stadium, seen the Spain v. Paraguay match @ Ellis Park (where SA won the Rugby World Cup) and visited a lion and rhino park. Not too shabby for a group of kids from rural Cambodia. Despite the cold and lack of Cambodian fish and rice, they are loving the experience and thriving in the new environment.

Traveling with 200 to 400 people is a game of hurry up and wait. Get to the buses, wait for everyone else to get to the buses, wait on the buses, finally leave on the buses. However, the delegations have a police escort for each excursion, so once we are on the road, we are cooking. At least three speedy police VW's accompany each of the World Cup buses, usually one in the front, one in the back and one on the side boxing out interferring cars, with sirens blaring. When there are multiple buses involved, you can imagine it is quite an impressive motorcade. Pedestrians wave as we speed past assuming we are a World Cup team zipping off to a practice or a game. Well, we are....kinda.

After another long, eventful day in South Africa, we are exhausted and ready for bed!

Talk About a Melting Pot

2010-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Teams trickled in all day on Monday from every corner of the planet – 32 teams representing 50 countries and nearly as many languages. Each team works with disadvantaged youth using soccer for social development. These organizations tackle a host of pressing issues in societies around the world, including HIV/AIDS, gang violence, teenage pregnancy, poverty, conflict resolutiong, hunger, the plight of refugees and homelessness among others.

They came in all shapes, sizes and colors. Africa, for obvious reasons, is heavily represented at the Festival with teams from South Africa, Zambia, Lesotho, Uganda, Kenya, Senegal, Mali and Nigeria. South America has the next strongest contingency with Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Columbia in attendance.

Arguably the most interesting delegation is the team representing Palestine and Israel – the Peres Center for Peace. This group uses sport to bring Palestinian and Israeli kids together while promoting peace and tolerance in both countries. What amazing and challenging work they are doing!

As each group arrived at the Village, typically kitted out in team warm-ups, they were assessed by the teams already in attendance. The Cambodian team gazed out the window of the game room with a bird’s eye view and instantly commented on the size of each arriving team. They soon learned that Africans, South Americans, Europeans and Americans are big, or tom tom, as they say in Khmer. Just as the team was beginning to panic, the Indian delegation arrived and they are possibly even smaller than the Cambodians. Thank you Asia and the rice diet!

The Team Village had reached a fever pitch by dinner on Monday night. Teams eat together, after lining up, in a dining hall. All of the teams had arrived and it was complete mayhem. Excited chatter in countless languages was uttered around the campus and everyone was checking out everyone else. While teams were a bit shy, they were slowly warming up to each other and meeting over the game room activities. The African teams were the most fun, as most of them chanted, sang and entertained the other groups.

The Cambodian team was in awe of the other groups and grew increasingly more timid as more teams arrived. They finally fully realized Khmer, the Cambodian language, is not universal nor is it an important language in the world like English, French or Spanish. After sitting through the opening ceremony, completed wholly in English, the Cambodian team seemed a bit dejected and confused. We quickly came up with a plan to help them interact with other teams. We instituted a contest in which they have to learn hello in as many different languages as possible with a prize to the person who learns the most. Instantly, the team set off on the new mission and with difficulty, they began learning hello in a dozen languages. Barriers were being broken down one hello at a time.

Game Room Rock Stars

2010-06-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

The Cambodian team was the first team to arrive at the Football for Hope Team Village. All 32 teams competing in the festival are staying in a school complex which has dormitories, a dining hall, numerous fields and a main hall; it is like a mini-college campus, minus the beer and frat parties, surrounded with barbed wire, security guards and police patrol in central Johannesburg. The Football for Hope Festival team was on-hand to welcome us with open arms, big smiles and giant gear bags of adidas swag. Apparently, the Cambodian team has become both famous and infamous with the Festival organizers due to our many logistical issues and from following this blog.

As the team bowed and thanked every single person they met, without making a peep, they were instantly dubbed the most polite team, but possibly the shyest. The organizers were as concerned as we were about how the team would deal with the frigid temperatures, the food, the language barrier and the culture shock. After checking into our rooms and getting the campus tour, the team hit the game room. There are three game rooms at the Team Village and the Cambodian’s took over the nearest one, which is equipped with a foosball table, a pool table, computers, a TV and 20 soccer ball bean bag chairs – kid heaven!

Cambodians are good at pool and our team is no exception. Although the team had never seen foosball before, they took to the game like a fish to water. Within minutes, the group had split into two and was taking on the volunteers and security guards in both games as no other teams were around. There were many heavily accented, “Hello, I come from Cambodia. My name is _________.” We had practiced this phrase endlessly over the past seven months and this was pretty much all they had learned in our English lessons. This effort, their smiles and their ability in the game room won over the volunteers and security guards from the get go.

During the first breakfast in the dining hall, the organizing team and the kitchen staff, who had all been briefed on our team’s finicky eating habits, came over to make sure the team was able to eat the muesli and yogurt provided. The team was so polite and filled with smiles that they endeared themselves to the event and kitchen staff. Nice to get a little special treatment and it certainly didn’t hurt being the only delegation at the Team Village the entire first day.

Coach Heang and coach Kamsort joined forces with our new Kenyan friend, Henry, in the team’s first training session in South Africa. Henry is the delegation leader from the Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) in Nairobi. Mathare is one of the largest slums in the world and has almost one million residents. MYSA has been running soccer leagues for 24 years and is a world famous organization. Henry is a product of the program and is now one of its most respected employees. As Henry’s team hadn’t arrived yet, he offered his wealth of coaching experience to our team. Henry is about 6’3” and very dark skinned. The team was intimidated by Henry due to his size and color. After an hour and a half under Henry’s wing, the team was just beginning to feel comfortable around people of African descent.

The practice was hard due to the 24 plus hours of travel, elevation, cold weather and the time difference. The team couldn’t believe they didn’t break a sweat during the training and prior to the start of the session, we had to send them upstairs to put on more clothes. It was about 65 degrees, just like a crisp, sunny Fall day.

While returning from practice, a group of forty odd African volunteers were making their way toward the Cambodian team. The team stepped back in fear at such a large group of dark-skinned people until the group started singing and dancing African style. The team was transfixed by the captivating music and the joy emanating from the volunteers. Before you knew it, the Cambodians were clapping their hands to the beat. This first taste of African dance and music helped the team break down more of their cultural barriers and it was good for the normally reticent Asians to loosen up around the lively Africans.

As teams began trickling in the second day, the Cambodian team kept position in the game room, meeting the other teams through the language of games and laughter. Although they couldn’t verbally communicate with the new arrivals, the Cambodians welcomed each new group with games of pool and foosball. Since they were the old hands at the Team Village, they had the run of the tables all day.

It has been a great start of the Football for Hope Festival and the Cambodian team is charming all who they come across. Stay tuned for more updates.

Up, up and away

2010-06-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

Friday the 25th, the day before departing for the long journey to South Africa, began @ 6:45 am with the team, the coaches and the Regional Ministry of Education Director arriving at our house one and a half hours early to go to the doctor's office for the final vaccinations (Rabies #3 and Polio). Where else in the world does a culture arrive early and with absolutely no notice of the early arrival? Needless to say, it was going to be a long day and an even longer journey to Johannesburg.

The day before departure was action packed - final packing, vaccinations, a visit to the National Museum and Palace, lunch with the Cambodian Football Federation, traditional Khmai flower ceremony with "His Excellency" the Minister of Education (and six other "Excellencies") and dinner with the parents who were arriving in Phnom Penh in the afternoon. The ceremony with His Excellency lasted almost three hours and included many speeches, meat pies, flowers and countless bowing. Cambodians love a good ceremony and a chance to give a long-winded speech.

The team, outfitted in their new adidas tracksuits and first pair of closed-toe shoes ever, got to the airport three hours early for the flight to ensure all eleven people and 22 bags got checked through from Phnom Penh to Kuala Lumpur to Johannesburg. The parents, who had come down to Phnom Penh to see the team off, traveled to the airport in the back of a Hilux pick- up, fourteen people crammed together Cambo-style. Good thing Cambodians, even adults, are small!

Tragedy was narrowly averted as the Malaysia Airline Agents initially refused to check-in the team without the South African Visas. Luckily, the Malaysia Airlines Manager arrived, grabbed the Accreditation Letters and escorted the team through check-in. Even with the special treatement, it still took 2.5 hours to make it through check-in.

The first of many technological obstacles occurred in the Phnom Penh Airport. (Sidenote: during the many months of training, we emphasized the importance of hand washing after using the bathroom.) Heang (team coach) came to me with an apparent 'bathroom crisis'. Heang asked me to assist him in the bathroom ASAP. Turns out the boys were all standing around the Men's bathroom sink perplexed, soapy hands out because they could not figure out how the sinks worked. It was a motion-censored faucet. I reached down and passed my hand across the sensor.....water...Gestalt! The second mini-obstacle occurred when the team needed assistance on how to use the water fountain.

The flight to Kuala Lumpur was quite an experience for the first time flyers. Each movement of the plane led to excited "oohs", "ahs" and "eeks" and squeals of delight. The team loved the Malaysian food and thought the seats were big and comfortable. Again, good thing Cambodians are petit.

The Kuala Lumpur airport is a beautiful, modern airport with lots of moving sidewalks and escalators and filled with expensive stores like Harrod's, Louis Vitton and Hugo Boss. It was other-worldly for a bunch of kids from rural Cambodia. The team spent the ten hour layover truly getting to know the KL airport; they visited the airport rainforest, rode every inch of the escalators and moving sidewalks, ran up and down the staircases, cruised the duty-free shops, watched World Cup matches on TV while lounging on giant cushy coaches, slept in huddles and gazed in wonderment at the mases of beautiful people.

Finally, at 1:00 AM, it was time to board the ten hour flight to Johannesburg. It was hard to believe we were almost in South Africa after over seven months of preparation. The team loved being plied with food and drink, but ten hours on a plane is agonizing for a teenager, especially ones who can't really watch the movies in English. Luckily, most of the team slept at least half of the flight.

Since the team is considered an official delegation of the World Cup, we were able to pass through a special customs line for those with WC Accreditation. It was smooth and easy. The Football for Hope team, George and Luciano, were patiently waiting to meet us inside the baggage claim area. We made it! South Africa greeted the team with smiles and arctic breezes. The bleary-eyed Cambodians huddled together to stay warm while waiting for the team van. The first question asked while traveling on the highway to the Team Village was, "Why aren't there any motorcycles on the road?"

It is going to be an incredible two weeks for the team. We'll send updates every few days on their progress. For now, they will play - rest - play - rest - play - rest ......

Final Preparations

2010-06-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

It is just days before the Cambodian Football for Hope team boards the plane for South Africa. The final preparations have been fast and furious.

First and foremost is ensuring all things transportation related are ready, set, go. This included a trip to Malaysia Airlines to confirm tickets and discuss "Accreditation Letters" in lieu of Visas. Tickets confirmed, seats assigned, no problem. Substituting Accreditation Letters for Visas, a bit more difficult. As the Football for Hope Festival is an official event of the World Cup, all delegations are given Accreditation Letters, just like the World Cup teams, which allow the delegates to enter the country without a Visa and bypass 'normal' passport control. Airlines don't typically allow passengers on board a flight without checking if the individual has a proper visa to enter the destination country because the airline is responible for returning the passenger to the place of departure if they are denied entry into the country.

Cambodians cannot enter South Africa without a Visa, which must be obtained in advance. We were concerned the airline wouldn't allow the team to board the flight with only our Accrediation Letters from FIFA and no Visas in the teams' passports. After all the hassles during the reservation and purchasing of the tickets, we thought we were in for a battle over this one. However, after a quick explanation to the ticketing agent and a phone conversation with the Malaysia Air Country Manager at the airport, we were in business. The Manager is going to walk the team through the ticketing process and through customs, which is a big relief. There has been concern the custom agents are not going to allow eight Cambodian minors out of the country with two Cambodian adults and one foreigner despite the permission letters from the parents and the Ministry of Education. Trafficking is a huge problem in Cambodia, as previously mentioned, and anything can happen at the airport when traveling with Cambodian minors sans parents.

The Final Training weekend was filled with, well, final preparations. One weekend highlight was making scrapbooks. We printed out hundreds of photos from the six months of training and gave each team member scrap books, glue, stickers and markers and let them go to town. One interesting observation was the girls looked through stacks of photos, picked out the ones they wanted, put them in a pile and went to work. The boys, on the other hand, found a photo they liked, typically of themselves, glued it in the their book and then looked around for another picture they could use. The team had a blast reliving the past six months with the photos while they creatively put together their own story.

Other prepartions: packing lists, travel logistics, World Cup update, cultural norms, shoe shopping and grocery shopping. We wanted the team to be aware of the way things are done in different countries and to know that what may be considered okay in Cambodia, may not be considered polite in other countries. This list included chewing with your mouth open making loud noises, as is common in Cambodia, spitting in public, and squatting on top of sit down toilet seats, rather than sitting down.

At the top of the packing list was SHOES, and we soon learned the team members don't own closed-toe shoes, only flip flops and other sandals. Off we went to the local sports store and what a sight it was with eight teenagers excitedly rifling through the entire inventory. Shoes were everywhere! Surprisingly, it took the boys at least twice as long as the girls to pick out their shoes. Fashion is so important to these rural village kids, which continues to amaze us.

The weekend included another introduction to western food and this time we went Italian. Spaghetti was fairly well received, especially when copious amounts of ketchup was added. The team learned forks, not spoons as used in Cambodia, are the utensil of choice in most countries. The weekend was rounded out with the purchase of Battambang rice - Cambodians can actually the tell the difference in rice from different parts of country - ramen noodles and dried beef. We have one dedicated food bag, complete with rice maker, to ensure the team eats while in South Africa. As previously mentioned, Cambodians do not like food from outside the country and are known to basically go on a hunger strike while traveling.

Next up, making sure the team has all their gear. During the final training weekend, we loaded the team up with travel gear, but the piece that puts it all together, the travel bags, had not yet arrived from the US, yet another donation from old friends at adidas. (Thanks Laura, Britt, Casey and Rocky!) The bags needed to get from Phnom Penh to Battambang, four hours away. There isn't UPS or Fed Ex to get these bags around Cambodia, so we had to settle for putting them on the bus and trust they would get to the Spirit of Soccer Battambang office upon arrival. With two packages filled with travel bags and packed with duct tape, in hopes of ensuring against theft, we took the boxes to the bus station. Cambodians travel with an incredible amount of 'stuff', which can be anything from produce to electronic items to live animals, and the packaging comes in all shapes and sizes. Our one dilapidated box and one giant 'Asian' bag fit in perfectly. With the payment of 16,000 riel, almost $4, and several safety assurances, we waved goodbye to the packages, hoping they have a nice journey and actually make it to Battambang. They did.

The bags are almost packed and we're about the leave on a jet plane, but we will be back again. Next update will be from South Africa. Wish us a bon voyage!

Goodbye Tropics, hello winter

2010-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the final training for the Football for Hope Festival. It's hard to believe it is almost time to go to South Africa after six plus months of preparation!

One ongoing concern is the weather in South Africa. The World Cup is in June and July and World Cup attendees typically can root for their favorite team in shorts and team jerseys. Not so in South Africa as it is winter in the southern hemisphere. Yesterday, the high in Johannesburg, elevation 5,751 feet, was 66 and the low was 44. If you've seen any World Cup matches, you'll have seen the fans bundled up in scarves, hats and jackets. It is hard to imagine that cold weather exists while living in sweltering Cambodia and it's even harder to find cold weather appropriate garb.

We've been trying to explain to the team and coaches how cold it will be and tried to find analogies to give them some idea of what to expect. "It's as cold as the inside of your refrigerator" - Oh, wait, the team lives in villages without electricity and don't have fridges. It's colder than you can imagine - okay, the coldest they've ever experienced is about 70 degrees once or twice at night. We've given up on descriptions and are just focusing on finding gear to keep them warm.

Imagine shopping when it is 90 plus degrees outside and five to ten degrees warmer inside the market. Navigating the maze known as the "Russian Market" in search of winter clothes can be considered hazardous to your health. Sweat dripping, sideswiping the ever present book and postcard vendors and maneuvering through the stalls of bootleg cd's, silk scarves and Cambodian trinkets, we haggled over the prices of hoodies, scarves and turtlenecks, uncertain how the team would feel about our fashion choices.

Upon leaving the market, arms laden with bags and looking like your typical hot, sweaty tourist, we looked like paydirt for the tuk tuk and moto taxi drivers. They chuckled after hearing our "mian lan howie" (have car already) and left us to load up the land cruiser and head to the Japanese Thrift Store.

The Japanese Thrift Store has been an exciting addition to the shopping scene in Phnom Penh and is THE destination for costume parties. Think Goodwill in a sauna. Certainly not our ideal destination to shop for wool sweaters and winter coats, but it is the only spot that could have what we need in Cambodia for the right price. Although indoors and out of the burning sun, it seemed hotter than outside in the direct sunlight. We searched rack after rack of jackets and sweaters feeling and looking as if we were at mile ten in a marathon. Where was the water station and orange slices when you need it? We hit the jackpot with five winter coats, very cute thanks to the Japanese fashion mavens, six scarves and eight wool sweaters all for the crippling price of $11!!

While the gear pile was mounting, we were still concerned the tiny, thin Cambodians would not be ready to face both the elevation and the cold weather. We needed long underwear to round out the ensemble, but it is not a hot ticket item in Cambodia. As we were traveling to Bangkok for medical check-ups (sidenote: the state of medical facilities in Cambodia is not good, so most foreigners go to Bangkok for check-ups and other medical needs), we decided to dedicate part of the trip to searching for long underwear. After some research on the subject, we hit several markets in search of the elusive southeast Asian long underwear. We spotted and bagged the long underwear at the Pratunam Center, one of Bangkok's old school markets, somewhat grungy and very different from Bangkok's new uber-modern shopping malls. While out shopping, we saw some of the effects of the two month-long protests, including the burned down Central World Mall. It was a pretty shocking sight to see and a big F.U. to capitalism and the elite.

During the final weekend training session, it was Christmas in Cambodia. The team members were given their new tracksuits and turf shoes, donated by friends at adidas America. This is the first time the team members have ever had legitmate soccer shoes and soccer clothing; the rest of the time it is bootleg product from the local market. The team also tried on the various and sundry warm weather items to much hilarity and sweating. The girls especially liked the trendy Japanese winter coats, despite almost having heat stroke while trying them on. The Cambodian delegation may be the best dressed team in South Africa thanks to the Russian Market, the Japanese Thrift Store and our friends at adidas America.

Dance Fever

2010-05-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

Each delegation to the Festival for Hope 2010 is supposed to put on a performance for the other delegations which is representative of their country and culture. There are 32 delegations, each with eight players and two coaches, thus 300 plus people as the audience. Plus, African dance, enough said. It was time to take this performance seriously.

In our experience, soccer players aren't often known for their dance or musical skills, except maybe Alexi Lalas. We needed to bring in the experts so the Cambodian squad wouldn't totally embarrass themselves or the Khmer culture. We went to the Phare Ponleu Selpak, a widely-respected arts NGO in Battambang who got its start using art to help children in refugee camps on the Thai border to overcome the trauma of war. After a discussion of the performance options, we chose a simple traditional Khmer dance, the Plowing Dance, or so we thought.

Session One - the team, fully kitted out in their bumble bee uniforms (see photos for futher explanation), as soccer practice was to follow the dance lesson, descended on the NGO complex, which trains and houses hundreds of children, holds a weekly circus and other performances. The team did not seem especially enthusiastic about dance class, but as obedient Cambodian youth, they quickly set to work helping the dance instructor ready the stage for class - hauling speakers, chairs and props into position.

The class began with some simple warm-up exercises where it was quickly apparent the dance instructor was the most flexible man on earth while the team could hardly touch their collective toes. In yoga classes, you are told to spread your toes and try to work each toe like it is a finger, something most westerners are incapable of doing. The dance instructor's toes are more flexible and nimble than my fingers and he could easily play the piano with them. Another early observation was the overall lack of rhythm by the majority of the team.

The Plowing Dance depicts the rice harvesting process, which, as you can imagine, is very important to Cambodian culture. It is set to a beautiful, haunting song and the male part is much more difficult than the female part, requiring two bamboo poles as props, which must be maneuvered and pounded on the ground in a graceful fashion to the beat of the music. Our boys gave it the old college try, but it was easy to see the instructor's frustration due to the lack of ability from the team. The girls weren't much better, but luckily, a dance pixie, in the form of a ten year old resident, who was watching in disgust from the side lines, took the girls under her wing and taught them their part with grace and patience. The session ended with some progress having been made, but with the understanding that a lot more work was needed.

Session two - practice began with a costume viewing, with Vaneath as the guinea pig. After he was swaddled in yards of Khmer cloth, similiar to a baby's diaper, we decided we might find our own more comfortable and dignified costumes at the local market. Surprisingly, the team seemed to have retained some muscle-memory of the dance and actually seemed to enjoy it, unlike the scowling faces from the first practice. Mabye they had resigned themselves to the fact that there was no way to get out of this, so why not have some fun. After a few hours practice, timing, synchronization and rhythm still leave a lot to be desired, but they seem to at least know the dance. Luckily, there is one more practice before taking this show on the road. Wish us luck!!

Road Trip Part 2 - Sabai Klang Nah

2010-05-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

When the two Spirit of Soccer trucks pulled up to the Beach Road Hotel Friday afternoon, the team members were literally bouncing off the walls of the vehicles. The hotel is in the center of the action in Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main beach town, and it is an upscale backpacker hotel with very few Cambodian guests. The front desk is located at the back of the bar/restaurant and two feet from a pool table. When two barangs (Cambodian word for white foreigners) came into the lobby with 11 Cambodian kids and two Cambodian adults, the entire room turned to stare. While the check-in was being sorted, the team played pool, completely oblivious to the fact that they were the center of attention; something they would be for the entire weekend.

After unloading the gear in the rooms, it was time for the beach. We tried to convince the team to change into shorts rather than sport jeans and longsleeves, but no luck. The 1/4 mile walk to the beach was somewhat overwhelming as the street is filled with tourist shops, barang backpackers and bars. Everyone grabbed hands with another team member for support. In Cambodia, it is not unusual to see two kids or adults of the same sex walking down the street holding hands.

Once we hit the beach, and after a minute or two of staring at the water, the entire team ran pell mell into the sea fully clothed. It was a sight to see! They frolicked in the water laughing their heads off while tossing the soccer ball around, yet again the center of attention for all the tourists on the beach.

Savin had a huge grin on her face and when we asked how she was, she said, "Sabai Klang Nah", directly translated as happy strong very. It was truly amazing to see so much joy and wonder as the team had their first experience in the ocean and playing in the sand.

After returning to the hotel, the team asked if they could go in the pool. None of them have ever been in a pool before. Upon the affirmative answer, 11 sandy, beddraggled, fully-clothed Cambodian kids dive bombed the pool to the horror of the other hotel guests. It was like the scene from Caddy Shack when the caddies take over the pool, minus the baby ruth part. The other people in the pool quickly made their way to the far side of the pool, away from the crazy Cambodian kids, and after about ten minutes, the team had taken over the entire pool while the rest of the guests stared in a mix of horror and fascination from the surrounding lounge chairs.

The next day, the team had evaluations with social workers and psychologists from a local NGO to check their readiness for travel and to help open dialogue about their fears about the trip. Team members are nervous about being away from home for two weeks, eating non-Cambodian food and the language barrier. A few mentioned neighbors in their village brought up the issue of human trafficking and safety. Human trafficking is a big problem in Cambodia, esepecially for young village girls. Their fears were allayed about safety concerns and trip expectations through discussions with other Cambodian kids who have traveled internationally and the team was given additional explanation about the journey ahead. We learned that not only do we need to travel with a rice maker and locally produced rice, but we also need to bring dozens of ramen noodles in case the team won't eat the food offered in South Africa. Asians in general don't like food from other countries and Cambodians in particular do not really eat food from outside their region, let alone their country.

After two days of playing soccer, swimming, laughing and bonding as a team, it was time to return to Phnom Penh. The girls sang, giggled and snacked the entire four hours back to Phnom Penh. We made a quick stop at the airport so the team would be more comfortable on the departure day and talked about departure gates, checking bags and customs while everyone chomped down on their first Dairy Queen soft-serve cone.

Finally, time for the mall! Sunday afternoon is a busy time at the mall in Cambodia, but add a holiday Sunday afternoon to the mix and you get utter mall mania. The mall is more of a social excurison than a buying excurison - air conditioning, escalators, window shopping, fried chicken outlets and more.

The team entered the Sorya Center in excited anticipation with their eyes growing wider and wider upon seeing all the people, the bright lights and the famed escalator. After a quick explanation about the escalator, we hopped on for a trip down. All the girls grabbed the nearest arm to hold onto and screeched in fear and delight as if they were on a roller coaster. We yelled to 'jump off' at the bottom as they truly didn't know what to do. (Sidenote: In any other country, the Sorya Center would not really even be considered a mall, but in Cambodia, it is the best we can do and almost as big a deal as Disney World.)

The final cultural excursion of the weekend was a quick trip around the grocery store. Again, no one on the team had been into a grocery store as they do their shopping in local markets, often with live animals and just picked produce. They stared in fascination at neatly cut hunks of meat nicely wrapped in plastic, mesh bags filled with produce and gasped at the cost of the food.

What a weekend! It was a real honor to share some of the outside world with the Football for Hope Team. They are officially ready for South Africa!

Road Trippin' Cambodia Style - Part I

2010-05-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

The middle of May finds all of Cambodia celebrating the King's Birthday, a three day celebration plus the weekend, and one of the few non-religious Cambodian holidays. In good Cambodian custom, Spirit of Soccer took the team on the road, Kampuchea style, as a warm-up trip for South Africa. The trip was to include a training at the National Football Center with the U-14 national team, a press conference, meetings with social workers to assess the team's readiness for international travel and some well-deserved beach time.

The two Spirit of Soccer coaches, Heang and Kamsort, gave up their 5-day holiday with their families to accompany the team to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. Cambodians typically spend holidays with family and it is unusual to leave your family for travel on your own or with a group. Kamsort is the mother of two young children and it is a big sacrifice for her to leave her family for this trip and the trip to South Afrca. Both coaches are incredible with the team - Heang offers the coaching leadership and discipline and Kamsort gives the individual attention needed, especially to the girls.

The team members assembled in Battambang from their various villages where two big white land cruisers that scream "NGO" were ready for the 4-hour caravan trip to Phnom Penh. Rather than divide up into the two cars equally, the team decided to put all the bags in one rig and travel together in the other vehicle with the two coaches, a mere 13 people in one truck. We watched in bemusement as all eleven players climbed into the back of the truck in the 95 plus degree heat for the journey. And, typical to Khmer, all the kids were wearing jeans, long-sleeve shirts and hoodies while us westerners were dressed in the least amount of clothes considered culturally allowable.

Of course, two hours into the journey, a lunch stop was required. It isn't a road trip in the Kingdom of Wonder without a long, drawn out stop for a meal, a snack or a picnic. This stop isn't a quickie in and out at the drive-thru, but a sit-down meal with multiple courses and conversation. Cambodians would never understand the concept of beating your past record for a trip. It is worth mentioning that Cambodian 'road food' is nothing like western road food as there are no fast food restaurants or convenience stores en route, only a few gas station shops and locals selling fruit and other non-packaged products. The team members snacked on bags of snails, green mangos, dried fish, fried bananas and other wholesome, yet smelly, products in the truck prior to the lunch stop.

The number one thing the team wanted to do upon arrival in Phom Penh was visit the Sorya Center, a mall with a grocery store and escalator. This much anticipated stop was slated for the Sunday return to Phnom Penh. All of the team members had heard of the famed Sorya Center, but had never been to a mall, visited a grocery store or ridden an escalator.

After a late arrival in town, the team had a early night in preparation for the morning training session and press conference. The Cambodian Football Federation has been incredibly supportive of the team and has assisted in much of the travel logistics. The team was naturally nervous about playing at the National Football Center and were a little unsure of what to expect. Their fears heightened when they arrived at the pitch to have TV cameras and reporters following their every move. They, of course, acted like pros who were used to the paparazzi following them around on a regular basis. Good thing the boys all had their best hairdo, a la a Beckham, for the big day. (Sidenote, every two weeks when the team comes together, four of the five boys have changed their hair, whether is is new sideburns, a dye job or a radical haircut. They are true slaves to fashion.)

The training included stretching, drills and five v. five games. The two groups blended seamlessly and put on a good show for the press. After the training, the press conference began. This was the team's second press conference and they acted like old hats. Sengvy, the team's captain, even grabbed the microphone, introduced himself and spoke on the team's behalf in front of the cameras, the reporters and the Football Federation's General Secretary. Each team member was awarded a national team jersey and wished good luck by all in attendance, aware that they are now representing Cambodia internationally.

After the hard work, it was time to head to the beach. The team finally agreed to split up into two cars - girls in one and boys in the other. From here on out, the world outside was all new to them. No one had been to the beach before. As we moved closer and closer to the shore, the level of excitement built and the team was in a near frenzy. At one point, Vrak spotted an airplane flying above us, just after it took off from Phnom Penh Int'l, and the whole truck went into excited hysteria as they had never seen a plane flying before.

Stay tuned for Part 2!!

The Girls from Bour Village

2010-05-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

Kunthea, Socheata and Channou, three girls on the Spirit of Soccer Football for Hope team, all come from Bour Village, Battambang Province. The village is a two plus hour drive from Battambang, the provincial capital, with well over half the drive on a teeth-rattling, bone-jarring dirt road. The pastoral setting with palm tree-lined roads and mountains off in the distance doesn't give the passerby a sense of the problems faced by the villagers.

The village is home to approximately 1000 people and is without running water or electricity. During the rainy season, the roads often get washed out and it can be very difficult to come or go. Despite its isolation, Bour Village sports at least five cell phone vendors and cell phone reception is better than most parts of the US. Most inhabitants are farmers and many farms are backed up against landmine fields. Water is delivered in giant cisterns on the back of a motorbike trailer and becomes home to mosquito larvae, leading to malaria which is a serious problem faced by villagers in Cambodia.

Until a few months ago, the local school was nestled up against a 17 hectare landmine field, there's now a 50 meter buffer between the school and the live explosives. You can still see the landmine signs from the school soccer field.

Kunthea has eleven brothers and sisters and her father is a farmer. She currently is unable to go to school because the nearest high school is over an hour away by dirt road. Kids from Bour Village either must move to the village with a high school and stay with a family member or spend $4 and over two hours per day on the back of a motorbike commuting or drop out of school. Kunthea helps her mother around the house and is a mean soccer player.

Socheata's family lives too far from the school, so she moved in with her sister, brother-in-law and niece so that she could attend school. She lives in a one room thatched-roof hut with an outhouse out back. She is a model student, speaks a little English and is a leader on the team. Her positive attitude and her smile are infectious. She sites the lanmines, lack of paved roads and no nearby highschool as the biggest challenges she faces in her day to day life.

Channou lives with her parents and 9 brothers and sisters far outside of town and it takes at least thirty minutes for her to get to school. Her family is very excited for her to go to South Africa, even though they don't completely understand where it is or what the tournament is about. They are excited she is receiving vaccinations, soccer training and getting a chance to meet players from other villages.

The fact that these three girls all come from such poverty and face many challenges on a daily basis and still manage to bring so much energy, liveliness and hard work to the Football for Hope Team is inspiring to all who come into contact with them.

And despite their rural and isolated homelife, they are typical teenage girls. They love to giggle and gossip with each other, are concerned about their appearances and love to shop.

Technology Hits the Rice Paddies

2010-04-21T04:17:00.000-07:00

One of the great benefits of being part of the Football for Hope Festival 2010 is the access to the World Cup sponsors. The World Cup is sponsored by adidas, Sony and Coca-Cola, among others. adidas will outfit each delegation with uniforms and other gear upon arrival in South Africa, which is a huge bonus for each team. Sony is sponoring a photo competition among participating delegation (32 groups representing 50 countries) which includes a donation of two cameras, a laptop, a GPS and a photo printer plus a trainer to teach the team how to use the equipment.

Sony Singapore, as the closest Sony office to Cambodia, flew a contingency up to Phnom Penh and braved the four hour death-defying drive to Battambang to officially kick-off the partnership. A press conference was held with the Sony exeutives, local media, Spirit of Soccer and the team. As all good press conferences require, lots of photos were taken of the event, especially of the team. If the team seem bewildered by all these dressed up adults handing them boxes of technical equipment, they didn't show it on their smiling faces. They acted as if they did this kind of thing every day, rather than help their parents in the rice fields and take care of farm animals.

As stated previously, the majority of the team lives in villages with no electricity and certainly no laptops or wifi are in use by the local residents, in the schools or by local government officials. Thus, the kids were being introdued to totally foreign technology with no frame of reference for much of the typical training jargon and procedures.

The Singaporean trainer, Casey Teo, was enthusiastic about the task at hand while bringing a sense of excitement about the subject matter. As he doesn't speak Khmer, one of the coaches had to translate the entire training and it can be hard to translate technical terms, especially if you don't really understand the terminology yourself! In a classroom setting, the team was introduced to the basic functions of a digital camera, simple photos and care of the camera. Their eyes were huge as they passed around the cameras and they couldn't containt their giggles once they were allowed to snap away.

The idea behind the contest is for each team member to take the camera home to document their life, family, friends, hobbies, etc. The kids love taking pictures and love getting their photos taken even more. All youth in Cambodia give a reverse peace sign, often with their arms crossed, for all photos and these kids followed this time honored tradition.

The first day of training was informative and well received. The day ended with a field trip to a local Pagoda to practice the newly learned skills. Cambodia offers so many great opportunities for unique and beautiful pictures and this outing didn't disappoint. The group of teens toting cameras piqued the curiosity of the local kids playing near the Pagoda. Soon the team had a merry band of half-naked kids mugging for the camera, trying not to be outdone by the local cows roaming the sacred area or the coverful Buddhist temple as subjects for the budding photographers.

Day two started off successfully as the team learned how to print photos. Each team member printed a photo to take home as a souvenir of the weekend. The boys all wanted a picture of themselves, posing, while the girls wanted group shots with the other girls. As each picture magically came out of the printer, the team watched wide-eyed and burst into peals of laughter once the photo was finished. The team was bonding off the field and a shared awe of digital photography was helping break down the barriers between the boys and girls in this very traditional society.

The introduction of the laptop, the internet and a camera GPS was when the cultural gap began to rear its ugly head. The trainer started off talking about the battery life of the laptop and how it must be plugged in to recharge the battery. Although we had told him about the lack of electricity in most of the team's homes, he didn't seem to grasp that reality. Continuing on, he tried to explain how the GPS could show where the photos were taken on google earth. He pulled up google earth on the laptop to show the team a map of the area and how the photos would be pinpointed on the map. Of course, they had never seen the internet, nor a map of the area and they defintely couldn't come close to understanding the concept of the GPS (satellites, trajectory and longitude/latitude). Our translater, an educated but rural Cambodian, was pretty lost on trying to explain the GPS in Khmer as he didn't understand it himself. As the confusion started to mount, we cut the session short to do a quick recap on the cameras and photography before the cameras were taken to the villages to document a day in the life.

Results from the team soon to come...

Logisitics

2010-04-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

Group travel generally requires a high level of organization, coordination and planning. Group travel in Cambodia throws these basic tenets out the window, subsituting them with patience, luck and connections.

Passports, plane tickets, vaccinations, visas are the key ingredients to international travel and without these four checked off, the trip is going nowhere fast. Puchasing plane tickets was the top concern for the trip to South Africa since airfare was rapidly rising as the official countdown to the World Cup had begun in December.

Step number one, translate all team members' names from Khmer (Cambodian script) into Latin letters. The Khmer alphabet has 33 letters and names don't easily translate into just one spelling. Each time a name is translated, it typically has a different spelling and this isn't unusual in Cambodia. To illustrate this point, one of the Cambodian Spirit of Soccer coaches has his name spelled differently on his passport, driver's license, facebook and email. After stressing repeatedly that the spelling must be uniform and going back and forth on what the final spelling would be, each team member had their name translated into their "official" name for all future documents in English. This is the name that each team member will identify with for the rest of their lives and it is a big responsibility to determine what that name will be.

Step number two, find cheap and relatively direct plane tickets for 12 people from Phnom Penh to Johannesburg during the last two weeks of the World Cup, the world's largest sporting event. After exhausting routing options and airline choices with the local travel agent, with prices rising by the day, the most practical option was to buy directly from the airline in hopes of securing a group discount. The group discount did not pan out after many emails, phone calls and pleas with the airline, all very difficult with the language barrier and lack of concrete contact information. As we say in Cambodia, two steps forward and one and a half steps back (at least).

After finally booking the tickets, the question of payment was broached. In Cambodia, almost all transactions take place in cash and if a credit card is used, a hefty percentage fee is tacked onto the price. Option one - go to the bank and draw out thousands of dollars in cash, which is never an easy undertaking. Option two - pay with a credit card and deal with ensuing headaches to make the transaction happen. We chose option two as the airline waived the credit card fee and it is safer to have American Express on our side in case something happens with the trip. After numerous international phone calls to American Express to get the transaction approved, at least five trips to the airline office and several phone calls to the airline's bank, we were able to buy the plane tickets. All told, the ordeal took over 30 hours.

Cambodian bureaucracy is difficult to navigate, especially for foreigners. Securing passports is a difficult task at best and monumental at worst. Luckily, Spirit of Soccer works closely with the Cambodian Football Federation (FFC) and the FFC was able to help with the passport process. After completing dossiers on each team member, something akin to what was compiled by the CIA on Jason Bourne, with letters from the parents (many who do not read or write), letters from the regional Ministry of Education offices okaying the trip, letters from each local commune council and letters from the Football for Hope organizing committee, the passport process had begun.

All in all, the process was running smoothly until a last minute request required all parents and team members to travel to Phnom Penh for a visit to the Passport Office. Phnom Penh is over four hours away from the provinicial capital, Battambang, where the team meets every other weekend. The team members live one to three hours away from Battambang, many coming from villages on dirt roads with no running water or electricity. Assembling the bewildered parents in Battambang to travel to Phnom Penh, where most of the parents had never been, happened quickly and efficiently. With the parents traveling by tourist bus and the team traveling by Spirit of Soccer vehicles, the group of 26 pulled into Phnom Penh late Sunday afternoon and was already on its way back to Battambang at 2:00 Monday afternoon with photos taken, documents signed and fees paid. Passports were issued within the week! A night's stay in the Capital in a hotel with air conditioning was a once in a lifetime experience for many of the parents.

The team now has plane tickets and passports for South Africa. Watch out Festival for Hope 2010, the Cambodian delegation is on its way!

Meet the Team

2010-04-01T04:41:00.000-07:00

The Spirit of Soccer Football for Hope 2010 team is comprised of eight girls and boys from rural Cambodia who all live in landmine affected areas. Each player was selected for the team based on their participation with Spirit of Soccer programs, soccer skills, personality, team work and commitment.

Here is the team:

Linda Choeun is from Pailin town and has been playing soccer two years and her favorite subject in school is English. Her father lost part of his leg to a landmine, so she is very aware of the dangers of landmines. She is a leader among the team, trying to emulate her favorite player, Ronaldo.

Sengvy Ridam is from Banaan village and wants to travel to South Afria to play soccer and learn about the different culture. His favorite player is Rooney. The most people he has ridden a motorbike with at one time is four.

Naroth Vann is also from Pailin town and has been playing soccer for four years. She too has personal experience with landmines as her neighbor lost his hand to a landmine. She wants to go to South Africa to share the culture of Cambodia and tell people about the problem of landmines.

Vith Yem is also from Pailin town and sees landmine signs all over his village. He has played soccer for five years and Andreas Savin is his favorite player. He has the best hair on the team!

Channou Keng is from Bour village and has eleven siblings! She has never been to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, but is excited to travel to South Africa. She has a huge smile and is a great addition to the team.

Vanneath Kheng is from Somloth village and has a landmine sign in front of his house. He wants to be a soccer coach when he grows up and Beckham is his favorite player. He is a hard worker on the field and also loves to play volleyball.

Socheata Seng is from Bour village and has an uncle injured by a landmine. She is excited to travel to South Africa to see the difference between South Africa and Cambodia. She loves Beckham and mathematics.

Vrak Phon is from Sampouv Loun village and has to travel up to five hours by dirt road for training every other weekend. He has been playing soccer ten years and has seven brothers. He wants to be a pro soccer player when he grows up and he definitely has the moves and personality.

Spirit of Soccer and Football for Hope

2010-03-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

Every four years a little event called the FIFA World Cup comes around and the world celebrates....six billion people are glued to the progress of this global tournament. There's a festival hosted by FIFA that coincides w/ this great event, the Football For Hope Festival 2010, which is an official event of the World Cup.

32 organizations from around the globe are chosen to put together a team of eight 15-18 year old football players to play in a round-robin tournament and meet other players from around the world. These players have two things in common: the organizations they represent use soccer/football for development and they all love soccer/football.

Football for Hope is a movement that uses the power of football for social change around the world. It is led by FIFA and streetfootballworld, a centre of expertise that supports a global network of local organizations in the field of development through football. The movement started in 2005 to galvanize support around sustainable social development solutions that focus on health promotion, peace building, children’s rights and education, anti-discrimination and social integration and the environment.

Spirit of Soccer, an international NGO sponsoring the Cambodian delegation, was selected to organize the only SE Asian delegation due to its commitment and excellent track record in contributing to national development through sport. The organization uses soccer/football as a channel for children to learn about the hazards of landmines, explosive remnants of war (ERW) and unexploded ordnances (UXO), which result in an estimated 450 deaths annually of children in Cambodia. Landmines are a legacy of Cambodia’s genocide and war from 1975-1979, in which an estimated two million Cambodians died. There are still an estimated six million landmines in Cambodia.

Meet the squad - they are a wonderful group of talented players that come from land-mine/UXO effected communities in three provinces of Cambodia - Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Pailin.

They are excited to make their first venture outside Cambodia and explain to the world that even among the ever-present danger of unexploded ordinances, sport can still bring people together.

We are proud to introduce this vibrant & amazing group of Cambodian youth. Stephen Sonderman, Rachel Haig, Ly Heang (Lead Coach) & Nhoe Kamsort (Ast. Coach) will escort this team to the festival in South Africa this June/July for the tournament during the last two weeks of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Follow their progress with us through this blog!

Som'nang Lah'oh,

Rachel & Stephen