This was my first time ever in Bolivia for a program and I linked up a few weeks earlier with a small children’s home with a US-based presence, Refugio de Esperanza. It was mainly girls, but had a few boys who were very interested in soccer, so I was definitely excited.

There were a few hick-ups before running the program, which led to a bit of frustration on my end. My check-in bags had gotten left back in Miami, so not only did I not have any changes of clothes, but I had none of my soccer equipment, including shoes, cones, and most importantly soccer balls for the kids! Finally, after an agonizing two day wait, my bags arrived at the airport. Naturally, they were flagged by customs and inspected. They were charging me taxes on the soccer balls, but luckily I had caught a ride back to the airport with the orphanage’s director who dropped by the customs office to explain our collaboration.

I was excited for things to finally kick off. We stopped at a roadside restaurant to enjoy a few salteñas– a staple in Bolivian cuisine, while sharing our own stories about life, charity, and more.

Turns out, the two day wait was well worth it, as we proceeded to engage in small micro-sessions for a couple hours every single day. We practiced new moves, played little games, and with whatever little bit of energy we had left after all that – we would scrimmage and have penalty kick shootouts until the night sky completely enveloped our playing field.

I had been staying at the orphanage in the director’s house, spending time with her children and teaching them some tricks too. They had a few friends over one night and graciously invited me to meet all of them as we enjoyed a small party to cheer on the Bolivian National team that had a game that same night. 

After our sessions with the kids, we would decompress and share meals together at the orphanage’s cafeteria, but before doing so they would all pause to engage in prayer. I sat there reverently, as my ears perked up once I heard my name. 

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“We thank you for bringing us Tio Esteban to teach us soccer,” I heard them pray in unison.

This was just the first of a few programs we had set up in the country. The next day I took a few extra soccer balls over to a local church’s after school sports program. They were older boys in their teens, which meant our training session was extremely competitive and spirited. They moved quickly through each drill, practicing their ball control and other techniques. 

Afterwards, we played a huge 11 on 11 scrimmage, which was far different than the small four vs. four games I had been playing at Haven of Hope. All of this to say I was winded… quickly.  On the final day, I took the remaining soccer balls to a small primary school where we were met with a huge welcome. Initially, we were only going to run a program with a gym class and the school’s soccer team, but it seemed like everyone had left their classrooms to check out the fuss.

We quickly ran through some skills drills before heading into a winner stays tournament. I’m not gonna lie, I had a couple nutmegs in there. The competition was fierce and the excitement was palpable! Everyone wanted to win!

Afterwards, we took a couple pictures with the school’s principal and presented him with the soccer balls to be utilized by the school whenever the kids wanted to play the game.