Asunción, Paraguay

“Sometimes things need to fall through so that better things can reveal themselves.”

That phrase is more than familiar, but is it believable? I’ve always thought so, but let’s just say that the way our second programming day played out, the phrase came to be even more pertinent. 

After an extremely successful first programming day in conjunction with Fundacion Alda, we were gearing up to make the same trip up north towards El Bosque for another session with a younger group of participants. I had caught a couple of them at the tail end of Wednesday’s class and was stoked to walk them through the game just like their older counterparts.

Thursday rolled around and I closed out the finishing parts of my pre-program routine. Then, came a text from my contact, Lupe. Unfortunately, it was raining in Limpió and as a result, school was suspended. Obviously, the rain meant that our program also was suspended. The forecast read rain for the entire day and by early morning the fields were already soaked beyond repair.

Lupe gave me the okay to take it as a rest day, and so I geared up for Friday’s plans instead. In the morning, a long, multi-NGO event bridging the worlds of Alda, UNICEF, and more for the low-resourced community of San Lorenzo. Then, fingers crossed, Thursday’s session that had been rescheduled to the following day. It was going to be a haul, though, as Limpio and San Lorenzo were in complete opposite directions. Nevertheless, I was open to and excited for the challenge.

This was my first time working with UNICEF, and although I was excited, to say I was nervous was an understatement. Plus, we’ve done some programs this way before, in an open plaza with multiple parties present. They require a decent amount of flexibility, knowing that things can change at the blink of an eye and there’s always potential for a revolving door of kids when it comes to program participants. Compare that to a set session with a defined number of kids, time, etc. Just like always though, I was up for the challenge!

This one was cool because parents would be moving from table to table to interact with a variety of foundations. Meanwhile, we (Alda and UNICEF volunteers) would be tasked with entertaining their children, making sure the burden of responsibility was alleviated off of the parents at least for a few hours. As a result, there were a bunch of stations set up, including storytelling, painting, drawing, music, and more.

Around the Worlds was on hand too, so you already know soccer was one of those stations! Honestly, I wasn’t sure how things would go and those nerves from before were ever present. I bopped around between volunteers, making small introductions, but also sitting back to defer the spotlight to the other stations ready to receive beneficiaries. Maybe I was ever slightly thrown off because I was unsure of the interest or appropriateness of a football session. Basically, when we first arrived around 8, I saw a young boy donning a football kit. “Do you want to play football with us later?” another volunteer excitedly asked.

The boy shook his head. “My mom said I can’t play,” he answered softly. Needless to say, I was thrown for a loop. I retreated to a quiet corner and watched Reuben’s first story, the kids captivated by his ability to tell one. I smiled just as the kids did, as they shifted from there to the painting station. I suppose ideally, in a situation like this, kids have the choice to move around from station to station, placing preference on the things they enjoy most. That’s how a similar event played out for us after an Ecuador-based earthquake, but I know these things hardly ever follow a blueprint.

In today’s case, the kids were moving as a unit from one station to the next. I suppose the group’s small size had something to do with this. Between stories and painting, Reuben posed a question that threw me yet again for a loop.

“Okay! Who wants to play football? Stand up here if you do,” he said. With most of the kids sat down and painting already, only two boys approached Reuben.

I tapped him on the shoulder, “Amigo, tenemos tiempo. Let’s wait until after painting.”

He agreed. I retreated back to sit down patiently, still hopeful that football time would come. Finally, a ton of paintings hanging up to dry on one side of the tent, Reuben gathered up the troops and finally we were off to the adjoining soccer field. The delay worked in our favor as the field, previously wet, had had a bit of time to dry. Rushing through the program’s prep, I set up our listening drill quickly, running a couple of rounds before deferring the responsibility to a young participant. Then, we quickly moved over to relay races with teams of four. Finally, we capped the mini-session off with mano o cabeza.

The kids took a couple rotations to get it, but in due time they were more than ready to go. Plenty of Alda and UNICEF volunteers were on hand to walk them through it, even to participate themselves! I was grateful for the surplus of help since a man named Sydney, UNICEF staff from Brazil, helped run another circle of mano o cabeza so we could divvy up the numbers.

He ran his group down to one winner, while I did the same. Mine was an older boy, while his was a little fella, the same boy who helped run my listening drill earlier on. I was brainstorming a new version of mano o cabeza during the other rotations called derecha o izquierda (right or left), but decided it wasn’t yet the right time to debut it, especially with such young athletes in my group.

The idea is I would pass the ball from center-circle to a recipient who would have to pass the ball back (one-touch) with the opposite of whatever direction (right or left) I called out. I tabled the thought for later and hey, let’s see if I have a chance to give it a try later on in this Paraguay-based run. 

After the breadth of our football session had been exhausted, I broke things down to a small scrimmage with the younger kids mixed with some long-balls and juggling circles with the older boys. Remember that saying about things falling through so that better things can reveal themselves? I’ve been trying hard to find the silver lining in change these days and it was pretty easy to spot it in the way this day unfolded. You see, I was still anticipating the afternoon session in Limpio, therefore, reserving 24 British soccer camp tees for our beneficiaries out there.

About an hour into our UNICEF/Alda collab, Reuben told me that the kids would not be available today because school was canceled for a teachers’ meeting. As a result, I was able to give all of our San Lorenzo participants their own camp tee shirt to leave our mini-session with. They fit perfectly too! I glowed with joy watching them run around spritely with their matching tees. I know what you’re thinking, what about the younger Limpio kids?

I was sending Reuben back north with a bag of 14 soccer balls to give to them. A more than deserved prize considering I’d heard many of them had still showed up Thursday in the rain (a testament to their willingness to play and their excitement for the program).

“Please tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t make it there,” I told Reuben, though he understood it was only a matter of logistics, not a matter of desire because the last thing I would ever want to do is leave out a group of beneficiaries.

Moving from the scrimmage to our older players, I chatted it up with them over a game of one-touch keepy ups. “Wait, let’s try this one,” I said.

“You do one touch, then me – two, him – three, etc etc.” I said.

An older boy and I managed to reach six or seven before breaking into a small freestyle session. Another boy caught the ball on his neck and passed it high into the air before it landed on my own neck, as I tried to deposit it back onto his right after. It was a fun little cooldown after a session full of energy just moments before. It was now 11 a.m. and the event started to wind down after three hours of activities.

I was able to talk with Reuben, who noticed my football-induced thirst and asked me if I’d be open to trying “tereré”, a Paraguayan alternative to “maté”, featuring cold water instead of hot. Man, when I tell you, that tereré was refreshing! I suppose it’s the national drink of Paraguay for a reason.

I was led through all the ins and outs of the tereré drinking process, including to not say gracias until you were finished or ready for your last sips. Also, Reuben mentioned that Paraguayans would often invite their crush out for maté or tereré and then proceed to drink it as slowly as possible in order to spend as much time across from the person they were interested in.

As for me, I just enjoyed the social and communal nature of it. We were all sat down in a circle, enjoying full conversation, not even looking at our phones. It was so present. It was so beautiful. I smiled at what seemed a lost pastime in today’s generation. Plus, not being a smoker or a drinker and oftentimes having to turn down the post-program celebratory beer or cigarette, I enjoyed being able to partake in something such as a round of tereré. Not to mention, it hit the spot after a couple hours of footy!

He smiled widely at the thought, “I still have plenty of contacts there too!” he said.

The soccer world is big, but the soccer for good world? We all kind of know each other and oftentimes if we don’t know someone, we know someone who knows that someone. For instance, after learning about me starting my own foundation, Sydney was quick to ask if I was familiar with another based in both the US and Brazil. Apparently, he had received an employment offer from them right before accepting a job with UNICEF.

“No way!” I said. “Of course, I’m familiar,” I added, before listing out the US-based founder of the organization.

Small world, right?

As we left to head out for lunch before a return back towards Alda campus, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face reflecting on the day’s events. Not just for its personal significance for me being alongside incredible personnel from Alda and UNICEF. But more so, for what the event meant for the San Lorenzo community: an increased access to medical care, dedicated care to the animals that called this community home, and for the kids, the chance to return back to school and the traditional education system after a long, pandemic-induced break – all thanks to the two organizations’ “Vamos a la Escuela” initiative.