Our next stop in this Colombia-based programming run was the US-based Rise & Walk Foundation, or Levántate y Anda as they were known in Bogota. I had been in contact with one of their coordinators, Johanna, for a couple months and was eager to finally link up and bring a collaboration to life. We spoke back in June, but since the kids were currently deep into their basketball season, she asked if we could table our sessions until around August. Fresh off of some Mexico and domestic sessions, I quickly reached out once August rolled around.

“We have three different age groups,” she told me. “Would it be possible for you to do a class with each group next Wednesday?”

The thought of three classes in one afternoon had me sweating, but my mind’s always been beneficiary first, so I accepted the offer rather than even trying to negotiate. Oftentimes my schedule is the freer of the two anyway, so we can afford to be flexible with things like this. Before locking it down, I asked Johanna if she’d be able to write me a customs letter detailing the collaboration in the event of me getting hassled at the airport. A couple days before my flight, it hit my inbox. It was written and signed by their legal representation.

I checked the address below – Bridgeport, CT it read! ‘No way’ I thought to myself! It is such a small world that both organizations are based in Connecticut. That’s the beauty of it all though, the little connections that exist in this space – an amazing organization doing incredibly important work albeit thousands of miles away, headquartered just an hour away from my home base back in the states. I love that.

Wednesday rolled around and I made my way to the San Fernando neighborhood in the Barrios Unidos zone where Levántate y Anda is located. I was super close to the facility, and I was coming from an area called Modelia near the airport, which is only about a 15 minute Uber ride. Zones here are categorized by poverty levels and San Fernando was between a three and four, Barrio Egipto – where I had ran a program the day before and Ciudad Bolívar, where my third session on Saturday was scheduled for were a two and one respectively.

He took over the tour and we made our way through several rooms in the narrow building. The first floor hosted a sustainable, used clothing store that sold apparel donated from the United States at extremely affordable prices, with the proceeds being pumped back into the foundation. They also had very strong partnerships and successful fundraisers each year as a means of raising funds for their important work.

The second floor had a TV room and classroom where the kids received homework help and tutoring sessions. Floor three included a computer lab where the kids could learn basic computer skills to carry with them into the future. The fourth floor had the offices and another classroom for the younger kids. Also, there was a bathroom for the kids. Lastly, floor five, which is the top floor, had a big classroom for miscellaneous classes like yoga and dance, and next to it, an open air balcony with a garden. After finishing the tour, I told Yasser how happy and surprised I was to see that they were headquartered in Bridgeport.

“It’s where our founder lived!” he said.

He excitedly shared that he had gone there for two weeks to visit the main office, an experience he was super grateful for and one he shared would never be possible without being a part of this foundation. His voice and words were full of gratitude and humility. I told him how we had a bunch of different programs in Bogota with various foundations and in different parts of the city like Barrio Egipto, Garcés Navas, Ciudad Bolívar, and more. 

“Wait, who did you work with in Garcés Navas?” he asked, curiously.

“Fundación Desarrollo y Consentido” I answered.

“Oh! With Jenny, right?” he said, quickly.

“Yes!” I said with a smile, remembering the program fondly.

“She used to be with us but always dreamt of starting her own foundation,” he said. Another little connection! I was stoked. Jenny was always one of the good ones. Johanna entered the office and began to describe the plan for the day. Apparently, we would be combining the two younger age groups into one massive session. Also, the older kids were busy with another activity so I wouldn’t be working with them that day – or if so, it would be past 5 o’clock after the first group wrapped. Three sessions quickly became one, but like I said, we are flexible.

Plus, I floated the idea of possibly working with the older kids Thursday or Friday as I had two free days before a Saturday session. Yasser and Johanna agreed it would definitely be possible. The program would be just down the street, a few blocks away at a nearby park. The participant count kept rising, but last I checked it was around 30. Eventually, it grew to about 33 total.

We got to the park and I found myself with plenty of helpers between Yasser, Johanna, and a couple teenage girls from the foundation who were on hand to help out if needed. They set up three lines that were four cones deep, with a ball atop each one for our listening exercises. Doing some quick math, I instructed the kids to organize themselves into groups of three.

The math was supposed to work out near perfectly, yet when I looked up from changing my shoes I saw a couple soccer balls by themselves and the kids were not in groups of three.

“What happened?!” I exclaimed. “Groups of three!” I instructed.

The kids quickly corrected themselves and we jumped into the activity. It was good ol fun watching them play this one, while listening intently. “Ears”, “your partners’ ears!” I called out and laughs were had by all. In between rounds, I told the group I was in need of a captain – plenty of hands shot in the air, honestly maybe 25 of 33 if I had to count. I picked one boy, wearing a baseball cap and some Nikes, albeit scuffed and tattered ones after, what I’m certain was, street soccer getting the better of them.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

 “Cristopher!” he said excitedly. 

“Nice to meet you Cristopher,” I said, while pulling a red captain’s band over his small right bicep. Normally, it wouldn’t have fit him and would have slid right off, but luckily he was wearing a blue hoodie that added some width to his upper arm. Cristopher helped run a few rounds of the listening drill before we broke into relay races with 3 teams. I noticed the teams were a bit too big, so we eventually added a new line and had four groups running. Before we could start things off with a zig zag relay, a younger boy tapped my shoulder.

“Profe, the soccer balls are from different countries, correct?” one boy asked. The ever-so-observant little guy had noticed the different colors and countries on each ball, including Spain, England, Mexico, and USA.

“Yes!” I said enthusiastically, “They are from USA, España, and more, but I’ll tell you a secret they’re all the same brand” I said with a laugh.

As the program continued, I was increasingly impressed by young Cristopher, how he had seamlessly transitioned into our small leadership role, really settling right into the armband and the responsibility that came with it. Each relay race, he was there helping me demo the different variations. Finally, with everything else completed, it was time for a big scrimmage “Yay!” the kids yelled.

We split into four different teams, with a first goal, winner stays on rule as per usual. Cristopher captained the first team, against a visibly weaker squad. 

“I’m gonna play with them, is that okay?” I said to Cristopher and his team. “Yes Profe, go ahead – and you guys can start with the ball first, I insist,” I really was blown away by this kid.

I dropped back on defense knowing we were about to have an offensive onslaught coming our way. The game was heated, not much back and forth, just a lot of forth with us on the receiving end. I stepped in front of the goalkeeper to block a line drive effort from Cristopher. It tipped off of my foot and over our keeper’s arms. Cristopher ran back to his team, excited to have opened his scoring account. I ran over to congratulate him and the boys, but quickly reminded him the ball had deflected off my foot into the back of the net, “Mira bro that was my goal not yours,” I said, as we met back at center court.

“Ah Profe, but it was my kick,” he said with a smile.

“But I had the final touch!” I said with a wink in return, as I celebrated, albeit delayed, the goal in front of the rest of his team, causing them to laugh heartily at the lunacy of it all.

His side ran the table with no teams able to defeat them even with myself helping out. Finally, a new team stepped onto the court hoping to be the lucky ones to pull off a victory.

“Profe, you need to be our portero if we are going to have any chance of beating this unbeaten) team!” one of the kids begged.

I obliged and proceeded to put on a show, even forcing a missed penalty. Ultimately, it still wasn’t enough and I got scored on by a little dribbler. Sigh. 

With our time just about done, I brought the kids over to the stands for a closing chat. They all raised their hands eagerly to share their thoughts on the program.

A shy, younger boy posed a question, “Profe? Are you teaching football classes to ALL the colegios here in Bogota?” he asked.

“No just you guys, because you guys are a special group,” I said with a smile, one that was quickly returned by the little guy.

Before we got into prizes, I told the kids to give themselves a round of applause, which they promptly did. “And also, a fuerte aplauso for your profes up here,” I said, gesturing towards Yasser and Johanna.

As we made our way back to the foundation, Yasser and I had an important chat about the work that they were doing in this community. We spoke about good examples & bad examples in life, and how sometimes they inspire us and other times they teach us. Yasser poignantly said something along the lines of “kids who have good role models themselves become good role models when they grow up.” As I caught up with Cristopher in the middle of the line, he was still buzzing. I told him he could keep the armband as a memory and his smile grew even bigger. He had a new ball under his arm too, this boy had himself a day!

“Profe, we never lost! we never had to leave the court!” he said, enthusiastically, speaking of his team’s performance in the scrimmage with absolute pride and elation.

Once we reached the foundation I returned to the office and asked Johanna if she needed anything else from my side – “You can stay until six if you’d like!” she said with a smile, but I was far too beat after a busy two days. I called an Uber and told her and Yasser I would be in contact about Friday’s session as we set aside my equipment in the corner of the office. My Uber pulled up and we got to chatting about footy. He was a Manchester United fan, so we had some friendly little banter about their recent tilt against Liverpool from the weekend prior. I told him I was exhausted after a couple of hours of kids running circles around me, while he shared that he plays soccer every Wednesday and Saturday here in the city.

“But I’m a goalkeeper, so I don’t have to run,” he said with a smirk. “The fat ones are always the goalie, right?” he said with a big belly laugh.

We got to talking and he asked if I knew any places to get goalkeeper gloves since his gloves were wearing thin and the quality of product here in the country wasn’t so great. “Ah, que pena,” I told him. “I have so many new pairs back home I would’ve loved to give you one if I had them with me,” I said, genuinely meaning it too.

We exchanged numbers for the off-chance that in the future I could sneak a pair into a luggage full of equipment. I told him about Around the Worlds and all the places we were running programs both this week and last year. “Oh Barrio Egipto! That’s close to where I live,” he said, surprised but grateful to share a small connection.

He continued to listen intently, asking questions here and there – “It’s an agency you do this with?”

“No… tengo mi propia fundación,” I said, explaining how things worked.

“Ah que lindo amigo en serio, that is beautiful work,” he said.

“It’s all for the kids though friend,” I shared, “Because who knows, maybe the next Lucho Díaz (Liverpool’s new ace, and a Colombian international) is growing up in one of these communities,” I said.

“We can only hope so!” he responded.