After waking up and greeting the mothers, a daily process that takes place before breakfast and dinner, we at rice porridge and potato slices (kind of like fries). Afterwards, they gave us the sweetest bananas I have ever tasted, and I got really excited every time they appeared in front of me throughout the rest of the trip. We then went to greet the elder who oversaw youth activities in order to formally ask his permission to hold the Little Eagles tournament, which he gave to us. I know I said that I thought that Ba Seydou looked like Yoda, but aside from not being green and being slightly taller than the Star Wars character, this guy was exactly like him. His facial structure matched the Jedi master, from his lips, his pointy-ish ears (that were sticking out slightly because of his hat), his eyes, and his cackle/laugh/giggle. Although he was sitting throughout our visit, he apparently even walks hunched over with a cane. So. Awesome.

The school

Sekou and I went to check out the field we were going to be using for the tournament before lunch. The field itself was really nice compared to the Bamako one we used. Although it was dirt covered and had no grass (no fields do here), this one was actually flat and didn’t have cars/people/animals constantly moving through it. The field was set a short walk away from the living areas of the village, outside of the school. Afterwards, we had lunch and hung out (more sitting) until the tournament was ready to begin.

After Sekou and I learned more about the village, we adapted our ideas and goals for the Little Eagles Dissan project. In the village, some kids go to school and others become farmers or follow their parent’s footsteps to other various jobs. While there isn’t any blatant discrimination of nonschool kids by their school going peers, the nonschool kids are sometimes teased by school kids for not going to school. So for our work in Dissan, we decided to design the program to be comprised of teams including both school and nonschool players. This program also carries the message that education does not just happen in classrooms, but in the fields and through other trades as well.

The teams wearing Cheshire High School jerseys.

On the way down to the field to start the tournament, a group of kids began following us, one of which grabbed my hand to walk with me. While we were walking, I got a flash of my Uncle Richie, and the picture of him walking with a group of children in Peru. I knew he was with me, and that gave me a huge wave of strength and confidence. We got to the field and as soon as the first game kicked off, there was an immediately recognizable difference from the Bamako tournament, which worked with pre-existing teams. Here in Dissan, teams were created just for this event, meaning teams hadn’t played or practiced together before. It was also a larger field with teams fielding 11 players instead of the 8 at Bamako. The style of play, although entertaining, was more along the lines of American youth soccer, with players clumping en masse around the ball. However, with regular practices and defined teams, these kids had potential, and that was highly evident within a few players that showed flashes of brilliance throughout the matches.

The audience lined the field under the shade of trees and along the side of the school facing the field. They were predominantly youth, and showed up in the 100’s to watch the action. The games had the feel of schoolyard scrimmages, which, in a sense, they were, but were still a huge source of fun and excitement amongst the players and the crowd. There were huge smiles whenever the athletes touched the ball or made a good play. The first semi-final resulted in an entertaining 0-0 draw, which went to penalties.

 During the second match, we became increasingly aware of an uneasy feeling as one team began dominating the other. Good competition is one thing, but when the score line reached 7-0, we knew something was up. After taking a closer look, we realized that one team largely outsized the other, and it didn’t take long to confirm our suspicions. Somehow, in picking teams, the second game ended up between a team of 3^rd and 4^th graders and a team of 5^th and 6^th graders, which, I don’t need to tell you, is a massive difference.

Celebrating a goal

As it would turn out, the nonschool kids weren’t playing. Highly frustrated, we began an investigation into what had happened. In the meantime, Scott suggested that I join a pickup game with the 20 somethings that had formed after the conclusion of the second match, which I did. The dust kicked up from the field stung my eyes and throat, but, as always, playing is a fantastic release from stress. And on a positive note, I scored my first goal on African soil, assisted by Sekou, and our team went on to win the game 4-1.

Following a bucket shower and dinner, I sat down with Scott, as Burama, Yacouba, and Issa, who runs a literacy program in the village (comprised of young adults who were formerly nonschool kids) and helped reorganize our tournament, discussed what had happened earlier. As someone who works with young nonschool adults, Issa took the issue to heart, and was determined to help us. Despite not being able to understand most of what he was saying due to the language barrier, the way Issa was passionately and adamantly talking proved to be a great source of relief for me. It felt wonderful to have allies like him, Burama, and Yacouba, and they vowed to resolve the issue for the second day of the tournament.

The events of the day illustrate the importance of having a strong partnership with the community these types of programs operate in. As Scott puts it, “You can’t parachute in and start a program”. We could have easily come with bags of jerseys and balls, dropped them off, snapped a few pictures, and assumed that our goals were being fulfilled. But that’s not what African Sky is about. Today showed me that without having such strong partners in the community, my project would never work. Without having partners like Issa, Burama, Yacouba, and Sekou, I would have never known that nonschool kids weren’t being included in today’s event, and I definitely would have never had the means of resolving this issue.

Day 2 of the tournament proved this.

-S