The One with Rainbows and Smiling Children

So, I have yet to read Stephen's blog post about how his fútbol game in La Fraternidad/ Campolandia went down, but I've heard him describe it over the phone, and to me it sounds more like a plot to an episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia than it does the life of development worker.

My story is the complete opposite (sorta the point of this new combo blog venture).  My fútbol game doesn't feature guns or fighting, but it does remind you that "Honduras doesn't always have to win," and that sometimes the simplest of things can make a huge difference to a small community.

Quick Thought: I feel that Latin America's connection to the game of fútbol could be rather easily harnessed to catalyze development and increase community involvement. For the bad wrap that stadium construction gets in numerous urban planning circles back in the states, it might actually be a way for poorer Latin American municipalities to improve their local economies and strengthen or create an environment conducive to extensive community involvement. 

Basically, if you plop down a soccer field in the middle of town, the people will come and good things will happen. The people will buy ice cream, beer, and bags of churros, which helps local business who all operate on very small profit margins, meaning they need to generate a high volume sales to be profitable (think how many Lps. 3 bags water you need to sell in order to make a profit). Not only that, but when you involve local kids and community members, you make the contacts necessary to work on other community projects in the future. This is an idea I want to run with later, and it could serve as an excellent side article to that thesis I've been needing/meaning/wanting to write. 

So if you've read other blog posts of mine regarding Jutiapa's park restoration project, you'll probably know that this is a project that has required a lot of "patience." That is not to say that there haven't been some great moments, but "Embracing the Chaos" is harder than you think. Another thing I would like to do is write up some very pointed critiques of my work to document the mistakes I made, but for now on to my game of fútbol.

The day commenced with a very fortuitous sign.

After more than six months of planning and work we opened the first phase of our park restoration to hundreds of Jutiapeños, the Vice-Minister of the Interior (and rising political star), a freaking rainbow, and a big-time game, by local fútbol standards, played under the lights and celebrated with hundreds of people.

Jutiapa's Police Chief speaking in coordination with the community's anti-violence campaign

Our inaguration kicked off with the traditional opening ceremony, which I'm sure other PCVs know all to well. At our "Principal Table" sat management of ENEE (the electric company), myself, repersentatives of the Municipalidad, the Vice Ministra (Carmen Rivera) of the Interior, the Police Chief, and a community repersentative. Local televesion channels were present, capturing every moment (meaning I made Honduran TV in La Ceiba, the equivalnet of Rockford, Illinois public access haha). Everyone, including myself had to give a speech. During the Vice-Ministra's speech it became evident how much of a politica she really is becoming. During the speech she actually cajoled the management of ENEE into making sure he took care of two missing lights for the field. She did this in front of the large assembled audience, which had to take some serious ganas. Her comment loosely translated into, "Sir, I see you still have some more work to do with fixing those two missing lights. I'm sure that will be taken care of in the coming days, no?"

Teams lined up for the opening ceremony. Note the church in the background. Great pic.

At the end of the ceremony we were able to present dozens of youth with sports equipment that had been graciously provided by the organization Sports Gift, which is based out of California, but there generosity would not have been possible if it weren't for the help of the Orange County Peace Corps Association, NaviVan, and the Higher Ground Family Church in Louisiana.   
    
The work is not done, a point I made sure to bring up multiple times during the day. While this project is taking me a lot longer than originally planned, I like the progress we are now making. It is great to see fruits of your labor, but it is even better to see what is going on behind the scenes. The strengthening of the Sports Committee's capacity is by far my biggest and most unseen challenge, but it is also the work I am most proud of, since the park and futbol field mean nothing if they aren't maintained. 

After the ceremony we started our tournament, which went really well. Teams from all over Jutiapa came to play on our new field, and it was incredible to watch how happy everyone was to be playing on such a professional surface. A Canadian Couchsurfer who had been crashing at my apartment for a  few days made the comment that, "...you must feel like a rockstar." as people continuously came up to me to make a comment on the field and how proud they were that it was in Jutiapa. I can't express how good that felt. Hearing those comments made if feel like all of the fijese ques, missed or canceled meetings, professional incompetence, false starts, and frustration disappear. In Honduras, you need those small victories to keep going, since it is really easy to feel like Honduras is always winning.

After passing most of the day on my balcony, the time for the big game came. We turned on the lights, shook hands, and the people crowded around the field, ranchero music blasting from their parked cars. Even though I hadn't played fútbol in nearly 10 years I was forced to acquiesce at the insistence of my counterpart, Oscar. Expecting to play only 10 minutes, I went out pretty hard, completely forgetting how much running you actually have to do. Our team ended up getting killed by a score of 5-0, but unlike La Fraternidad, no guns were pulled and the people returned to the quiet of a Sunday night in Jutiapa.

The first game under the lights on the new field.

Cheers,


Jesse