A day of highs and lows...

Thursday 18th March

Returning to the school for the final day was amazing. Watching the way the local kids and Nicaraguans interact despite language barriers was a joy as they worked together creating more art for the exhibition, today around the theme of hope for the future. Santiago, has really taken Kieran under his wing and was busy directing their art piece and telling him what to draw and where with a bit of translation and a lot of pointing and gesturing. During the debrief the kids talked about what they had enjoyed and would remember from this experience we heard the words ‘laughter, friendship, communication, feeling special and thank you again and again’. Several of the host kids mentioned that they would remember this all their lives and I think they just might….

The Nicaraguan’s were due to play a match against the school team but were down a couple of players so they asked a very proud Kieran to step in, he looked so little running around that huge field of teenagers but they won 1-nil and I have to say this may be the highlight of his life thus far. It certainly beat hanging out the Blue Peter presenter the day before.

Leaving the school was tricky there was so much love in the air, all the Nicaraguan boys desperately getting us to translate invitations to the South African girls to invite them to the semi finals and then beautiful Kevin was signing ties like some famous footballer (man that kid is going to break some hearts.) Hilarious.

And then the street tour, there were hardly any kids around due to police round ups yesterday and then we went to one of the places they hide from the police. There were four homeless young adults there. One boy Mandale had been helped by the street ambulance a few days ago after being stabbeed he had also been beaten by police a few weeks ago. Eugene went in the ambulance to see him yesterday to remove stitches, I asked what he would have done if it wasn’t for this service and he said he would have removed them himself, the hospitals are not always that welcoming to street kids and homeless people. But then things got uncomfortable. The girl wanted a photo with Kieran, she was high on glue and Kieran just didn’t want to sit with her which she didn’t like, he was understandably nervous of her. She then started getting cross that Umthombo don’t provide shelter or food. forher. Apparently they have tried to help these guys a few times but Umthombo will not let kids dictate everything,, they have to do some things on their terms, be willing to get involved in programmes etc and now they are adults and still out there. A tourist then came up and started an argument with us about street kids, meanwhile the police were loitering around the corner and the girl was blaming us so we left. Not sure whether they were then rounded up or not which makes me uncomfortable. These kids were really adults and if they havn’t been willing to get involved in the past are not so much part of Umthombo’s remit - they tend to try to catch them young and then if they want they are hooked in for life. As Precious told us (she has been involved with the programme since 10 years old and is now 18 but Umthombo just keep working with her because she is willing to let them help on their terms.) I was left feeling like a voyeur and pretty uncomfortable, also feeling unsure about situation I was putting Kieran in. I need to rethink which parts of this experience we take part in, possibly need to stick with the more obviously positive side of the tournament and Umthombo’s work and remember he is only 8 and just a baby even if he is also a very wise little man…….

That said, I know he is getting so much out of this., watching Kieran with ‘our team’ has been a real honour and privilege as they use the language of football to communicate. Time and time again, I find him kicking a ball around with various kids, coaches etc involved in this event and this morning I left him playing table football with Andile the (ex) team Captain of the South African team and watching TV with various kids who had literally just come off the streets for the night. These guys do not make him uncomfortable, perhaps because they are younger, perhaps because they are away from the streets for a time each day. Safe Space is a centre where the kids can hang out all day and take part in programmes such as surfing and football. The idea is to keep the kids away from street life for as much time as possible and give them interests. Unfortunately at night they have to go back to the streets ,whilst safe space struggle with the legal battle that will allow them to provide shelter at night. (hopefully in time for the World Cup) In the meantime, most of the kids sleep under the Umthombo sign just outside the door and a member of staff sleeps inside and if there is any trouble they come out and protect them.

You know what I really love about this tournament? Seeing kids being kids, playing, being sweet and naïve and just like our kids, I still don’t know their stories and that is just fine, they are ‘our team’, kids form Nicaragua who are good at football. And tonight they all got to eat popcorn and watch a film at the cinema. Man you should have seen the popcorn…..