It’s last
Monday, the late afternoon sun has cooled down a little, and I’m walking from
my house on the hill down to the school carrying a sack full of Frisbees and
orange cones. It rained earlier and my feet are slipping and sliding on the
muddy trail. I cross the creek, go past the church, and come to the two long
rows of houses along the river – downtown Vigía. Then I pull out my whistle,
blowing it loudly as I walk. Looking up I see heads start poking out of stilted
houses above me and kids come running from all directions yelling, “Benjamín,
we gonna practice today?” I say, “Yeah, I told you that yesterday. Let’s go!” A
parade of boys and girls starts growing around me as we make our way to the
field. Ramiro and Luis jump down from a mango tree to join us. I see Delicio and
Albeiro swimming in the river and yell at them. They call back, “We’re coming!”
I tell everybody to warm up, empty the bag onto the field, and watch as discs
go flying in all directions. And so another Ultimate Frisbee practice begins.
 |
| Get excited for Ultimate Frisbee in Nuevo Vigía! |
My primary
job as a Peace Corps Environmental Health Volunteer is to work with my
community in the areas of clean water and sanitation. However that doesn’t mean
I can’t do other things with my time as well. I’m free to choose my own
secondary projects, which could be anything from home gardening to youth
development. Having spent a significant amount of time in the same community as
a development worker, I can see how behavior change is a difficult and painfully
slow process. The thing is when people are set in their habits it can be very
difficult to get them to change, even if it’s for their own good. One time I
gave a talk to a group of community members on how to protect our water source
from contamination. Miromel, an older guy, interrupted me to ask why the river
was never contaminated before now. I told him it was, just nobody ever told him
until now. I don’t stand much of a chance trying to convince an old man that he
should stop drinking dirty water, when he’s been drinking from that river his
whole life.
On the
other hand, kids and young adults are more open to new ideas and well, more
impressionable. Early on in my time here I realized that I could have a real
impact on youth, which make up a large part of the community (almost half of
the population is under the age of 15). So I decided to get involved with the
local school. Unfortunately the education system is pretty difficult to work
with which is a whole different story. Early on, the way I connected with the
younger generation was through what they spend most of their free time on –
sports. Their favorites are football (not the American kind), baseball, and basketball.
The first time I brought out my Frisbee to play with the kids they were very intrigued
at how that plastic plate, as they called it, flew through the air. After some
of them learned how to throw it, I would get asked several times every day when
we could play next. So with help from a non-profit called Ultimate Without Borders, I decided to start my own Ultimate
Frisbee youth club.
 |
| Ken from UWB teaching some strategy |
 |
| Reach for it! |
I love
seeing boys and girls go from being frustrated at not knowing how to throw a
Frisbee, to having a big smile as they see the disc fly through the air out of
their hand. During the Ultimate clinic one of the 5th graders,
Rumildo, ran up to me and said, “Benjamín, we’re learning!” Although challenging,
one of my favorite parts is getting the girls to participate (boys normally
don’t play together with girls, so it’s an adjustment). The other day during
one of our practices Elizabela made a diving catch in the end zone to score.
The boys were quite impressed. The fact that she was wearing a paruma, the
traditional Emberá skirt, didn’t slow her down.
The idea is
to use the sport as a platform for a youth development program. The lessons
they learn about playing Ultimate, such as teamwork and positive attitudes,
also apply to their lives. I’ll be taking them through a course on how to
develop their strengths to set and achieve life goals. And they think they’re
just having fun playing a game. Setting goals to work toward is sort of foreign
concept to them. Most kids don’t think much about what they’ll do after middle
school, if they even graduate. Many of them simply follow the footsteps of
their parents and work in the fields. The fortunate ones that can continue on
to high school in the nearest city will have more potential and opportunities.
But if they have no direction or confidence they might not get far. My goal is
to help this group be more prepared for their future.
 |
| All smiles going for the disc |
If the kids
learn nothing else, what I would like to get across is that sports are more fun
when you have a positive attitude and build each other up. I see it from the
littlest boys and girls playing marbles to their dads playing basketball, such
negative attitudes that come with competition. When somebody makes a mistake,
their teammates yell at them that they don’t know how to play (“¡No sabes!”).
I’m trying to teach them to encourage each other instead of tearing each other
down. One time I kicked a kid out of a game for saying, “¡No sabes!” Nobody
else has said it again since. I give prizes to the best “bucket fillers” after
each practice for those who say encouraging words to their team during the
games. For them it’s a strange idea to use positive reinforcement, but they are
starting to get used to it.
 |
| My jovenes learning about team spirit |
After every
practice I’m usually exhausted from trying to keep so many kids under control
at once. I’ve never considered myself a natural teacher, so leading this youth
group is stretching. But I think it’s worth it when I get to spend some quality
time with attention starved kids. I know that they are the future of Nuevo
Vigía, and I only hope that I can have some small positive impact on their
lives.
I am planning on sending two of the kids from my team to an Ultimate Frisbee youth development camp in February. It will be a great opportunity for youth from all over Panama to learn how to be leaders in their communities. If you would like to support the camp you can donate at the Peace Corps website:
I am planning on sending two of the kids from my team to an Ultimate Frisbee youth development camp in February. It will be a great opportunity for youth from all over Panama to learn how to be leaders in their communities. If you would like to support the camp you can donate at the Peace Corps website:
