Good News!

I thought today I’d take the time to update you on our Bola Bola campaign with the kids.

Susi, Me, Kendall, Fabri
(some of our Bola Bola kids)

First off: we got the $20,000 grant from the municipality!!  This is a huge hurdle that we have successfully jumped and it feels great, let me tell you.  The kids are thrilled, Rachel and I are so proud, and the whole community is pleased with our efforts.  We are continuing to spread the news of this most recent success but it seems as if word spreads like wildfire and more people already know about it all than we think.  Now it’s time to celebrate!  We have plans in the making for a time of pizza by the pool for all those who’ve worked hard for this.  I’ll let you know how that goes :)

But… there’s a twist.  Another hurdle to jump.  Another bridge to build and then cross. (Isn’t it always that way?).  The $20,000 isn’t enough to fix the whole court.  According to the Municipality and their fancy plans, it’s only enough to dig up the old court, prepare the ground, and build the roof.  Seriously?!?  What good is a roof when the ground is still a pad of mud?  Ok, I admit, getting a roof is a HUGE accomplishment and we are extremely happy about that. 

What else is there?  Well, we have the roof.  Check.  What we still need is the cement floor (and the painted lines too, please).  And we need fencing (so that we stop losing our soccer balls to the surrounding rooftops).  That’s it, just those three things: roof, floor, fencing.  So, we’re 1/3 of the way done (though the roof will cost the most so maybe we’re more like half done).  Apparently we have more work to do.

Playing soccer in the dark

What now?  We spoke with our local political representative and she told us we might have a chance to ask for another grant yet this year with another governmental body—the district committee (the first grant came from the county committee).  What we have to do is present something so persuasive that they can’t refuse us.  So we’ve begun that process, turned on our creative juices, and got back to work.  We are going to create a video, take pictures, and write up a statistical report on the uses and potential for the court in the community.  It’s going to be epic, I can feel it.  The only thing is, we have to get it done and present it by the end of the year.  Basically, this will be the last thing I do with Bola Bola before I leave in December.  Sniff sniff.  But I am so proud of every one of these kids, for all the hard work they’ve done, for sticking with it when it was hard or boring.  I know I’m leaving this in good hands :)

If you’re interested in hearing more about this campaign and the community organizing theory that’s gone on behind the scenes, let me know.  Rachel, Guissell and I have a blog about it and it’s a great tool to stay in touch with the campaign.  It’s a private blog (to keep away from prying eyes), so I need to send you an invite.  If this interests you at all, just send me you’re email address and I can get you an official invitation.

Stay tuned as we continue to fight for our court and work together to win this!