Coaches Story
Sunday September 12, 2010
The real power and substance of GRS lies in the strength of the coaches. When I first arrived, I just thought that the coaches were solely responsible for conveying the Skillz curriculum to the children. However, the coaches also have an important responsibility to serve as a counselor who is available to listen to the children’s stories. On Friday, I had the opportunity to hear some of these stories. The coaches re-told some horrific stories full of rape, HIV transmission, abuse, and assault. It was obvious that the stories weighed heavily on the coaches hearts, and it was very difficult for most to even tell these stories. I think that the coaches do an amazing job of being a positive role model in the young kids lives, and by just being there to listen and provide support. However, after being told these stories, many of the coaches expressed feelings of helplessness. They felt that they were able to do nothing to help the children, or find justice. Perhaps this can be an area that GRS hopes to improve.
*Update*
Here is a coaches story from one of my favorite coaches, Simmie.
When I was still in primary I used to visit my dad most of the weekends. Every time when would go see him, there would be a different woman. When I was 12, we had a call that my dad had past away. We went to the funeral and then they told us that he died of Aids. I didn’t know how to feel. I did not have much information about Aids. That was when I started questioning myself, whether I was positive or negative. Then my grandparents decided that I should go for an HIV test. My results came back negative. At that time I started shutting the world out. Also, people starting discriminating against my family. Even the rest of my family discriminated against my immediate family. We were stigmatized. When I went to HS I gained more information and I became resilient. When I was in grade 12, I told myself I wanted to be involved in an NGO that educated youth about HIV. I wanted to help young children who were also had the same experience as I did. I heard about GRS from my uncle and I decided to join this year after I matriculated. That is how I became resilient. If I had more information back then, when I was younger, there would have been a difference in my response to the death of my father.
A Bro in the Jo ~ Kickin' The Bucket List 