EWB Football Team: Final Score 7-7

Here's my first in a series of short stories & reflections on the trip...  One of the highlights of the Spring trip for me was our final day with the school.  With most of our work like health surveys and school assessment winding down, and the last little bit waiting on supplies Charlie & Jimmy were getting in Kisumu, we had a chance to spend the last day with the kids.

Safa had bought a football (soccer) ball in the Amsterdam airport, and finally managed to buy a pump for it in Kisumu. We saved this big reveal for the last day.  Once he reached into his bag and pulled out the inflated ball(no branded with a sharpie C-paw) the kids gave out a collective cheer.  After running around the field a few times chasing the ball in a mob, some order set in.  Every 10 minutes, two more teams of students would switch out playing each other.
This was all leading up to our turn, when we would face off against the kids.  As our turn approached it started to rain and the field quickly became a giant mud puddle.  Finally it was time, and along with some of the teachers from Otho Abwao, we faced the all-star team of the Otho Abwao school.

In the pouring rain, we gave it our all and managed to come up with an early lead.  The rest of Otho Abwao's school children watched intently from the sidelines cheering us on.  Every time we scored a goal, we'd celebrate in ridiculous fashion such as arms flailing like an airplane or over-the-top chest bumps, which caused tons of laughter from our spectators.

However, the students had a ridiculous amount of stamina and soon they were catching up to us.  The score was 7-6 us, and our entire team exhausted, soaking wet, and covered in mud from while still still having a blast.  We agreed to play a sudden death finale: next goal wins.  While I would draw this out and build on the suspense of missed goals and extreme athleticism, I'm guessing you read the post title, and therefore know that the Otho Abwao children emerged victorious from an intense and incredibly fun game.

As you can see from the first photo, we definitely gave it our all, and were pretty serious about our soccer.  In future trips, we might need to add a question about soccer skills on the trip application.  We also might have to start doing daily practice to hone the skills of our team.  This definitely was a blast and despite losing, it felt amazing being drenched, dirty and exhausted, knowing you'd given every once of effort while having an immensely fun time.  But until next time, Otho Abwoa has a new soccer ball as their trophy from their victory of the first ever EWB football tournament.