Last Sunday afternoon our family checked in with culture by turning on the TV for a football game. As we watched the Super Bowl, I found myself reflecting on the entirely different game of fútbol I watched last summer.
I serve on the board of WaterAfrica, a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds for villagers in rural Zambia who need Water, Sanitation and Hygiene resources (WASH). WaterAfrica partners with World Vision for the work “in the field” – our fundraising supports World Vision’s WASH work in Zambia. Last summer I was in Zambia with WaterAfrica and World Vision. We had a quiet Sunday afternoon and several of us wandered over to the field near our hotel and watched the fútbol game in progress.
Fútbol is a big deal in Zambia and their national team holds the 2012 Africa Cup title. Out in the villages the kids play with balls that look like this:
At the end of our trip this past summer we had a final meeting at World Vision’s WASH office and after the meeting World Vision had arranged for our sponsored children to meet me there.
Hadsome is the kid in the green shirt. He constantly moves and loves to kick a fútbol. When I met him at his home two years ago we threw a frisbee and played ball.
During this visit I was kicking a soccer ball with him when we were joined by Dr. Emmanuel Opong. Dr. Opong is the director of World Vision’s Southern Africa WASH program. I traveled with him on my previous trip to Zambia and have heard his story, listened to his vision and watched him engage the villagers with remarkable grace and challenge. Dr. Opong grew up in Ghana, knowing firsthand the realities of life without good WASH. Now, he is a highly educated, experienced and thoughtful program director.
That ball was a gift to Hadsome, but watching Dr. Opong stop his work to play with Hadsome was a gift to me.
“The story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all.” Frederick Beuchner
In that moment I saw goodness and hope in play on a dusty parking lot in a little town in Zambia. I carried my own crazy mixed up life story miles from home, across continents and water to this place I have come to love in all its incredible beauty and possibility complicated by poverty and disadvantage. I’ve invested my skills and our money in the work of this man and the potential of this boy.
As we continue to send our love and support, I pray Hadsome has opportunities and encouragement to make good choices as he navigates the challenges of his road ahead. May he learn strength and courage for the moments when he can’t see the path.
And may he continue to find joy in fútbol. Perhaps someday he’ll turn around and kick that ball to another little wide-eyed kid who just took his first car ride and wants to be the captain of a ship when he grows up.