An Inside Look

So how does an ever-expanding organization continue to grow while still holding true to its vision? By meeting weekly.

Since the beginning of the New Year we’ve been meeting each week as a staff here at Ubuntu. For a couple of hours each Thursday morning we stop what we’re doing and meet. These meetings have not only brought us closer together as a team but have been highly beneficial to our operations as an organization. Because many different things must happen to keep Ubuntu running (marketing/business, Academy, football programs, transport) and growing as it is, each team member focuses a little more directly on certain areas. Meeting each week has allowed us to report back on those more specific fields and keep everybody on the same page with everything we have going on.

These meetings have also been a time to pray together as a team, hear from each other and also to share some laughs together. I feel like I’ve grown to love what we’re doing even more through these meetings too. I’m consistently shown more of Casey and Michael’s heart for Ubuntu each week at these meetings and how they want to impact the young men of Africa through it. Which has been very cool. Because as much time as we spend out on the field together it’s cool to be reminded of their heart behind it all as well.

Looking forward to keeping you updated,

Austin

And the Verdict is...

Exciting update written by Austin on the Ubuntu Football Blog.  Please check it out there... http://ubuntufootball.com/?p=409

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

At Ubuntu we’ve been training our Academy boys since the beginning of January. At our pre-season camp we set the standard high with timed runs and focused training sessions. Coming back from camp we continued with our high standards for 2012 and kept at it on the training field. The boys have been getting more fit and yet it’s still pre-season. Or I should say was. Because today marks the first official day that “club soccer” starts at Fish Hoek (the club Ubuntu has partnered with and plays at). That means on Tuesdays and Thursdays there’ll be 60-70 Fish Hoek boys at training in each age group instead of just our core group. Ubuntu Football Academy trains separately on Mondays and Wednesdays and the boys train with Fish Hoek on Tuesdays and Thursdays (which we run).

So that said, our level of expectation for the boys at tonight’s training is high. Last night at the end of practice, Casey reminded them that while all of the boys coming to play at Fish Hoek tomorrow evening have just been sitting around we’ve been training hard since the start of January. Therefore we expect our boys to stand out and to set the bar tonight. They should look sharper on the ball, be more fit, and really set the tone out on the field tonight. We also told them they should be outgoing on the field meeting the new players. On multiple levels we hope our Academy boys stand out. And a part of me wants to tell them, “You should come in with a little bit of pride knowing that you’ve been training harder and longer and at a higher level than the other players out there. That you should have some pride because you’re a part of the Ubuntu Academy so therefore you should put pride in the drills that will go on tonight. You should put pride in being first at the fitness drills. That you should make an effort to meet the new boys at Fish Hoek and make them feel welcome."  However, I also must realize that our Academy boys are still only 12 and 13 years old and still have lots of learning to do.

So as tonight kicks off the first Fish Hoek practice, in which kids from all over this area will be there, the rubber is going to meet the road. All of the training our boys have been doing since January is going to be displayed against all the other kids showing up for tonight’s first practice. Will there be a dramatic difference from our Ubuntu Academy boys and the rest of the boys? Only tonight will tell. So that said, I’m looking very forward to what tonight’s training session at Fish Hoek holds!

Will let you know how things go,

Austin

Holly is running a 1/2 Marathon

One of our old youth group students, Holly Bryce Rizk, who recently visited us in Cape Town, is running a 1/2 Marathon in April to raise money for Ubuntu.  Please check out her causevox site and support her endeavor!  Thanks, Holly!!

Casey

Fundraiser Post

We need to tell you a secret.  We've been holding on to it for a while.
We have just launched our new Ubuntu Football website: www.ubuntufootball.com
This site is specifically dedicated to our work in South Africa, and we're really excited to have it out there.  It contains it's own blog from within, so you can go to 1 spot for everything you need to know.  We'll still be using our ubuntusports.org site for our American audience, so you can still send people there.
Please load it onto your google reader and visit often.  Send your friends along to it as well.  We've blogged there about our first golf day fundraiser yesterday, so check that out there.

Cheers,
Casey

Staying Long Enough

Today marks 4 ½ months that I’ve been serving here in Ocean View, South Africa. One of the most eye opening experiences I’ve had so far though is when the group of Elon students came to help us the other Thursday and Friday. Because they were only here for a couple of days, I realized their experience in Ocean View was dramatically different than mine.

For example--to the Elon students, hearing that we couldn’t use the multi-purpose center in Ocean View didn’t quite make sense.  Over time though I’ve found out it’s rarely allowed to be used because it was overrun with people drinking and using drugs on it and so it was shut down completely. There’s history behind it. But even as we walked in Ocean View, the flats and people the Elon students saw were only that. Overcrowded and run down flats with a large coloured population living there.  For me though it’s completely different. It’s the community I call home. It’s where I stay and it’s become a part of my identity. It’s a place that is being restored and brought back to life with genuine, down to earth people living here. Something that you wouldn’t know if you don’t stay long enough to meet and get to know the people living here.

In staying here for 4 1/2 months now things have changed for me. It’s been a transformation in the way I view the people I came to serve. They are no longer “the coloured people living in Ocean View” but rather my good friends who I live with in Ocean View. I’ve been here long enough to see that I’m not necessarily the one with all the resources to all of their needs. An attitude that was easy to have coming from the background I do going into a more broken community such as Ocean View. Rather, I’ve begun to experience that they’re the ones who have all the resources to all of my needs.

I believe that kind of transformation can only come with enough time. Something that’s been very cool to experience firsthand.

Austin