Morgan’s Diary – February 8, 2017
Morgan’s Diary – February 8, 2017,
I started my morning by visiting Lawaan Elementary school, where I met the boys and girls football players who attend the school. We arrived at the school and I was immediately greeted by the school children who looked at me with amazement. To them I am very tall, and white. One child even compared his arm to mine saying “I am coffee, you are milk.” For many of the people that I have met here, I am seen as very different, as they usually don’t have many tourists in this area of Talisay. I met up with Zen (Rhosners wife) as she is a teacher for grade two. She took me to a classroom where all of the football children were waiting for me. They had put up the most welcoming sign and had a bouquet of red roses waiting for me. I have never felt more welcomed before.
I started by introducing myself and giving a small speech about dreams, goals and staying in school. We watched some short films about Philippines and then was given a brief overview of how the Razkal football teams first started. The boys from the Razkal team then got up and performed a song and dance for me. It was so special and cute! Many of the boys, their parents and I walked to the Don Bosco Missionary Seminary which is the first place that the Razkals practiced when they first started in 2010. We all together went shopping for training ladders, footballs (futsals- indoor footballs) for the girls. It was quite overwhelming with all of us going through the malls, but I loved how we were a little pack, and you could really see the support from the boys parents.
Ronan explained to me that the girls team gets minimal support from their parents as it isn’t so common/mainstream for girls to play football and some parents have this perception that their children should be compensated for every tournament that they play. Despite receiving limited support or even going against their parents wishes, they still make the committment to play. Even better, the girls play for themselves, not for anyone else. Perhaps this is the reason why they have succeeded so much. I have expressed that it would be really great for the parents to get more involved in the girls playing. The girls play a game on Sunday, where I am hoping that some of the girls parents will come out to cheer them on!
Morgan Young
Lööf Foundation representative
