To Argentina and Brazil

A day of painting

These past two weeks I had the opportunity to travel to Argentina and Brazil with my soccer team from Swarthmore College. It was a chance to experience the sport in places where it is more than a just a game, it is a way of life. On top of an education in soccer (and believe me we were definitely taught some things by the South America teams we played), the trip gave my team and I the chance to learn two different languages, and immerse ourselves in the culture of the various places we traveled.

One experience I especially want to highlight was our trip to an Argentinian Day Care for children who come from difficult homes. We woke up bright and early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and then drove about 45 minutes to the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We turned into a pretty impoverished residential area, and as we navigated our way in a giant charter bus through the narrow dirt streets, residents definitely sent some inquisitive looks. We arrived at the Day Care, Hogar de Dia, Jesus de Belen. We we greeted by the mom and daughter team, ages 65 and 45 respectively. They explained that about 13 years ago they had saved up enough money to buy an apartment in Beunos Aires, but had decided instead to come to the outside of town to start up the day care. The prupose of the Day Care is to provide a safe place for children, for ages up to 13, who come from homes that may have problems with violence or alcohol abuse. They provide two meals a day. They also provide education for the parents, on how to raise their children.

The surrounding neighborhood around the day care.



The Day Care center "Hogar de Dia, Jesus de Belen" with our soccer team and the children.

We painted the Dare Care center, the playground equipment, and the outside fence. Half way through the production the children who attend the center arrived and scurried around as we painted. I tried to speak some Spanish, and a few of the guys who are more fluent than me were talking to the children for ages. They joked and learned about Argentina and the children learned about the US. We ate a traditional Argentinean lunch with them, chorizo sausage, black sausage, and steak all cooked on an outdoor brick grill behind the center. After that some of the guys played soccer with the children there and it was an all around wild and fun time. The kids were asking for our autographs and made us feel like celebrities. Also, a few of the guys on the team asked for one of the children's autograph. His name was Pablo and he was a sensational soccer player. Hopefully the day care can provide him with more of a chance to excel at the sport in the future.


Some of the playground.


Andrew Hoot (far right) was in charge of the detailed painting.


Jeff Kushner and Adreas Lagos using some interesting painting techniques.


The children asking sophomore Morgan Langley for his autograph.

This trip represents how education and sport can team up to help and a community. Swarthmore College and the Men's soccer team provided me with this great opportunity to travel to another country and learn about another culture. It was an education lesson outside of the classroom and and off the soccer field. It was a time to immerse ourselves in their lives and understand even for a little while, how they lived, how they spoke, and realize how fortunate we are in the US. A person can be told a million times the conditions in which others live, but experiencing the place first hand really effects one deeply. It was an experience I will never forget.