Hvert kvartal må idrettsfredskorpserne gi Norges Idrettsforbund en oppsummering av oppholdet vårt, og innlegget jeg deler med dere nå ble skrevet i forbindelse med forrige rapport. I rapportens punkt åtte får vi beskjed om å:
(...) give an example of a positive experience either
from work, the host family or from the community you live in. Please formulate
this as a story.
“No, don’t leave yet. We have something we want to discuss with you”, he said.
I stopped and waited for Francis to tell me whatever it was that he wanted to share with me, but suddenly, Francis seemed lost for words. In the silence that ensued, I realized that all of the players were looking at me, but whenever I tried to make eye contact with someone, they would look away. Have I done something wrong, I asked myself, why is everybody looking at me?
Ghary broke the uncomfortable silence when he shouted something to Francis. It was in Tonga, so I did not understand a word of it, but at least someone had opened their mouth again. Ghary repeated whatever it was that he had said to Francis in the first place, and I could tell by the look of Francis’ face that he was about to translate something from Tonga to English:
“We were wondering…”, a new silence followed while Francis was looking for the right words, “If you would like to coach the team for the rest of your stay?”.
Awkward silence once again, but this time it was up to me to break it. I was surprised – pleasantly surprised – and I had a hard time finding the right words. Eventually I managed to squeeze out a "sure". I remember thinking, I should say something more, and even though I can’t remember exactly what I said, it must have been funny (or silly for that matter), because everyone started laughing.
I have enjoyed my stay in Siakasipa from day one, but the moment Francis asked me to coach the team sticks out as one of the most memorable moments. I would be lying if I said that football had nothing to do with it, because all footballers enjoys getting recognition from other footballers. However, this was about something else.
Acceptance
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