Life-Skills Education

The Girls For A Change Program in Action in Santa Ana, El Salvador, 2009Because we work in a wide variety of places, our life-skills programming adapts according to the needs of the group of youth we are working with. We use proven models of creating dialogue around important issues that are youth-led and inclusive, and believe strongly in creating space for discussion as opposed to disseminating information.  

The Girls For A Change Program: SWB has been working with Girls For A Change to deliver their program at our project sites. This innovative, youth-led program explores the concept of social change and asks young people to look at their communities and design a project that addresses a core problem they see in their communities. To date the program, SWB has run the GFC program in Kampala, Uganda and Santa Ana, El Salvador

Health Education: Sports provide valuable opportunities to talk to young people about physical and mental health. We explore nutrition, drug use, gender issues and sexual behavior and consequences with participants. The informal and comfortable setting of the soccer field helps young people talk about these difficult and often undiscussed issues in an honest fashion.

Team Building: Team building activities are designed to improve communication and understanding between a group of people. Team building exercises are often fun and allow members of the group to interact in new ways. Team building is an important aspect of creating community through sports and is done in a number of ways. These types of activities are integral for creating a safe and comfortable space for team members. 

Mirrors: A game from the theatre of the oppressed commonly used for team-building. A coaches workshop in Uganda in 2007Theatre of the Oppressed: The Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of popular theater  developed in Brazil by Augusto Boal in the early 1970s. Theatre of the Oppressed (T.O.) activities are used for a wide range of activities, including but not limited to conflict resolution and team building. T.O. creates dialogue by posing questions about issues and creatively exploring the answers to those questions. While many programs for youth incorporate a social message in their curriculum, they tend to tell participants what to think or do, rather than collectively explore the issue. Learning is always more powerful when one has to work through the issues and find solutions to problems by one’s self. With that idea in mind, this system of games and activities encourages people to find solutions and alternatives to problems they have dealt with in their lives. 

The methodology  of the Theatre of the Oppressed is based on the following educational model developed by Paulo Freire: 1) to see the situation lived by the participants; 2) to analyze the root causes of the situation 3) to act to change the situation following the precepts of social justice. Participants themselves who must describe their own situation and suggest ways of improving that situation. Therefore, the process of engaging in the Theatre of the Oppressed fosters critical thinking skills and requires participants to think about how they can act to change their world. 

Practice: Theatre of the Oppressed techniques range in complexity from very simple games to more complex and involved activities such as forum theater. In the book ”Games for Actors and non-Actors,” Boal describes the arsenal of the Theatre of the Oppressed which is considered one of the most significant collections of theatrical method. In the arsenal, one finds games such as leapfrog and musical chairs, a series of walks designed at identifying and breaking down the mechanization of the body, trust falls, human knots, image theater,  forum theater, legislative theater, and many more. The common theme of the games and exercises is that they are extremely fun and that they require people to examine the way they interact with each other, with space, and with themselves—things which are far too often overlooked. To read more, visit: www.theatreoftheoppressed.org.

 Painting a self-portrait during the storytelling program at Hope Primary School in Ndejje, Uganda 2008The Storytelling Program: We use the art of storytelling to engage youth, disseminate information in a comprehensible and fun way, and to allow youth to learn and share information across a wide range of talent, education levels, and language abilities. Storytelling is a universal and timeless art that comes in many forms (drawing, speaking, writing, photography, theater) and that, throughout time, has allowed people to communicate, teach, share ideas and pass along social warnings and messages. Soccer and storytelling complement each other perfectly in that both activities harness and encourage strengths often absent in formal education (particularly in schools with few resources). The Storytelling Program allows communities to not just receive but to actively consider and learn the inherent teachings of soccer. 

Mindfulness: Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn offers the following definition of mindfulness: “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally."

 Mindfulness is the practice of bringing your full attention and awareness into the present moment, recognizing that the past is already gone and the future is not yet here. The Mind and Body Awareness Project, which teaches mindfulness practices to at-risk and incarcerated youth, says of mindfulness, “Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life, a way of taking charge of your life, a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you—consciously and systematically working with your own stress, pain, illness, and the challenges and demands of everyday life.”

There are a variety of ways of encouraging mindfulness, many of which are quite simple in practice. One common way of encouraging mindfulness is to place your full attention on following the breath while letting go of other thoughts. Other methods include bringing one’s full attention to a ringing chime or a bell and bringing one’s full attention to the movements of walking. 

Mindfulness and Sports: Sports provide a unique opportunity for teaching mindfulness practices which increase performance on the playing field while serving as a great tool. Phil Jackson, the most successful coach in NBA history, has been one of the strongest advocates of the benefits of mindfulness techniques for increased individual and team performance. Consider the following quote from his book Sacred Hoops.

"In basketball as in life, true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way. Of course, it’s no accident that things are more likely to go your way when you stop worrying about whether you are going to win or lose and focus your full attention on what’s happening right this moment. When players practice paying attention to what’s actually happening not only do they play better and win more, they also become more attuned with each other. To succeed the team will have to expand their minds and embrace a vision in which the group imperative takes precedence over individual glory, and success comes from being awake, aware and in tune with others. Life, like basketball, is messy and unpredictable. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and an open heart. When you do that, the game—and life—will take care of itself."

Mindfulness exercises can help young athletes get centered and be more comfortable in their games. In this way, it is possible to use young athletes' desire to improve in a sport to transfer skills that will also help them connect more fully with themselves and with others.