Stevie, Lisa and Jacques with the donated gear, January 2010

On January 17, 2010, SWB Interns Stevie Dunning and Lisa Clark landed at Entebbe airport, weighed down with bulging bags of soccer gear and art supplies, headed for the community of Ndejje, where they will live and work for the next six months. Over the last year and a half, we finalized construction of a youth center that serves as an office for SWB and HOPE (Helping People of All Ethnicities, a locally run NGO that serves to urban refugee families in the area), a meeting space for the community and a classroom space for educational activities. Stevie and Lisa will be working to begin offering consistent after school soccer and educational programming out of the center, as well working with HOPE school students during the school day. Follow along with their process and adventures on their blog: www.swbuganda.blogspot.com

A quick highlight from their blog is a final count of the gear they were able to bring with them in their luggage:

The final count of our equipment:

Shoes/Cleats: 154
Soccer Socks: 110
Soccer Balls: 59
Soccer Shorts: 85
Soccer Pinnies:29
Soccer Pumps: 5
GK Jerseys: 4
Soccer Cones: 4
Miscellaneous: 1 large ream of paper, 2 large boxes of crayons, 3 bottles of tempera paint, 1 watercolor set, A couple dozen paintbrushes and pencils, 8 Nancy Drew books (yes, you read that right…they never fail)

This is a truly impressive amount of materials for two people to carry and it will be put to very good use by the girls and boys in Ndejje. SWB would like to thank everyone who donated equipment and money to make this project possible. And good luck to you Stevie and Lisa, we are all thinking of you!