One of the hardest parts of this job, as I was well warned about prior to getting here, is not being able to see or measure the change or outcomes of all the work I put in. We strive to set these girls up for success by building up their confidence, teaching them how to cooperate and work in a group setting, and exposing them to some incredible role models (the Nica coaches) during their formative pre-teen and teenage years. The girls always have a blast at activity nights and practices and games, but it doesn't change the fact that some of their parents have left to go work in Costa Rica where the tourism industry is more profitable and these young girls are left to take care of their even younger siblings. It doesn't change the fact that the majority of these girls won't have enough money to afford to go to college. This program may change them individually, but structurally there are still giant roadblocks that exist in the way of their success, and it's hard not to feel helpless sometimes. But then there was Lizbeth.
I am in the process of doing individual house visits for each of the girls on my team, and on Friday I went to Lizbeth's house. She is one of the participants that has been coming to Fútbol Sin Fronteras for the longest amount of time (since 2009) and she is definitely one of the leaders on the Estrellas, and gets along very well with everybody on the team. She lives in a barrio right across the street from Tres Pisos in a small house with a blue wooden frame, a red front door, and a tin roof. I showed up right as her mom was leaving for work, which was unfortunate because I have two sets of questions for these house visits- one for the participant, and one for the "responsable" (parent/guardian) It ended up being okay though, because Lizbeth is probably the smartest girl in Nicaragua and had no problem answering all my questions eloquently and in depth. Lizbeth and I have an ongoing joke that Justin Bieber is my boyfriend, which always gets her riled up because she is pretty convinced that Justin Bieber is her boyfriend. (I don't even really like or know anything about Justin Bieber, it's just my shameless way of getting to know these girls better by relating to them on their level)
A side note: Nicaraguans don't really understand how big, and how many people live in the United States, and therefore they're convinced that we know all the celebrities. When we first got here, our sleezy landlord attempted to raise our monthly rent by 180% which is simply unheard of. We argued with him and told him that we are a non-profit organization and don't have enough money to pay that and we would have to move out. He didn't believe us, and argued back, "But your candidate is a millionaire!" Thoroughly confused by what he meant, Larkin and Mary finally put the pieces together. "What? Mitt Romney?! We don't know him!" Also, all my Estrellas think I'm lying to them when I say I don't personally know any singers or actors from the United States. Either that, or they think I'm super lame for not having any famous friends.
Anyways. I started the conversation by telling her that Justin is doing well, and he really wants to come visit me but he's too busy in the studio. I also informed her that he decided to shave his head, which made her scream "¡Nooooo! Que bonito su pelo." (Noooo! His hair is so beautiful) Oh, the world of a twelve year old girl. I told her I was joking, and she breathed a sigh of relief, and then we continued on with the conversation. I asked about her daily life, who she lives with, what her daily routine is like etc. She lives with her mom, her two older sisters, her uncle, and many cousins in two separate houses attached by a small courtyard in between them. It is a pretty standard living situation for families in Granada. Lizbeth is up by 5:30am to shower, eat breakfast, and off to school around 6:40. She attends Guadalupe, a catholic private school around the corner from our office.
Digging a little deeper, I asked her what has been the greatest challenge in her life or something that she feels has greatly impacted the person she is today. Without getting too specific or detailed, she responded that for awhile her biggest challenge was simply "sentirse apoyada" or feeling supported. She mentioned that her mom is a huge support for her and always keeps tabs on where she is, who she's with, and whether or not she feels safe (a difficult feat for a lot of working mothers here) but she feels a large lack of support from her dad who seems to be out of the picture, from what I gathered. While this has been a struggle for her, she says she feels thankful that her mom is so supportive of everything she does, and she feels that her teammates and coaches at FSF have been a great support system as well. I had to pause and remember I was talking to a twelve year old girl. Clearly, she's well beyond her years in maturity, but is also handling the lack of a father figure with incredible grace and a positive perspective.
My questions progressed into why she started coming to Fútbol Sin Fronteras in the first place, why she keeps coming, and what she hopes to achieve through her participation. Lizbeth was an interesting subject to interview in this regard because she has been coming for so long. She told me that one day on her walk home from school, her best friend Hasly (another Estrella) took a wrong turn and Lizbeth asked where she was going. "C'mon we're going to Fútbol Sin Fronteras to play soccer!" she said. Lizbeth replied, "What? That sport is for boys." It was funny hearing about her initial reaction to the idea of girls playing soccer, but also very telling of how much this program has accomplished in its four short years of establishment. The girls don't think twice anymore about sweating, getting dirty, and playing a contact sport whereas before the lack of opportunity to play, societal pressures and cultural resistance kept them excluded. Lizbeth also mentioned that through her participation, she has learned how to get along and cooperate with all the other girls and Flaca and Techo taught her that if she concentrates on something and puts in her best effort she will be able to achieve her goals. As a follow up type of question, I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. "Una ingeniera de sistemas," she promptly answered me. (A systems engineer) Wow. "Is math your favorite subject?" I asked. She answered, "Yes. A lot of people think it's boring but for me it's exciting. I love the feeling when I can finally solve a problem after thinking it through for awhile. I just like to figure things out. I also like English." Lizbeth is one of my girls who loves to greet me in English to practice what she is learning in school. I asked her what they are studying in English now. "Ocupaciones," (Occupations) she said. "Sé que lechero es milkman, tendero es grocer, verdulero es green grocer, conductor es driver." She began rattling off the terms she knew. I noticed that none of the occupations she listed require a degree. "Sabes como decir ingeniera?" I asked. (Do you know how to say engineer?) She didn't, so I told her, and she repeated it to herself a few times. She smiled. "I want to be an engineer," she stated in heavily accented but good English. I smiled back. She pulled out her textbook to show me the section they were working on, and not one of the occupations in the text book required any type of higher education. It's hard to dream big if you're presented with a limited number of options.
Lizbeth is a warm, charismatic, smart, mature, funny, and strong twelve year old girl. She gets up, showers, and eats breakfast every morning before heading to school. She has a giant celebrity crush on Justin Bieber. She comes home, does her homework, and watches one of her favorite television shows that comes on at 2pm. She has plans for her future. She is learning a second language. She has dealt with a family issue. She is very much like any twelve year old girl in the United States (except for I don't know a lot of twelve year old girls that want to be systems engineers), and yet she was born in Nicaragua and faces a whole different world of problems.
While it may be discouraging to think about all the ways in which Lizbeth's successful future lies out of my control, I left Lizbeth's house with a newfound confidence in the work I am doing here. Not only did Fútbol Sin Fronteras convince Lizbeth that soccer is not only for boys, it has helped her to dream big. She has goals, she has self-confidence, and she feels "apoyada" by her teammates and her coaches. I found a Babe Ruth quote that says, "It's hard to beat a person who never gives up." Despite the structural barriers to success, Lizbeth is gonna be a hard one to beat.
Amor, paz, y fútbol
KPope
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