Monday, September 15, 2008

America v. Japan

A group of PCVs played basketball against a group of JAICA volunteers last Saturday afternoon. Taka really loves basketball, so he organized the event at Bishop Mckenzie International School. America won two games, 11-3, 11-8. The second game was closer because we played full court instead of 3/4 court. Full court wore us down since JAICA had 2 subs to rest their runners. Also, our gentle giant, Ben, was playing barefoot. We co-mingled the third game to make it more even (the first pass-in was to the wrong player).

1 comment:

Andrew Berglund said...

Hi Brian,
I just heard from Julia, and she told me you were starting a chess club in Africa. I would like to encourage you in that direction. When I was teaching students at risk in the Shakopee Junior High I used to do quite a few different activities with my students in an attempt to break down barriers, and foster self respect. In addition to more orthodox class projects, we would have in-class hot dog parties, play touch football (out side), and play chess. At first they were not thrilled with the idea of learning chess, but as soon as the first few started catching on, and winning, they started really liking it. As I taught them, I was always careful to let them win. Gradually as they were strong enough players, they were able to take a few losses. We talked about chess in terms of many real life metaphors, and they learned critical thinking skills in the process.

Keep up the good work!

Andrew Berglund