KIDS’ SOCCER CAMP IN FERNWOOD

Do you like soccer?

Do you want to attend a free summer soccer camp?

If so, then Opportunitas Aequa has something for you!

What?
Opportunitas Aequa Summer Soccer Camp: soccer skills training, games, fun activities, and a wrap up tournament, and lunch.

When?
9:00-1:00pm, July 7 – 12th, 2008

Where?
Victoria (Vic) High School field

Who?
You – kids from 6-14 years old – and local soccer coaches and volunteers

How?
You can register by contacting James at the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group:

1240 Gladstone Avenue
Victoria, BC V8T 1G6
Phone: (250) 381-1552 (ext. 25)
Fax: (250) 381-1509
Email: james@fernwoodneighbourhood.ca

The camp is run by Opportunitas Aequa (“OA”), a local charitable society, with support from the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group.

For more information about OA, please visit http://oaprojects.org/

Pics from OASC 2007:

Despite terrible weather throughout the day, some divine intervention (sunshine) made for a very playable, very enjoyable evening at the UVic Turf, Friday night.

60-plus participants joined OA members for another special evening of generosity and footy for the kids of Rwanda.

A special thank you to the Victoria Highlanders FC, HTO, Happy Planet, All Sports, and all of the individuals that joined us for the event.

Keep up-to-date on oaprojects.org to see where your donations are having an impact.

A video of the event will be up shortly.

Thanks, again!

Fernando’s efforts in Nanaimo paid off, literally and figuratively, in spreading the word and gathering participants for OA’s first remote Charity Game.

Around 25 people gathered in the name of OA for a very fun mini-tournament at Woodlands Fields, in Nanaimo.

We hope that the OA presence will only grow in Nanaimo and beyond.

Thank you to all those who participated — and, in particular, to Fernando Polanco for his initiative and generosity.

Friend of OA Chelsea McCullough’s Project Little Victories — previously featured on oaprojects — reached its fundraising goal, raising $2,040 to help the Mengo Bakuli Boys’ Brigade (of Kampala, Uganda) start their own tent and chair rental service!

Check out Chelsea’s project page at GiveMeaning.com to learn more and see how you can help.

Great stuff, Chelsea! We are all motivated by your initiative, and wish you the best of luck with the rest of the project!

OA was recently featured in The Scarlett Fever, the award-winning school newspaper from Dr. EP Scarlett High School in Calgary, Alberta.

Check out the article, here:

Exciting news:

You can catch a feature on OA on CBC Television, this Saturday, May 31, between 11:30-12:00pm.

This is part of CBC’s ‘Soccer Day in Canada’, a celebration of soccer across canada.

Soccer Day in Canada Homepage

OA featured

You can check out John F. Molinaro’s excellent article, here.

Hi, All,

I just wanted to let you know about an encouraging undertaking by OA’s newest volunteer, Fernando Polanco.

Fernando, who resides in Nanaimo, BC, approached us about ways in which he could help our cause.

Fernando is one of many people that have been reaching out to us, looking for ways to make an impact, and motivating us to keep up with their energy.

In the end, Fernando decided to organize his own charity soccer tournament, in Nanaimo, as an OA fundraiser.

The event will take place on June 7th, at Woodlands Field in Nanaimo.

Contact Fernando at fernandopolancojr@hotmail.com for more information or to sign up.

THANK YOU, Fernando!

(OA also has its fundraiser in Victoria, June 6th. Contact andrew.dm.pike@gmail.com for registration.)

Our apologies for the long-delay in journal entries. The airline lost Gavin somewhere in Europe, on the way home. We tracked him down, and so the remainder of the posts from his and Duncan’s trip will be up, soon.

—–

The weekend was spent in and around the Lake Kivu town of Kibuye.

This region is quite picturesque with lush green rolling hills surrounding a crystal blue lake.

Although the landscape left Dunc and I in awe, the living conditions of the average person were well below those in Kigali. It was very interesting for us to see the type of growth that the country is undergoing in Kigali and not undergoing in the more rural areas. Kigali is bustling with a ton of city work going on and with booming development markets,whereas Kibuye is a small rural town, where the way of life probably hasn’t changed for a very long time.

Kibuye was also one of the worst hit regions in Rwanda during the genocide with many atrocities happening in churches, fields, and streets all over. Over the weekend, Duncan and I both witnessed a lot of emotion in the people as many remembrance events were put on during the last 2 days of the official 7 days of mourning.

The day we were leaving, we were fortunate enough to meet a team of biologists from the National University in Butare who were kind enough to give us a ride back to Kigali.

Our 3hr ride back, in the box of their pickup, gave us an amazing panoramic view of the landscape as we passed through tiny villages stuffed with people to the point that many of them were standing on the highway (this trip also saved s a couple thousand francs, or 6 bucks).

We returned to a flurry of emails that resulted in a very busy Monday. The next post will describe our encounter with a group of kids living on the streets, a tour of the Bugesera region in the south, and another visit to the Rebero Orphan Centre.