27th to 29th of April:
Members of three JCI groups in Bohol passed the baton on to JCI Zugbuana and Jessica Resch. Jessica is the President of Cebu City’s Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation and therefore also a member of Cebu City’s Parliament. There is a law in the Philippines requiring a youth representative (SK) to be given the status of a member of each representative local government body: thus looking out for the interests of children and youth.
Jessica is just 23 years old and is a real leader of people. She is also a climate activist and was there to welcome The Ball to Cebu City with her Cebu City JCI colleagues. Young girls and women from the Sta. Rita Cascia Home for Women and Children, were also there, waiting for The Ball outside Cebu City Hall to go on a historical tour of Cebu City.
Jessica Resch:
I strongly pledge to continue advocating for the sustainable development goals (SDGs)
The following day the SOF Team ran two fair play sessions: In the morning with another group from the Sta. Rita Cascia Home for Women and Children which took place in Barangay Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City. These girls and one little boy (whose parents are both in jail and who had been found alone on the streets of Cebu) had never previously played football. The girls, as young as five, and women have suffered tremendously at the hands of men. They have been abused, often sexually. The Sta. Rita Cascia Home is a safe space that helps them move on with their lives. They were truly grateful for the opportunity to play in a safe space. Their signatures on The Ball at the end were very special indeed.
The Ball and SOF team then had sticky rice with fresh mango in the Barangay Basak San Nicolas – one of Cebu’s poor communities. Afterwards a short climate tour of the Barangay saw a river full of plastic and other waste. Delving deeper we witnessed children of the local slum having a wonderful time doing what kids do best. Their flips and crazy jumps were fun to watch. However, the waters are terribly polluted with plastic and sewage. Another example of what we humans are doing to the environment and ourselves.
Later in the afternoon, our final workshop in the Philippines with The Ball, was a Fairplay football session with the top football boys team from a special sports high school Abellana. It took place in The Cebu City Sports Complex. Four young female footballers were invited to play. The boys were able to tone down their testosterone and play very fairly with the girls, who had much less football experience. Of course, they all signed The Ball at the end of the session and even had the SOF team sign their shirts and shoes.
Finally, The Ball’s last evening in the Philippines ended with a final feedback session with our hosts and partners – Valeree and Carl. We reflected on the visit to six very distinct locations: from middle to north to south Philippines; from big cities to rural mountain and beach communities; and about the diverse people we encountered from football players at University teams and football clubs; from mistreated women and children to young business and youth leaders, provincial governors and indigenous peoples. The team SOF (Germany and Philippines) brainstormed about how we could cooperate long-term in the future in the Philippines: Plans are being hatched for climate camps in 2024. Watch this space.
Valeree Nolasco’s pledge:
My pledge is to make knowledge about international climate discussions accessible to the youth.