AFJA Visit Recap: Ben Syang AFJA CFO
It was a four game matchday at the Los Amates soccer field. Halfway through the first game (a girls’ match), I decided to sit down next to Steve on a log that served as a spectator bench:
“You see those guys over there?”
I begin to point before Steve raises an elbow to swipe me down.
“Don’t point. Those guys are <insert name of notorious local gang>.”
I feel embarrassed to even bring this up as a major moment during my trip - it’s a weekly occurrence at the Los Amates Soccer Field. Ask any of the kids who played on the field that day and none of them would bat an eyelid. Ask any of the parents who brought their kids that day and you’d likely draw the same response.
Truth be told - the guys in the corner weren’t doing anything wrong. In fact, many of them have kids or younger siblings that play on the field. Still - my gringo brain continues to wrangle with the concept of what these kids define as “normal.”
Here are a few more bullet points to help illustrate what’s “normal”:
It’s daily life to cross a bridge called the “Puente del Rio Sucio” (literally “Bridge of the Dirty River”) that’s filled with pollutants expelled from international manufacturing companies. By daily life I mean that I crossed it 5 or 6 times in the few days I stayed in the area.
It’s normal to assume any water that comes out of the tap is polluted. Boiling water only kills biological pollutants - not chemical pollutants. It’s always good practice to conduct teeth brushing with tap water.
It’s normal to see shirtless old men spouting crazy conspiracy theories on the street (just kidding - that’s pretty normal everywhere)
It’s normal to wake up at 6 AM to the sound of goats, chickens, cows, dogs and other local farm animals collectively freaking out as if Noah’s Ark was on fire.
It’s normal to assume that gangs, political corruption and domestic violence are a part of daily life or the lives of those close to you.
At this point I’m going to stop with the social justice exposé of the situation. Don’t get me wrong - I’m a board member of AFJA who hopes to dedicate a lifetime to addressing poverty and systemic global social issues. No - I merely feel that any rant borders on preachiness that ultimately drowns the story of the incredible kids in Los Amates that desire nothing more than to freaking play soccer.
At least once or twice a week, a few dozen 6-19 year old kids in a small middle-of-nowhere village in El Salvador get to set aside all their problems for an hour or two of soccer practice. When they play games with other clubs from around El Salvador, they go in with a slight chip on their shoulder. Other clubs are often publicly sponsored by city government and municipal funding. The AFJA kids survive off two volunteer coaches and gofundme donations.
Flash back to match day and the truth is - nobody cares that there are literal gangsters on the field. The girls unfortunately fell just short 1-0, but the rest of the day was filled with blowout score lines. The 8 and under boys fell behind by one goal that bounced over the goalkeeper early in their game. Later on they roared back with 4 goals - obviously encouraged by an emphatic local crowd. The 8-14 year old boys and the 14+ boys won by at least 3 goals each.
But then again - winning isn’t the point here. It’s not that at the end of the day passion arguably beat out the resources of a publicly-funded visiting school. The point is that the passion was enabled via volunteer effort. The point is that simply providing the gift of soccer to a small underserved rural community has and can make an astounding difference.
Though we have many, many years to go before we solve corruption, violence and poverty - particularly in the notorious “Northern Triangle” of Central America - there are things that we can do now to dramatically improve the lives of the people that deal with these issues on a day to day basis. At least in the short term, soccer is a more critical key to happiness than clean tap water could ever be.
For these reasons - I’m more than excited to further my work with AFJA in Los Amates, Ateos, and any future communities that we serve! Thanks for reading, please donate, and thanks for your support!
Best Regards,
Ben Syang
AFJA | CFO