Getting Sporty

I spent a large part of last week volunteering with Reclaim Childhood, a non-profit organization that empowers Iraqi and Syrian refugee women and girls through sport and play.  Founded in 2008 by several Williams College alumnae, RC has been expanding its work in Jordan to include several months of sports camps and coaching clinics each year.  This summer, their sports camps will draw the largest group of refugee girls yet, with 100 registered campers coached by 40 Jordanian women.

As RC's summer programs are just beginning, I arrived just in time to help with their coaching clinic.  Women arrived from across Amman.  Some were graduates of the University of Jordan, others enrolled at the local Hashemite University.  There were Child Development majors and soccer stars, some already married and others only my age.  According to RC's program director, it is very rare to see so many women whose families will allow them to do sports.  For a few hours, they removed their abayas (traditional cloaks common in the Islamic tradition), laced up their tennis shoes, and played.

Upon asking what I could do to help at the camp, I received one instruction--"just play!"  So I did.  Despite the language barrier between the coaches and me, they still welcomed me into their games.  I'm not much of a soccer or basketball pro, but I still had a blast running down the court.  I even blocked a few goals!  Since the camp's primary objective is to instill confidence rather than sharpen skills, we also played a number of ice-breakers.  For those of you who have ever played the "Human Knot" game, be assured that it is even more difficult in Arabic!

In addition to plenty of playing time, the coaches learned about and discussed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Sadly, this affliction affects many refugees, many of whom witness horrific scenes prior to fleeing their homes.  As a Psychology major, I wish that I had understood more of the conversations that the women had about PTSD.  With widespread regional unrest, this problem seems unlikely to disappear any time soon.

My favorite part of the clinic fell on the last day, when "She-Figher" Lina Khalifeh came to discuss harassment and teach self-defense skills.  With a background in martial arts, Lina promotes awareness of violence against women and empowers women to fight back.  Standing at center court, she demonstrated moves that would send any attacker running.  When the women finally practiced, they seemed strong, ready to tackle any challenge, beginning with their summer mentorship roles.

Learn more about Reclaim Childhood here: http://www.reclaimchildhood.org/Reclaim_Childhood/Home.html