(2.6.2006)
 Project Idrettens Fredskorps by Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF).
Marte Bulie is a Norwegian Sports Volunteer/Idrettsfredskorpser in South Africa for NIF in cooperation with SCORE (Sports Coaches’ outreach). She works in a pilot–project together with five other Norwegian Sports volunteers, a Norwegian Team leader and a South African Project leader. Read more about the pilot–project group, its work and stay through Marte’s travelogue:
Well then it’s my turn to write this travelogue for SCORE ON THE MOVE, and we are really on the move, we have no been in South Africa for three and a half months. The previous communities were Libode, Mt. Fletcher and Duytini. We have seen and experienced a lot and here is a short sum up of our (and my) stay in the fourth community, Mt. Frere, where we arrived Sunday 30th of April in freezing cold weather. Not a good way to start in a new community. But we had big hopes for this community, so luckily the weather got better:)
Mt. Frere is a much bigger place than the other communities we have been to, one can actually call it a town. Some of us were placed quite close to the town, others were placed further away, like me and Kaja, who were the only ones who stayed together in a host family in the rural areas of Mt.Frere (maybe a bit exaggerated…) we lived together with our host mother Nomonde, who was a teacher at our school, and her three daughters and a cousin. From the other communities we were used to help around in the house but here they wouldn’t let us (not that we complained).
People in Mt.Frere are not different from people in the other communities, very open, friendly, helpful and humorous. This is our fourth round of “Molo Unjani” and all the other greeting phrases, I think the neighbours back in Norway will be a bit surprised when I say “hey! How are you?” from a hundred meters distance!! I don’t think I will receive the same enthusiastic answers!!!
People never stop surprising us either, they promise one thing, and then do something totally different, or they don’t do anything. It is not rare that we have felt left down because of this. African time can also be a challenge, but this is something we have gotten so used to during these three months, it can be really irritating, but then, maybe it is our European “time” there is something wrong with. Even though it is easier holding a workshop when the attendance isn’t an hour late.. Or if the teachers in a school actually would follow the timetable. At least we have learned to be very flexible.
The whole group has been working in 5 different schools, Ilitha JSS (Maria and Admir), St.Georges JSS (Renate), Nkulisa JPS (Anita), Elliot JSS (me and Kaja) and school sport in Mt.Frere High school (all of us). We were excused from this because of transport problems and distance.
Elliot JSS has about 780 learners and 18 teachers and is the biggest school I have been working in so far. During our stay at Elliot JSS, we used the life orientation lessons for Physical Education, and we worked close together with the LO teachers. We also worked with school sport (Monday to Wednesday). Our main focus was lady soccer and handball. The coaches were great to work with (Khanyile and Mbongeni), and were actively taking part in the training. The school has had two different Score volunteers before, so they were familiar with our working methods. The teachers were active during the lessons and we hope they will continue taking the classes out for physical education at least once a week. At least they say they will, but the number of learners in each grade can be a problem. They did not have PE before we came, but they have school sport and maybe this is what they should focus on, especially considering the number of learners in each grade. Almost all the learners have at least one hour of school sport each week, and some have even more. The sport coaches are really enthusiastic and we feel that our work with school sport is sustainable in this area. It’s not only us who have had a problem with big classes. In most of the schools they have had grades with up to 85 learners. It is not easy holding a PE class with 85 kids, who don’t know English that well, and you only have two soccer balls. And the teachers who are supposed to help you don’t show up! So I think Kaja and I have been really lucky with the school we have been working in.
The rest of the group has also been working with different teams, Anita, Renate and Maria have been working with soccer teams (boys and girls) and Admir have finally got the chance to work with a basketball team. He has really been helping them out, good work Admir!! Kaja and I have not been working with any teams beside the school teams in this community. There were not much happening up at our place... We only got a request from a cricket team, and unfortunately for them we don’t know anything about that sport. (and what they really wanted was equipment).
Besides working in schools and with clubs we have also been having different workshops and courses, such as Coaching course in soccer, handball and volleyball (all of us), Active Youth Course (Kaja and Anita), Kicking AIDS Out course (Renate and Admir) and a specific lady soccer coaching course (Mads and Anita). I think we managed to do all we planned in Mt. Frere and this we feel really happy about our work here.
All of us have also been doing things outside work; Anita and Renate have been visiting a hospice (Ubuntu Hospice) who has a support group for people with HIV/AIDS. The whole group has also been in contact with an organisation, Hlomelikusasa, who works with women and children’s rights in the community. Kaja and I have been “dragged” around by our host mother to different events, even managed to be VIP guests at a major blessing in the town hall (first female mayor by the way), and dancing practices. And on the 17th May, our Constitution Day, we played a soccer match against the police, and won 6-1! I think the most exiting about the match was the commentator, the police captain, who really liked to talk, I don’t think he was quiet for a second during the match.
We celebrated the 17th May with breakfast at Mads host family; it was the longest breakfast ever (from 11am to 11pm). Kaja and I had been baking bread and buns, and Anita made carrot cake, so it was almost like home, except there were no children’s parade or people in Norwegian traditional costumes, but still it was a great 17th of May!!
Our contact persons arranged a closure “party” on one of our last days in Mt.Frere. There were a lot of speeches, and “big words” said there. All of our host mothers held a speech and some of us even shed a tear or two. Our host mother had dressed Kaja and me in traditional costumes, and I think the rest of the group and the community members were a bit surprised when we arrived :)
The three weeks went by really fast and has now come to an end. It is starting to get winter and we have only one community left, Ngqamakwe. But I think all of us are going to miss Mt. Frere, and especially the host families, and it is really a community with a lot of possibilities.
Best greetings from the team and me
Marte Bulie
Idrettsfredskorpser / Norwegian Sports Volunteer / SCORE Volunteer
Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) in cooperation with
SCORE (Sports Coaches’ OutReach) – South Africa, Namibia and Zambia
Idrettens Fredskorps / NIF and SCORE receive funding for the exchange of personnel (North – South, South – North and South - South) through Fredskorpset, and Fredskorpset receives its appropriations via a separate chapter of the state budget.
Read more about Fredskorpset:
Facts about Fredskorpset
Fredskorpset exists to let young people from different parts of the world meet and work together. We believe that such meetings result in people learning from one another and enriching their experience. This knowledge is important to those travelling abroad, to the hosts and to the employer.
Fredskorpset believes “partnership for development” is the way to strengthen understanding between North and South in a globalised world and to increase expertise in international questions.Fredskorpset is therefore calling on Norwegian companies, enterprises and organisations to enter into partnerships with enterprises in the South, with a view to exchanging personnel and expertise among themselves. Such an exchange can attract financial support from Fredskorpset.
Those who travel abroad as Fredskorps participants are aged between 22 and 35 and work for the partners for a period of one to three years. Exchanges are both ways, North to South and South to North. Fredskorpset no longer sends out participants itself, but calls upon companies and organisations to do so. It is the partner itself that decides what expertise needs to be possessed by the person travelling abroad in order to do the job that the partners have agreed needs to be done.
A brief history - Establishment of the Norwegian Fredskorpset
The original Fredskorpset (Volunteer Service) was created on 4 April 1963 as a result of the political and ideological currents that dominated the end of the 1950s and the early 1960s: for example pacifism and non-violence, humanism and Christian traditions. Norwegian youth organisations passed resolutions and proposals for a peace corps.
Two committees were appointed, and their proposals and ideas resulted in the establishment of the Norwegian Peace Corps (see Storting Report No. 23 (1961-62)). This followed hard on the heels of the founding of Norwegian Development Aid (which later became NORAD) in 1962; in fact, the Peace Corps was created as a sub-division of Norwegian Development Aid. Ideologically speaking, there was quite heavy emphasis on the Peace Corps being a young person’s expression of solidarity with the world poor, with a focus on developing countries and their needs.
They faced major society-building tasks and Peace Corps participants were recruited from agronomists, health workers and teachers so as to meet the needs of the partner countries. The Peace Corps had three goals: • To contribute to the economic and technical progress of the developing countries• To promote human contact and understanding across national boundaries • To allow idealistic and strongly-motivated young people work for what they believed in. Over 1,500 Norwegians served in the original Peace Corps in the period 1963-2000.
The new Fredskorpset - Background
In Storting Proposition No. 1 (1998-99) the Government concluded that the Peace Corps in its present form had outlived its usefulness. In Storting Proposition No. 67 (1998-99) the Government presented the overarching goals and principles on which it would base a restructuring of the Peace Corps.
As part of its consideration of the “Development Policy Report from the Minister for Development and Human Rights”, see Storting Recommendation No. 28 (1999-2000), on 18 November 1999 the Storting gave its approval to the Government’s restructuring of the Peace Corps. In the light of this, on 10 December 1999 the Storting passed the appropriations for Fredskorpset for 2000, in accordance with Storting Budgetary Recommendation No. 3 (1999-2000) of 3 December 1999.
Objectives
Fredskorpset shall help to implement the overarching objectives for Norway’s cooperation with the developing countries: to contribute to permanent improvements in economic, social and political conditions for the people of developing countries, with special emphasis on aid benefiting the poorest of the poor. To this end, Fredskorpset shall work particularly to realise the objective of a more just world order based on fundamental human rights. With a view to this, Fredskorpset shall contribute to the creation of contact and cooperation between individuals, organisations and institutions in Norway and in the developing countries, based on solidarity, equality and reciprocity. The funds of Fredskorpset shall go to measures directed to countries that are classified by the OECD as potential recipients of official development aid (the ODA countries). Of this, at least half shall go to measures that include the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
Tasks
As part of its objectives Fredskorpset shall:
• promote reciprocal learning;
• help participants to integrate their know-how and experience into their own societies;
• help to develop and strengthen civil society in developing countries;
• strengthen local organisation and democratic structures in developing countries;
• enhance the ability of the people to set and achieve their own development goals;
• promote greater participation by developing countries in international cooperation.
To perform these tasks Fredskorpset shall support organisations and institutions in Norway and in developing countries (partners) who collaborate through their own personnel (participants).
To this end Fredskorpset shall organise the recruitment and training of participants as well as various forms of collaboration among a diverse group of private and public organisations and institutions.
• in the developing countries, between Norwegian organisations and institutions and organisations and institutions in the developing countries, as well as between organisations and institutions in the developing countries which have established co-operation with Norwegian organisations and institutions (South-South co-operation),
• in Norway, between Norwegian organisations and institutions and organisations and institutions in the developing countries.
Furthermore Fredskorpset shall assist its collaborating partners in exchanging experience, guidance, quality assurance and development in connection with such collaboration.
Structure
Fredskorpset is a public body with special powers, answering to the Foreign Ministry. It shall perform its mission in an independent fashion. Important questions of principle that arise in the course of the work of Fredskorpset shall be laid before the Foreign Ministry for decision. Fredskorpset is led by a Board and a secretary-general. Day-to-day operations are managed by a secretariat led by the secretary-general. Fredskorpset has a volunteer service executive committee consisting of representatives of its partners, which advises the Board on Fredskorps’ operations.
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