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Sojourn in Sagay, Negros Occidental
By: Chester De Torres

It's been a year since the last time I mentored teachers on how to promote the football to the kids. This year I was tasked to assist Charlie Crawford, Community Impact Coach of Coaches Across Continents (CAC) during the third and last leg Of CAC’s football training for social impact in Visayas from July 31 to Aug 3, 2018 . The first leg was scheduled in Naga, Bicol last July 16-20, followed by Mindanao leg in Cagayan De Oro last July 20-24, 2018. CAC is one of the partners of GK SipaG Program in promoting the football program to Gawad Kalinga communities. This training with CAC was very exciting for me. We stayed for 5 days in Sagay City in Negros Occidental to promote football with a twist - how we will make social impact through football and how we educate the young ones about social issues in their communities.



We had 30 participants, mostly teachers and coaches from different places in Negros who were ready to learn about social impact in our community through football. At first, I was too hesitant to talk to the participants. I was too shy to step up and go out of my comfort zone again. When I saw the participants enjoying the sessions, specially the old ones, the other part of me started to prowess. My personality as a coach stood out. For three days we discussed how to educate the kids on social issues like HIV and Aids Prevention and Awareness, Problem Solving, Gender Equity, Conflict Prevention, Health and Wellness, etc. in a manner that is fun and pro-active. On our fourth day, we, the facilitators, allowed them to coach or teach the Social Impact sessions on their own. It was always a good day for everyone because of the new methods they learned. They think and act like as a coach. They’re now exposed to different kinds of social issues giving them the opportunity to have an impact on their wards.



Everyone received a certificate after completing the training. Overall, this was a good experience for me as a coach, I also learned something new from the training but also from the other coaches around Negros. I look forward to go back in Sagay not only because of their good food and beautiful sceneries but also to check the impact of CAC to the kids of Sagay, Their respective communities. Special thanks to Charlie Crawford of CAC and Gawad Kalinga for providing me this rare opportunity to mingle with the teachers and how to coach with the social impact way. Also big thanks to the City Government of Sagay, Hon. Mayor Alfredo Marañon III, Sir Benson Fernandez, and GK coordinator for the Visayas, Vincent “Binsoi” Rivera.


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