Ultimate Mission in Kosovo

Thank God I found Ultimate Frisbee. Not only has it introduced me to an extremely fun past-time, it has introduced me to a wonerful group of good friends and an even better activity than bowling to bring people together. So when thinking of something to top the day of bowling with my Serbian and Albian high school kids, Ultimate was a logical answer. Someone suggested getting these 40 kids together to play soccer, which I shot down immediately. Of course they all know and love the game. Some of them live and breath it, which is exactly why I didn't want it to be the vehicle for peace here. Because some of these kids take the sport so seriously, it would automatically open the flood gates of competation and hot heads. Like bowling, Ultimate is a game where everyone can be equally crap, start from the bottem and figure it out together. As far as I'm concerned, that's exactly the kind of experience these kids need to have with each other.

So the field was reserved, the kids were transported and the games began. With the help of six Ultie friends and a December sun bringing the temperature to about 50 degrees, coaching 40 kids how to throw, catch and play the game by the rules all worked out perfectly. For about 20 minutes the coaches took the kids through drills as if they were coaching these teams for the World Cup of Ultimate. It was beautiful! These kids were naturals and had a blast. I saw them work the Frisbee up the field together, cheer each other on, laugh at their mistakes and congratulate good plays. "Good game, Teacher," was said by most of them and they all wondered when we could do it again.

This past week I went from teaching just one group of these kids to teaching two. It looks as though teaching high school kids remains in the cards for me. This whole ACCESS outreach project is for two-years. I'm the teacher starting it here in Kosovo and I'm finding myself getting to a point of wanting to be the teacher to close it as well. These kids are just starting to get to know something and people they have likely grown up being afraid of. They they've volunteered to open the doors and explore. We've just started it all and I'd hate to think about them finishing without me. From Ultimate Frisbee to dinners at each other's homes? We'll see and hope.