World Cup in Thailand

Isn't it funny how a sound or a scent or a feeling can evoke such strong memories?

I heard K'naan's World Cup 2010 version of Wavin' Flag today and it brought me right back to Thailand this past summer.

Chris and I were in Thailand during the World Cup (the championship game was after we got home though). Hearing that song brings me right back to a crowded Thai street in Chiang Mai. Bar after bar and restaurant after restaurant line the street, each blasting this song and playing the soccer game from a TV in the center of the tables. In the middle of the sidewalk, in between a 7-11 and a bank, men have pulled up broken plastic chairs around a tiny and crackling TV. A few Dutch tourists have paused with them to watch the game, and Thai and tourist alike are brought together through the common bond of soccer.

A few days later, we were picked up by a friend, Justin, who works at The Volunteers For Childrens Development Foundation. During our day volunteering with the organization, my highlight is easy to pick out; playing soccer with his boys. Justin's organization takes in children (many of whom are Burmese) who have been trafficked or abused or come from the streets. We drove into the country where the Children's Home is, and the boys of the home, between ages 12 and 17, were excited to show us their soccer skills. For over an hour under the hot sun, Chris played an intense game of soccer with the boys, and I kicked a ball on the sidelines with Sum-Chai, who was crippled by a birth defect and found it difficult to keep up with the others. We were hot and sweaty and my sandled foot was getting blistered from kicking the ball for so long, but Justin told me how the boys play soccer together daily, and it is a tool ("sport therapy") that helps them deal with their difficult emotions from trauma they have suffered, and to come together as brothers and as a team.

When I hear the World Cup song, I don't only think of the countries that were brought together through the love of soccer. I think of kids like those that I met at VCDF that day, who had seen such horrors, but who found passion and therapy through the game of soccer.