By Blake Berry

When the idea of attending a professional Senegalese soccer game was brought up by Mr. Alter, many students’ faces lit up around the room. Mr. Alter hadn’t taken a global education group to a match in the history of the program, so honestly, no one knew what to expect. We settled on attending a game, and when we showed up to the stadium, the energy was electric from the Ajel de Refisque fans. Drumming, coordinated dancing, cheering, flags, posters; all of these added to the experience. Eventually I was approached by a man who obviously had some sort of affiliation with the club, but he began speaking to me in French. I got the attention of Mr. Smith in hopes he would be able to translate for me, in which afterwards he looked at me and said, “He wants yall to go dance with the crowd…”

After minimal thought, the majority of our group got up and began learning Senegalese dances while watching the game. This, was the first connection that led to the experience of a lifetime.

After the ecstatic game, we arrived back at our Airbnb, this is when Mr. Alter said we were invited to attend a tour of a local private school. We were given a tour of the school, and afterwards, an intermediate school for kids seeking higher education. While here, we met the head coach of Ajel de Refisque, and this is when we were invited to watch one of their practices.

A few days later, about half of the group attended the practice, where the friendly guy we connected with at the school was waiting for us. Anthony and I were lucky enough to get to train with team for about 30 minutes, where the biggest difference between the soccer I’m accustomed to, and the soccer here was the speed of play.

After the practice, our group was able to connect with a man named Paco Boy. Paco had an amazing professional soccer career in the UAE, where he holds the record for the most goals from a striker in the history of the league. He had opportunities to play for the Senegalese national team, but decided against it as he thought continuing is club career would benefit his family and community the most, which represents the selflessness culture here in Senegal. We were able to talk with him after the practice, which allowed for our group to create yet another connection with a man that has substantial influence within the community.

Through this connection, we were then invited to play in a game consisting of the Ajel de Refisque super fans, which was held at Paco Boys gym and soccer facility. This night was the highlight of my trip. Playing alongside my fellow CCS state champions for what could be the last time, in a setting like this, was extremely meaningful to me. If you looked over at any given time you could see Finley diving every which way making a save, Anthony scoring with ease, or myself finding the pockets between the opposition to move the ball.

Through the many meaningful connections that were made, we were granted the opportunity to be introduced to the owner of the club. After playing for an hour and a half we were taken into the owners house, and shown Senegalese hospitality at its finest.

This summary of our few days in Toubab Dialaw shows how connections make meaning in life. If that one guy at the soccer game hadn’t approached us and asked us to join them in their cheering, none of these opportunities and experiences would be possible. On the other end of the spectrum, if Mr. Alter and our group hadn’t been so open to new people, none of these experiences would have happened. To me, Christchurch’s interactions with the club Ajel de Refisque truly shows the possibilities of life when accepting and being open to new things and people, you never know what doors may be opened through a simple connection.

Also, I think everyone on the trip is now Ajel de Refisque fans for life!!