First of, for me, last Tuesday was by far one of the best sessions of class. It was a very intriguing session for me because of the guests last Tuesday. The class lesson was important also regarding about journalism as a rough draft but the guests just blew me away. I want to talk more about what my reactions were to what the guests spoke about.

Sir Rick brought in Coach Rudy and Lexter, coach and member respectively, of our 2010 team for the Homeless World Cup, who competed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last September. Coach Rudy talked about how he, together with some very good hearted people, mostly foreigners, planned and created this great program. He also talked about how he chose players, with different life stories, from the try-outs to play for him and for this country. He added that the process was pretty hard, but with the help of generous sponsors, completed the program. He, along with the organization, helped these teens with their lives, even if they are not part anymore of the current team. They helped by finding jobs and/or schools for these teens. Lexter, on the other hand, talked about his experiences playing for the Philippines and most specially, his life now after the HWC. He shared that he, along with other players, came from a simple life in the provinces. He stressed that HWC was a really big help for him and the other players. He added that HWC was some kind of hope for people like them. He confessed that he and some other people were into drugs before and with the arrival of HWC, their lives changed.

            I really liked how they shared their stories to the class. They stressed important happenings in their lives. For me, i think that they were really sharing a lot from their lives and teaching us a thing or two for our own lives. I was very intrigued with how our players fare, against other countries from the whole globe, considering with our weight and height and heft are not up to par against the other teams. These teams were really taller, heavier, stronger, etc. against our team. With these disadvantages, our team had heart and were street wise. I loved the story involving another country being our own personal cheering squad with matching holding of the Philippine Flag. I want to be in their shoes representing the Philippines. truly, i am grateful to those who created this program, and to those who are still continuing to support and improve this great program. This will help a lot of people with their lives and will bring hope for the people. 

frank golla