Jesus Cup Finale

The Jesus Cup is a huge sporting tournament for primary/secondary/technical schools and communities in our area. It consists of football(soccer), basketball, volleyball, netball, and hand ball. The Championships for Boys Volleyball, Boys Over 17 Football, and Girls Under 14 Net Ball. The festivities were at Bosco Boys and took much preparation to get everything set up. In the end it turned out to be a fun day for everyone.







Just like everything else, there was an opening mass for the day. This mass was attended by around 400 people, in the courtyard, covered by a tent (that took us 3 days to prepare), and full of colors and decorations. There was traditional African dancing, dressing, and the newly ordained Bishop said mass.

After mass there was a traditional African dance performance from the schools attending. The special guests were a few families who donate money/support to Bosco Boys. I was surprised because the biggest supporters is a local Hindu family.

This is the upper primary Boys Volleyball team. They were in the championship game against Boys Town. If you look closely the jerseys the boys are wearing are a donation from no other than, Mr. Paul Kaminski (Alumni Director of Saint John Bosco High School). The shirts are extra from this past year's 5K Run at SJB. The boys loved them, thank you very much Paul and the entire SJB community.

This is a tent outside where the special guests were able to sit and watch the games under some shade.

There was music blasting all day long. These children, seriously, were dancing for hours and hours. They would all line up, one boy would take lead, and they would all dance and dance and dance.

This is the crowd at the championship volleyball match. It was such a fun atmosphere with the schools cheering on their friends from the side. The match was Bosco Boys Primary School vs. Boys Town Technical School. Boys Town is another Salesian school, it is a school that is another option for boys and girls who don't get accepted into secondary school (high school). At Boys Town they are taught a skill (machinery, mechanics, welding, etc.) so they at least have a chance to get a job that corresponds to their specific skill. The students there are around 19-24 and are much bigger than our Bosco Boys. I (Pat) had the opportunity to toss the opening serve to the game. When I arrived to see the boys, I felt it was very unfair that Boys Town (being so much older and bigger) was playing us. Boys Town started very strong and won the first two matches out of five.

This is my buddy Eric (the boy who drew me a picture).

The Boys Over 17 soccer championship consisted of Boys Town vs. Kuwinda Slum (Kuwinda Slum is just a team consisting of men from this slum who wanted to play in the Jesus Cup). We were told if Kuwinda Slum were to have lost there probably would have been a fight. Fr. Sebastian took preparations though and had three police officers there for the match. Luckily they beat Bosco Boys and there were no fights.

This is the girls Under 14 Net Ball Championship game. It was Bosco Boys (which does have girls, really they represented Don Bosco Primary School at Bosco Boys)

Our volleyball team was down 2 games. We miraculously came back and won 3 straight games to win the championship. The atmosphere was so fun seeing all the boys cheer and watching them persevere to win it all. It was so fun.

More celebration!

Bosco Boys trophies from the tournament.

This picture is from the end of the days festivities. I noticed something but couldn't figure it out, so I decided to sit down for a second and just watch everyone. This is a picture of our friend Kevin (wearing a SJB shirt) standing by the gate into school. He is standing, taking a breath, and looking at all his friends. The children were cleaning up from the busy day. Buses with kids from other schools were leaving. You could tell people were tired, exhausted from the sun, and couldn't wait to just sit down and take their shoes off.

I noticed I was feeling the same way. It was very familiar and then it hit me. This feeling I saw from people is the same way I feel at home after parties. The day is so long with getting food, seating, and decorations ready. Then the people come, something unexpected happens, then you decide it's not that big of a deal, you then relax with your company, and by the end of the day you are worn out. People then get in their cars, the children are sleeping, you stand by your drive way and wave as they drive off. It felt like home this day at Bosco Boys. It was with a different group of people, for a new event, and in Africa. But, it was home.