BC Athlete Blog...
The BC Athlete Blog is an opportunity for athletes to express their opinions and share their voice. If you would like you post on this blog, simply add your thoughts in the bottom box and submit this to BC Athlete Voice.
| Blogger: | Sabrina Kolker | Sport: | Rowing | Date: 29th June 09 | ||
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Uganda update! Today was spent giving a similar talk to another village, this time about 100 people showed up. They were a lively group. When we arrived they welcomed us with a beautiful welcome chant that set a great tone for the rest of the day. Although some expressed thoughts of depression, it was clear to see that the support group they created several years ago to help one another while living with HIV was working! Still, some of their questions demonstrated that some of the messages on how to prevent HIV and live healthfully while positively living had not reached them. There were several children on hand who were taking notes, this particularly touched me. As we proceeded through the day with our discussions and activities I was impressed about the tight knit bonds the large group displayed. However, despite their positive outlooks they too worried about accessing their medications. One of the nurses who was on hand from the local health care facility announced that there has been talks with Medecins Sans Frontieres - France to hopefully have a closer dispensing unit for their HIV medications, and this was very good news for them. Once they heard this there was a large wave of applause - a great moment in the day for sure!
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Apart from my village visits I have been enjoying life in Arua. This past Saturday we traveled to Murchison Falls, a wildlife preserve. We were told that the best way to see the animals is to leave early so that we can catch them at sunrise. So, at 4am we piled into the car for the 200km journey. It was definitely worth the early wake up as we were fortunate to see giraffes, elephants, monkeys, hippos all in their natural habitat. The park is thousands of acres of protected land where the animals simply live their lives and it was truly amazing to see. The picturesque landscapes with the animals on the horizon were breathtaking. We ended the trek with a trip to the falls which was a powerful waterfall that plunged several hundred feet into the Nile - very cool but definitely would not want to fall in :) This week and next week I will be going into talk with school aged children about healthy living. At the end of next week we head out for the malaria net distribution about 150km East of here. The adventure continues!
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"Their were several children on
hand who were taking notes,
this particularly touched me"
Sabrina Kolker, BC Athlete
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| Blogger: | Danaka Porter | Sport: | Bob Sleigh / Track & Field | Date: 24th June 09 | ||
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I think the biggest misconception about athletes at any level, but especially those in transition to National Teams, is that what we do doesn't take much time or effort. We get to travel to glorious places for free, we have trainers and coaches, we get paid to work out - life couldn't be any easier - and its just so not true. Sure the NHL and NFL guys have those luxuries, with the charter jets, fancy hotel rooms, but not me, we drive our sled trucks across europe, 7 hour days on the road in nature's worst conditions. Then we are expected to be so happy we made it, to get up and have some seriously long days. While I'm on tour its 35 days of "work" in a row, its 14 hour days with no days off, no time off, you never get to see the city you are in because you're either tuning your sled, sliding, working out, racing, eating, or sleeping. There is no down time, no time to relax, its adrenaline for 35 days in a row. When I'm at home and not on tour, I work 24-30 hours a week and I go to school for more than 12 hours a week. I am expected to train at least 2 hours a day, so another 10-12 hours a week, then I have homework, and travel time to and from work, training and school. Life isn't a peach and it often means that a day looks like this:
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"So when I get told that life must be easy, I don't always respond in the best way. It becomes an extremely large balancing act"
Danaka Porter, BC Athlete
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6:00am wake up |
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| Blogger: | Sabrina Kolker | Sport: | Rowing | Date: 24th June 09 | ||
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All is well in Uganda. Last week was spent in two separate villages talking about how to live a healthy life while "positive living"- that is the term they use when one is HIV positive. My supervisor told me as I prepared for the talk that the people I would be talking with have been stigmatized in their communities and many are quite depressed due to their condition. I felt that we had good information to give them but I was not sure how I would be received as a "Mundo"- the word Ugandans use to describe white people - coming into speak with them. However, the minute I walked into the room where we would gather together for the next several hours, I was blown away by the warm reception I immediately felt. Our presentation lasted several hours and it was broken up with various physical activities and games to keep their minds engaged. Some of their questions were quite startling and demonstrated that the messages of HIV/Aids prevention we are so use to hearing in North America had not quite reached them.
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Together with the staff on hand we did our best to convey the essentials such as keeping healthy so as to avoid contamination, compliance with their medication and avoiding risky sexual behavior just to name a few. In addition to the stigma these people face on a daily basis for being HIV positive, their next biggest challenge is accessing the medications. Some must travel by foot two to three hours one way and this takes away from their ability to farm and make a living. As a result, many give up on the trek to their medications and their condition deteriorates rapidly. The open forum style discussion that this presentation took enabled the doctor and the member of government on hand to hear these concerns. They pledged to do their best to make medicine more accessible. Of course I'm not sure how or when they will follow through with their words, however, I feel all and all it was a very positive day as at least a discussion was started.
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"The minute I walked into the room I was blown away by the warm reception I immediately felt."
Sabrina Kolker, BC Athlete
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| Blogger: | Jessica Ho | Sport: | Rhythmic Gymnastics | Date: 20th June 09 | ||
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I think that it’s misunderstood that rhythmic gymnastics is just dancing around while twirling ribbons. In a way it is dancing, however it’s not just pretty movements but a form of expression. It’s a way of communicating with the audience and talking to them. Furthermore, twirling a ribbon takes much more skill than some people may imagine. Have you ever tried making shapes with a ribbon while sending a message with your body and bending over backwards at the same time? If not, you should try it, then you’re allowed to come look down on the gorgeous, beautiful sport known as rhythmic gymnastics. A gymnast’s regimen is quite similar to most athletes; we wake up early, train hard and live and breath our passion. Long hours in the gym, sore bodies, and constant traveling. But we do it willingly and happily, because that’s what athletes do. They train hard and sacrifice everything for their sport.
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"Have you ever tried making shapes with a ribbon while sending a message with your body and bending over backwards at the
same time?"
Jessica Ho, BC Athlete
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It comes down to the mere seconds and minutes preformed at competitions, but it’s always worth it. People always say that the most memorable moments of their athletic career were those great experiences behind the gold medals. Well, to me it’s more than that, because the bad parts are sometimes even better. The bad times can teach us the most about ourselves, they’re the ones where we learn to pull ourselves back up and to keep on going. Without the painful times, the taste of success wouldn’t be so sweet. |
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| Blogger: | Kevin Grierson | Sport: | Sailing | Date: 18th June 09 | ||
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Today we went up to Squamish to train for an upcoming sailing world championship we will be competing in the 49er skiff. The event will take place in Riva Del Garda in Italy. The windy conditions in Italy are almost identical to Squamish which makes it a perfect place to train. The drive up from Vancouver was uneventful except for some slight traffic due to construction. When we arrived the wind was already blowing quite strongly with some of the dirt and gravel in the parking lot flying around. We quickly rigged up our boat and launched at a ramp beside the Squamish Yacht Club. We sailed around Squamish for a couple of hours in strong 20-25 knot winds. Our boat was often reaching speeds of 35 km/h. Any wrong move or slip in this wind will cause your boat to flip over very easily. When you crash or flip the boat over at fast speeds it can be quite painful as you often fall from several meters into the water very quickly with little control of how you fall.
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We had several close calls where we almost flipped with the front of our boat narrowly avoiding digging in to several steep waves. You always breathe a sigh of relief when you don’t flip over in these circumstances because they often don’t work out in your favor. At the end of the day my partner and I were both exhausted but happy at the progress we had made. We will be returning to Squamish several times to train before we leave to Italy in early July.
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"Any wrong move or slip in this wind will cause your boat to flip over very easily. When you crash or flip the boat over at fast speeds it can be quite painful as you often fall from several meters into the water very quickly with little control of how you fall."
Kevin Grierson, BC Athlete
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