Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Kirby | Girls from across Kosovo group up for a photo on Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo to end Play 2...... read more read more
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CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo — “Sport has the power to change the world,” said Nelson Mandela. “It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.” More than 50 Kosovo girls came together on Camp Bondsteel for the Play 2 Educate program’s Annual Girl Goals event Oct 27, 2019.
Girl Goals is an event, hosted by Play 2 Educate, which brings Kosovo’s ethnic Serbian and ethnic Albanian girls together to celebrate diversity, inclusion and fighting discrimination in football.
Play 2 Educate is a non-profit that operates in Kosovo to foster positive relationships among the youth in the ethnically diverse region. It hopes to promote tolerance and teach resilience focused on preventing religious, political and ethnic extremism, conflict and violence.
“The whole day is about what it is like to be a girl in Kosovo and empowerment through football,” said Gena Sturgon Founder and Director of Play 2 Educate. “Instead of ‘I’m an Albanian or I’m a Serbian,’ we’re trying to [help] find similarities in other areas.”
Volunteers from KFOR Regional Command East helped facilitate the event by teaching football skills and speaking with the girls about the similarities among their different communities.
“The event is being hosted on Camp Bondsteel because it is a neutral location for both groups to come together and feel safe and welcomed,” Sturgon said. “Also many of the Soldiers here are trained facilitators with Play 2 Educate, they know how to work with the kids and keep them motivated and excited.”
The day started out with a panel discussion from four prominent female leaders. A RC-E pilot, RC-E lawyer, Serbian track star and an Albanian business leader told their stories and explained what it is like to be a female in the professional business and sports world.
After the panel, the facilitators and the girls went outside to do some football drills. The RC-E football team helped setup drills to act as icebreakers for the girls. While practicing different skills, the girls learned how to say words in English, Serbian and Albanian.
Once the football drills were over, the girls sat down together in groups of roughly 20 to discuss their community’s issues – gender roles, treatment of females, sports participation, and social inclusion or exclusion of males and females.
“We had dialogue about the equality of women here in Kosovo,” said Staff Sgt. Elijah Gutierrez, an infantryman from 1st Battalion, 297th Infantry Regiment, Alaska National Guard. “By bringing together the different ethnic backgrounds, we helped break down barriers and allow the girls to meet each other on an even field.”
After lunch and discussions, the girls got a tour of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. Capt. Hayley Griffiths, the female pilot they met earlier along with female crew chief Sgt. 1st Class Cori Hall, explained the aircraft and allowed the girls to take photos inside the helicopter.
The day culminated with multiple football games between teams made of ethnic Serbian and Albanian girls versus the RC-E volunteers. Teams played together for almost an hour, laughing and getting to be girls who like football – without the separation of their ethnicities.
The girls left Camp Bondsteel with certificates from the Play 2 Educate program, special Girl Goals sports bags, and memories of a day where they were able to play football with their new friends.
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| Date Taken: | 10.27.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 11.11.2019 10:07 |
| Story ID: | 351292 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 131 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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