10 years, 10 stories (2)

For the ten years anniversary of the SBA, we propose to revisit the highlights of the past with the testimonies of those who have sustained the organization throughout its existence.

John O’Connell won his trip with Serge in the centers of the SBA. He tells us his journey.

 

Putting your hand up at an auction at a Rugby dinner, fuelled with bonhomie and perhaps some alcohol too is always a risky action, as I know to my cost – how many more rugby shirts can I hang up on my walls at home for goodness sake!

It might have been the Gallic flavour of the night adding French chic to the atmosphere, but anyway one simple hand gesture parachuted me and ‘compounding the felony’ my brother Alan; my Irish cousin Charlie and my ex-fellow London Wasps director Graham Wynde too, a few months later onto the Serge Betsen road trip to the charming world of Cameroon to witness at first hand his mission to tranform young people’s lives there through the ethos of   Rugby – the Serge Betsen Academy as we all know it.

Cameroon is a well ordered law abiding society but regrettably still showed the chronic disparity in the infrastruacture for health, education, transportation, power, water and other everyday matters we take for granted in the ‘West’.

Yaounde the capital is the more recognisable face to Western eyes of Cameroon, but even there , one was , on arrival at the chaotic Airport, immediately aware of how fragile are say the road, power,health and water systems. Serge having obviously ignored all the health advice his team had given us ‘African virgins’ beforehand was unceremoniously jabbed with a needle at the airport which appeared to have been used , without pausing, on many other people beforehand. Serge being Serge seemed not to notice one arm had been assaulted by hardly slowing down his walking pace duaring the injection, cutting through the sea of enthusisatic porters like a latterday Moses.

The short journey to our hotel took almost as long as the flight, but niavite undimmed we emabrked the following day upcountry to witness the SBA in action in schools and out on the Rugby Pitch.

My brother Alan clearly brought up in the same school as Serge of ignoring all pretrip guidelines proceeded to act like Lord Bountiful at the first school we visited, by handing out Queens Park Rangers football shirts – immediately converted into an Awards ceremony by the enterprising head teacher there, little knowing that most soccer followers in England would regard QPR shirts as best used when washing their cars! (Sorry Alan.) Serge took this double yellow card infringment – handing out gifts and usurping a Rugby tour with Football shirts – graciously, although on reflection my brother’s subsequent demise with a severe dose of Yaounde Stomach might have been his revenge after all!

The enthusiasm of the young people was palpable from one visit to another and our next stop to see Serge in action coaching youngsters on a baked mud pitch, many not having footwear, many not having shirts and most not wearing both was one of the experiences of the tour. Once again my brother deemed it appropriate to apply his football background, this time his refereeing skills to rugby as Serge’s willing assistant. Most of us were very taken by the wide-eyed innoncence of the youngsters which continued to be a theme wherever we went – to other schools, rugby camps and so on. Serge berating one bold youngster for asking for a rugby shirt had echos of Oliver Twist asking for more food! What temerity to expect a shirt to wear!

Serge’s ‘mammy’ was a delightful host for a couple of days, although our experience in staying at the ‘Insect House’  for a night was one to rank alongside trying to go to toilet outside of an igloo when it is minus 30 – both better looked back on!

Odile who by now had emerged as the strong woman (well the only woman actually) of the trip had in her Margaret Thatcher style commandeered some hotel rooms for us after a thorough military style inspection beforehand. Thinking the rooms needed airing, which they did, and not appreciating insects liked warm well lit accessible bedrooms, which they did, she opened up the doors to all of the rooms and put the lights on for at least two hours before we arrived. With every specimen of insect life in Cameroon snuggily settled in each of our bedrooms, the touring party did the only sensible thing in the circumsatnces – which was to empty the bar of alcohol, whilst wondering how we could tame the single Geeko to eat its own bodyweight of insects, whilst hopping from one room to the other. As you can imagine this took several hours to reach an inconclusion but distracted us from the night ahead. The fact that the receptionist slept on the bar table revealed everything, on reflection.

Visiting the King of the village, listening to his woes about being press ganged into the role surrounded by dependent women (stop this is all too getting too close to home!) preventing him from jumping on our coach to get to the West, whilst discreetly  trying to water his mudhut floor with his urine smelling bamboo wine, was memorable, as was by complete contrast, the wonderful lunch at the French Embassy. (Next time we should stay there!)

Seeing the school which the children had helped build, with no books; chairs ; no windows; a blackboard literally painted black by them and no toilet facilities was another humbling experience for us softie westerners. (I am involved with a Young Person’s charity in Ireland too and I  wished some of them could have witnessed such lack of basics to make them appreciate their relative good fortune.)

Returning to Yaounde along ‘suicide highway’ with holes in the road the size of Andorra, at night with timber trucks speeding in the opposite direction with no lights on , driven by redbull fuelled manical drivers made the M25 in the UK seem very sedate indeed!

in between time we had a calm couple of nights at a charming seaside town lapping up the tranquillity whilst having a BBQ on the beach – absent my brother who had gone down with ‘Serge’s Curse’ and cousin Charlie limping from taking a fall with the excuse that the water being undrinkable he would have alcohol instead!

Throughout the trip Olivier, Odile’s husband, smiled benignly on her taking over more of the tour which the rest of us also very happliy accepted too, as she clearly had more organisational skills (especially when it came to insect husbandry) than the rest of us, as subsequent developments in her role with the SBA has proved.

It all seems such a long time ago now, although it was only three years ago, but the memories of this once in a lifetime trip are still very vivid. I know my companions feel the same way too and I do hope our participation has helped a little to sustain the wonderful work the SBA is doing in Cameroon – so keep it up Serge, Odile and the rest of the team. Thanks for the memories!

10 years, 10 stories (1)

For the ten years anniversary of the SBA, we propose to revisit the highlights of the past with the testimonies of those who have sustained the organization throughout its existence.

Olivier Mussat, returns to the shared travel with English people – following a charity event where they all earned their trip with Serge.

First of all, as a French expat in London in the 2000’s, Serge was a symbol to us all when he single handedly defeated the English in 2002, allowing France to win the Grand Slam. Such was the joy that I even wore my France jersey all day in the office the following Monday (as I was the only Frenchman in an office full of Englishmen).

A decade later my wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Serge and got involved in his charity. Through work, I had already been many times to Cameroon, but my interactions with the people were limited as I spent most of my time going from an airport, to an air conditionned car, to an international hotel, to an airconditionned office, and back…. so when the opportunity presented itself to see the “real Cameroon” with Serge, we jumped on the opportunity.

We spent a week in Cameroon with Serge with other donors and visited all the SBA centers, met with the workers and the volunteers who help run the SBA on the ground, and most importantly met the children. Of course the children are at the heart of it all, and we were warmed by their smile, their happiness, and their love of the SBA as it offered them a stepping stone for them to get out of poverty.

All along we were treated as we were part of the SBA family, which allowed us to have some very candid interactions, and what we originally thought was going to be a “touristy trip” ended up being very hands on. Some of us helped run the rugby training, some helped with the younger kids reading class, whilst others even went to meet with the local chiefs and businesses to try to drum up more support and show that the SBA was indeed recognized outside of Cameroon’s borders as an example of a charity doing good work.

We met incredibly brilliant students, who had struggled through school because they didn’t have electricity at home to be able to study at night, or their parents were asking them to work instead of going to college, and yet they were infinitely curious and hungry for an education. I will always remember this teenager asking me to explain to him Plato’s allegory of the cave he had read on his own, then switch on to macro-economics, and yet the best job he could aspire to was to be a delivery man as he would not be able to afford university.

I have to say that even though we were in a completely foreign environment, the organisation of the trip was great and we always felt safe. This was a fantastic opportunity which I would recommend to anyone who wants to discover how the conceptual idea of “giving back” can quickly become a reality, and seeing on the ground how couple of dollars a day can really change these kids life was not only humbling, but made you want to continue to do more, much more.

Event : Paris Rugby Show

 

SERGE BETSEN ACADEMY had a stall at the PARIS RUGBY SHOW, the first major show of rugby in France.

Program, conferences, exhibition matches, smiles and good humor. Serge Betsen was of course present. The opportunity for us to promote the association to a new audience that has always listened with interest to the history of 10 years of the SBA.

 

More pictures on our FACEBOOK page : https://www.facebook.com/sergebetsenacademy?fref=ts.

 

 

Event: Karting challenge

Tuesday, June 17, 2014, a karting challenge inter-company took place in the south of France, on behalf of the SBA.

It was organized by the antenna SBA83 at the initiative of the Treasurer of the charity, Sébastien Lovy. The challenge took place in 4 sets with 13 mixed teams. At the end of 40 laps, Amelie and Franck brilliantly won the trophy. The evening ended in a festive and friendly atmosphere around an open family meals. Sixty people attended. This event could bring € 2,500 to the association.

 

Bangangté: Parade and rugby game

During the Bank Holiday in Bangangté, our children take part in the parade

    

Event: Evening for the benefit of the SBA, Hong Kong

March 25th was held in Hong Kong an evening to benefit the SBA.

Thank you to Nicolas Olivry (Balopp Kampuchea / Cambodia) for organizing this great event in Asian lands!

  

 

 

Event: Diner SBA & Kampuchea Balopp

 

April 29th was held in Paris a charity dinner for the benefit of partner SERGE BETSEN ACADEMY and Kampuchea Balopp in the beautiful restautant “MANUFACTURE”.

The evening called “CHILDREN AND RUGBY” celebrated the first anniversary of the cambodian association and 10 years of SBA. Serge Betsen and Brice Dulin were present at this event.

Event: Fundraising operation (WASPS)

 

In total, nearly 1000 pounds were harvested at the initiative of our regular contributors, Sally Price and her team.

We warmly thank all the volunteers who made this possible!

Event: Ovalies Lasalle Beauvais

Every year in May, Beauvais became the capital of the oval ball on the occasion of Ovalies LaSalle Beauvais, the largest Humanitarian European Rugby Universitary Tournament…

80 teams of France and Europe , divided into a 32 teams tournament (XV Male) and two tournaments 24 teams (VII Male and VII Female) . 3000 fans.

These games bring nearly 3,000 people – players , fans , visitors, volunteers – a sports program on two days under the banner : ” * Generosity , Friendship, Sportsmanship ” .

 

2014 is an anniversary edition : the event celebrated its 20th anniversary on May 9th and 10th.
It is also an exemplary manifestation approach in terms of disability, environment, gender ( 27% of players ) and engagement with 550 student volunteers .

This year was another great success. We thank the organization for this great event so close to the values ​​SERGE BETSEN ACADEMY !

http://www.lobservateurdebeauvais.fr/article/12/05/2014/beauvais–la-20e-edition-des-ovalies-lasalle/7665

http://www.leparisien.fr/espace-premium/oise-60/l-ex-international-de-rugby-serge-betsen-parrain-des-xxes-ovalies-10-05-2014-3828809.php

http://picardie.france3.fr/2014/05/10/beauvais-les-ovalies-grande-fete-du-rugby-474527.html

Partnership: Lycée ROCHAMBEAU

Thank you to the French Highschool in Washington DC for the numerous donations

http://www.rochambeau.org/