COUNTRY: Maldives
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Sport and health workshops
WRITTEN BY: Melanie Boudib, UTS Sport and Exercise Science / Management student
Our travels began with three plane rides and a bus trip to our guesthouse, and after flying in at night, we were not at all prepared for what treasures lay before us on this island.
The 4.30am call to prayer wakes us from our air-conditioned slumbers, and marks the beginning of another day on an island full of colourful buildings and even more colourful locals, surrounded by impossibly blue waters. After months of anticipation, a week of frenzied packing, and a long 24 hours of travel, we are finally here.
Our first few days are full of exploring, and before we have even started teaching we've already toured the island with our gorgeous and hilarious in-country partner Suna and her husband Misbah, who is a never-ending fount of local knowledge and adventures. Then, of course, there is Bonda... Maldivian soccer star, fishing extraordinaire, and the one who has consistently cracked us up with his quiet jokes and constant "Aahaaa’s”. We've also played a soccer match in the local stadium, spent hours snorkelling the amazing reefs, visited the school we'll be running sports camps and health workshops in for the next three weeks, launched ourselves into the stretch of ocean we'll be teaching swimming in, and had numerous bike malfunctions which have just added to the adventure.
On our third day it feels like we've known each other forever, and it's time to start running the sports sessions. The kids are shy to start, but by the end of the three hours they're running around happily. Despite the heat that sees us Aussies sweating rivers before noon, the soccer and netball stars on the court don't want to stop, which is surely the sign of a morning well spent.
Our health workshops don't start until after the weekend, so we have a nice long break in the middle of the day until swimming coaching starts. These hours are generally wiled away riding bikes, climbing coconut trees, fishing with the 'Captain', or playing ball in our front yard. Then it's back to what I hesitate to call work, wading into the water to teach a younger group how to swim. It's surprising to see the varied skill levels of the kids, but by the end of the second day we've found our groove and everyone's having a lot of fun kicking, splashing, and laughing their way through the two hour lessons.
After what seems like only a day on the island, but in actuality has been a week, the weekend is here. We spend it much like we spend the other days, but it starts with more sleeping in and ends with an amazing beach barbecue for dinner, after a few wrong turns by our truck driver.
The next morning, those of us who haven't been out fishing with Bonda and the Captain venture across the choppy seas. After letting a HUGE fish get away with two hooks, leaving us only with a bent lure, the Captain tells us with a smile "there are three sizes of fish, small, medium, and 'the one that got away'". So we leave him to fish in peace and dive in to the water for a snorkel with Bonda, who catches us a big turtle to hold and get photos with, truly a once in a lifetime experience.
To see the weekend out in style, we boat over to a deserted island where the girls are allowed to ditch their rashies and boardies in favour of bikinis, and spend a blissful five hours snorkelling, playing beach soccer, and playing games in the water. We come home to a delicious buffet for a ridiculously low price by Australian standards, and then it's time to sleep.
The first week here has been a constant adventure. We've played countless sports (a Human Movement student's dream), ridden our bikes till the pedals fell off (literally), and we still have twice as long to go. Every night we exclaim how amazing this place is, and how long it feels like we've already known each other. We can't wait to see what other treasures this island holds, and we've definitely befriended the right people to help us find out.
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