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I have a week of meetings with lots of Ball Project partners from around the world.
Partnerships are just doing something together that comes out of relationships plus trust.
Relationships are based on length of time knowing someone plus shared experiences plus communication. Relationships = Time + Experiences + Communication (at least that is how I think about it).
Face to face time is always incredibly helpful to continue working & communicating effectively together.
I can’t work with someone I don’t trust.
It is hard to work over a long distance & long time period if you can’t effectively communicate with them.
So I am always grateful for face to face time either hosting partners where I live or visiting them where they live or even meeting someplace in-between. I like to see where people live & work & know their friends & family. I like for people to see where I live & work & know my friends & family. Those kind of shared experiences build trust & understanding which allows for better communication & stronger relationships & ultimately better partnerships.
& if we have better partnerships then ultimately we get more done, which in this case means that we help children by helping children play.
We are back home again in Indiana after 2 weeks in Namibia & South Africa.
It was a great trip meeting with existing & potential partners.
These trips are always exhausting but encouraging. & I’m grateful that I get to go on them.
We spent 2 days training at an international sports leadership school & a community transformation school on how to be effective at partnering.
We met with old friends & long time partners from Fiji, Egypt, Singapore, South Africa & Malaysia. I think we even turned a couple of old friends into new Ball Project partners.
Lots of opportunities, lots of work, lots of friends, lots of partners….
We may get the opportunity to partner with an ultimate Frisbee league in Cape Town & with a group that works with deaf students in South Africa.
Relationships are the foundation of a good partnership. Face to face time with friends & partners in their homes & offices is a key to keeping relationships & therefore partnerships strong.
I am grateful for our amazing partners, advisors & donors who work so hard to help children by helping children play.
After 2 weeks of Ball Project visits in Asia, I am in Florida for a week of meetings with Ball Project partners from Uganda, Jamaica, Nepal, India, South Africa, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Dominica, Romania, Niger, Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya & beyond.
Ball Project is a resource partner with funding for balls (obviously) & essential equipment such as goals, nets, pumps & so forth. We also do our best to connect our partners with coaching & programming experts to help them accomplish their goals in the communities where they work.
Partnerships are simply two or more people or groups working together as a team to accomplish a common vision or goal. Partnerships of this sort are working relationships. Relationships are built over time on trust, communication & shared experiences.
Face to face time is always special. Hearing project & personal updates & learning more about what is working & what isn’t working helps all of us to stay focused & productive. Sometimes we talk about projects; sometimes we talk about sports or family. The important thing is simply talking & listening & getting to know each other better so that we have a better understanding of each other & open lines of communication & growing trust.
For Ball Project & our partners the common goal is to help children by helping children play.
Ball Project is very grateful for our wonderful partners working in challenging situations, usually underfunded & under-resourced simply investing in the children & young people in their communities.
Girl in Chennai India with a soccer ball
The Ball Project 