Invictus

How does the movie Invictus relate to recreation and community development? Well, this movie has it all.

     Nelson Mandela’s idea to use sport in order to develop a stronger community worked wonders for South Africa. First off, not only did sport bring a struggling community together but it brought hope to all those who did not believe that South Africa could turn things around for the better. This not only brought a community together, this brought an entire country together. This was not about winning the World Cup – of course it helped but it was about much more than that. Despite if they won or not, winning wasn’t their objective. Their objective was to create a country where despite if one is black or white that not only did everyone have equal rights but that everyone believed they deserved them. The right to feel comfortable in ones skin in a place where many people could not before.

      Nelson Mandela’s idea to use sport to bring people together is in a way, very simplistic. We have all watched those movies where a small community wins a championship game and the community’s struggles seem to go away. In this case, creating a better community was the main objective – the Springboks could have lost in the quarterfinals. I believe that despite of the outcome, the rugby team had to demonstrate to the rest of the country that hard work and having a positive outlook develops stronger aspirations. If a struggling rugby team could have success than why couldn’t a country? It does sound quite farfetched but it worked. Sport has that effect on people and Mr. Mandela used that to his advantage.

       In conclusion, Invictus demonstrated that sport is much more than we give it credit for. It is responsible for the ups and downs in our community. It brings out the best and the worst in people demonstrating that in the whole grand scheme of things that winning isn’t everything (although they still won.)

 

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

 

First Post - Fun Days Out: Normalising Social Experiences for Refugee Children.

Hello everyone, first off - welcome to my first ever blog entry.

      I chose the article, " Fun Days Out: Normalizing Social Experiences for Refugee Children." It was a very eye opening article on how many children are traumatized each day by what they experience in some African countries. The program was developed by Flinder's University School of Social Administration and Social Work and was established by the Loss and Grief Centre in Adelaide, South Australia.
       The creators of this program believed that populations of people are overlooked in terms of how each individual deals with a loss, grief, or trauma. The program believed that through arts, drama, and sport, along with many other activities that they could indeed change the lives of many children. Their goal was to rehabilitate these children so that one day they could play a significant role in contributing to the community development of their hometown.  
      This article relates to aspects of community recreation development in several ways. It is helping children through sport in order to build their self-confidence, to finally realize that life has more to offer than what they originally had in mind. It creates relationships that these children will cherish for the rest of their lives. What is different about this type of community development is that the program was created in order to help the children one day help those who were in the same situation. Their long term goal is to one day build a better community in their hometowns in Africa whether they focus on sport or something else.
     In order for this program to work, the Loss and Grief Centre need volunteers. The average number of children participating in the program each day has increased from 30 to 80 children in five years. The Centre now has roughly 50 volunteers but just like any other community development program they need more. The program is rapidly developing making life better for more and more children every day.
    I hope you enjoyed my first entry – the more comments the better.

-Mark Phillips







Link: http://library.mtroyal.ca:2058/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=107&sid=fb667304-8af7-41b7-be0b-2d9bf6a8acb7%40sessionmgr115&vid=5