Malaria accentuates my very low inclination to waking up early, I have ended up hating 
Billie Jean of Michael Jackson which is my alarm clock lately, but I could not sleep, it was not the ham race of Busto Garolfo, but the selections for the Youth African Championshipss which will be held in Nigeria from 28 to 31 March. Only athletes of sixteen and seventeen years old can participate, with the only exception of those who are 15.
The start is not one of the best, of the twelve athletes selected only 8 are present, two girls went to a funeral and another two were not informed by the ‘lazy head’ coach who knowing of the race for more than a month never found the time to go inform them. But surprise of all surprises a coach calls me and tells me that there is an athlete waiting for me at the bus stop in Shikoswe … I had never seen him before at our races … today the best selected over the year are supposed to participate … I do not care who he is and where he comes from … I leave kindly leave him at the bus stop … moreover he seemed to me much older than the age limit of 17. Milika Mweesa could have had a say in the 3000 but the funerals mainly in the bush are an appointment which one cannot and should not miss. It does not matter whether it is a close relative, a far one or a neighbor you have to go, and in some cases it can also last for days or weeks, with good heart of families and employers if the grieved for was from a faraway place. The women usually stay in the house, they cry, pray, sing and cook for those present. The men stay outside sited on couches or chairs or improvised benches according to the wealth of the departed, around a nice fire, at the beginning the dead is remembered, then they chat, drink, smoke. Lately at some Pentecostal funerals in the compound (slum) I found also stereo systems and music more likely to accompany someone to a disco rather than to Heaven. But who told us that Heaven will be a boring place? I think about my father suffering a lot in Italy, he has had also the other leg he had left cut. In Africa he would had probably died more naturally few months or years ago. I would not mind a Zambian funeral for him with music, the fire, the stars and the people putting the flowers on a tomb made out of soil at the cemetery.
Let’s start by saying that I do not think that any of ours will go to Nigeria. About Milika who could have I already said. Paul Kazembe the toughest and bravest in the group, accepted to run the 2000 steeplechase, he tried the obstacles just once and a little. But he told me: ‘I am up for it and I want to give it a try’. We showed him how to jump the obstacle in front of the water putting the foot on it and throwing himself as far as possible not to end up wet, while some children entered who knows from where in the track were happily splashing about in the small pool … we suggested him to do the same also on the other obstacles but the tension of the race, the will to overdo and the inexperience caused him to waste too much time in taking the distance from the obstacle, jumping too high rather than long and doing everything possible to spectacularly catch up with the others taking him back to the group of the firsts up to a round and a half to the finish line when his strength gave in. At the end he will be third. The race is also disturbed by some athletes, lined up by the coaches even though over age. This is another problem, not a small one, it is difficult make mainly the coaches even of very important teams understand. I never justify our athletes, but he wanted to win, he wanted to go to Nigeria, he did a race keeping among the firsts, with a great grit and will. Then at the end he paid. But the first two were older than 18 and were disqualified, but I am sure that if he had run only with his age peers I would be commenting a victory. The organization and the referees were very guilty Saturday! Mike Zingani was recovering from bronchitis and made us dream for almost three rounds of the 1500 which he led at a (too much maybe) furious pace then he busted, but if he will continue to train like this a day he will achieve great results. To notice is the improvised second place of Florence Mwiinga who came to do the 1500, but took part, because bored, to the long jump getting the overall second place with a distance which will unlikely allow her to see the country of her favorite movies, but still a second place.
More than a hundred the athletes, many girls, a beautiful track and a lot of goodwill make me say that we are on the right path. Age cheating, many disciplines with no athletes, late start because the referees arrived late remind me that there is still a lot to do.