duncan228
12-21-2008, 12:39 AM
From Spurs.com, there are 4 pics there too.
Matt’s Trip to Africa for Basketball Without Borders (http://www.nba.com/spurs/features/bonner_bwb_081219.html)
Matt Bonner
My trip to Africa was awesome. I spent six days in Johannesburg, South Africa and four days in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Aside from setting a new career-high with my forearm tan, I got to meet a lot of interesting people and experience some amazing cultures.
Both segments of the trip kept me very busy, however, my wife had the opportunity to go on a safari and play with baby lions. The pictures looked incredible! In Johannesburg, I spent the mornings running drill stations at the Basketball Without Borders basketball camp, which consisted of the top 120 high school aged players from the continent. Me and fellow NBA players Nick Collison, Caron Butler, Dikembe Mutumbo, Charlie Bell, and Thabo Sefolosha, along with a contingent of NBA coaches and staff (including R.C. Buford as the camp's commissioner), had the opportunity to work with the kids on the fundamentals of the game. Naturally, I was selected to teach passing (Coach Pop is laughing!). It was a little tricky communicating with each other since we were working with interpreters for five different languages. But I found a universal way to get through to them: push-ups! I'm joking… The kids were very respectful and were extremely eager to listen and learn as much as they could from us. We all had a lot of fun.
The afternoons were spent doing community events. I got to take a tour of the Apartheid Museum, interact with the kids at a children's HIV/AIDS hospice, visit an NBA sponsored community center in the extremely impoverished township of Soweto, help put on a Special Olympics clinic, and build a house with Habitat for Humanity. I was expecting some of these events to be depressing. But it was quite the opposite. It was uplifting and inspiring.
AIDS is a big health and social issue in Africa. African governments, with the help of others (especially the United States), have made huge strides in improving the situation by educating the people on the disease and improving health care in dealing with it. The AIDS hospice we visited is a prime example of such improvements. It was filled with kids who ranged in age from babies to middle school, some of them orphaned. These are kids who were born with HIV because their parents both have it. The hospice has been open less than 10 years and already the improvements are obvious. The first year it opened, about 80 kids lost their battle with the virus. Last year, only one child passed away. And it was the kids who really touched my heart. You would never know you were at an AIDS hospice. It felt like any other nursery. They were all smiles, singing, dancing, and playing. It was very uplifting, and fun!
The visit to the township of Soweto was equally inspiring. Here I am in the middle of a community where the people live in shacks, they have one well for 20,000 people, one port-a-potty for every six families, no plumbing, kids are barefoot, and families survive on less than $400 a year… And the people remain positive! They say: if our situation is going to improve, it's up to us to do it ourselves. And they've embraced that attitude as a people and are using hard work to slowly improve their situation, their community, and their lives. Although they may be poor financially, they are rich in culture. And it was an honor to be invited into their community and witness everything they stand for. After leaving Johannesburg, my wife and I headed to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We were joined by women's basketball legend and Olympic Gold medalist Jennifer Azzi, and also a couple NBA international men of mystery, Brooks Meek and Todd Jacobson, to represent the people of the United States as a diplomatic envoy. We were there as a guest of the Ambassador to Tanzania. Everyone in his office was very hospitable and our host, Karen Grissette, was especially helpful.
We spent three days putting on basketball clinics and giving motivational talks to the local youth. The people of Tanzania LOVE basketball. You could not fit another person in the gym while we were doing the clinics. It seemed like everyone wanted to see what we were teaching and try to learn something about the game. The problem is they just don't have the resources. And I'm not talking about arenas, I'm talking about the basics: basketballs, sneakers, and hoops. We visited two of the best courts in the whole city… and calling them inadequate would be a euphemism. I've already made plans with the ambassador's office to ship them about 100 basketballs that I have left over from my own camp back home in New Hampshire. But that is just a start!
The trip to Africa was life altering. It really opened my eyes to how lucky we have it here in the U.S. I won't be taking anything for granted again. Even simple things like electricity, water, and food. The people of Africa were very friendly and positive. It is a beautiful continent and I look forward to the day that I can go back and have more time to really enjoy Africa's natural beauty, history and unique culture. But in the meantime, we have a championship to win!
Matt’s Trip to Africa for Basketball Without Borders (http://www.nba.com/spurs/features/bonner_bwb_081219.html)
Matt Bonner
My trip to Africa was awesome. I spent six days in Johannesburg, South Africa and four days in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Aside from setting a new career-high with my forearm tan, I got to meet a lot of interesting people and experience some amazing cultures.
Both segments of the trip kept me very busy, however, my wife had the opportunity to go on a safari and play with baby lions. The pictures looked incredible! In Johannesburg, I spent the mornings running drill stations at the Basketball Without Borders basketball camp, which consisted of the top 120 high school aged players from the continent. Me and fellow NBA players Nick Collison, Caron Butler, Dikembe Mutumbo, Charlie Bell, and Thabo Sefolosha, along with a contingent of NBA coaches and staff (including R.C. Buford as the camp's commissioner), had the opportunity to work with the kids on the fundamentals of the game. Naturally, I was selected to teach passing (Coach Pop is laughing!). It was a little tricky communicating with each other since we were working with interpreters for five different languages. But I found a universal way to get through to them: push-ups! I'm joking… The kids were very respectful and were extremely eager to listen and learn as much as they could from us. We all had a lot of fun.
The afternoons were spent doing community events. I got to take a tour of the Apartheid Museum, interact with the kids at a children's HIV/AIDS hospice, visit an NBA sponsored community center in the extremely impoverished township of Soweto, help put on a Special Olympics clinic, and build a house with Habitat for Humanity. I was expecting some of these events to be depressing. But it was quite the opposite. It was uplifting and inspiring.
AIDS is a big health and social issue in Africa. African governments, with the help of others (especially the United States), have made huge strides in improving the situation by educating the people on the disease and improving health care in dealing with it. The AIDS hospice we visited is a prime example of such improvements. It was filled with kids who ranged in age from babies to middle school, some of them orphaned. These are kids who were born with HIV because their parents both have it. The hospice has been open less than 10 years and already the improvements are obvious. The first year it opened, about 80 kids lost their battle with the virus. Last year, only one child passed away. And it was the kids who really touched my heart. You would never know you were at an AIDS hospice. It felt like any other nursery. They were all smiles, singing, dancing, and playing. It was very uplifting, and fun!
The visit to the township of Soweto was equally inspiring. Here I am in the middle of a community where the people live in shacks, they have one well for 20,000 people, one port-a-potty for every six families, no plumbing, kids are barefoot, and families survive on less than $400 a year… And the people remain positive! They say: if our situation is going to improve, it's up to us to do it ourselves. And they've embraced that attitude as a people and are using hard work to slowly improve their situation, their community, and their lives. Although they may be poor financially, they are rich in culture. And it was an honor to be invited into their community and witness everything they stand for. After leaving Johannesburg, my wife and I headed to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We were joined by women's basketball legend and Olympic Gold medalist Jennifer Azzi, and also a couple NBA international men of mystery, Brooks Meek and Todd Jacobson, to represent the people of the United States as a diplomatic envoy. We were there as a guest of the Ambassador to Tanzania. Everyone in his office was very hospitable and our host, Karen Grissette, was especially helpful.
We spent three days putting on basketball clinics and giving motivational talks to the local youth. The people of Tanzania LOVE basketball. You could not fit another person in the gym while we were doing the clinics. It seemed like everyone wanted to see what we were teaching and try to learn something about the game. The problem is they just don't have the resources. And I'm not talking about arenas, I'm talking about the basics: basketballs, sneakers, and hoops. We visited two of the best courts in the whole city… and calling them inadequate would be a euphemism. I've already made plans with the ambassador's office to ship them about 100 basketballs that I have left over from my own camp back home in New Hampshire. But that is just a start!
The trip to Africa was life altering. It really opened my eyes to how lucky we have it here in the U.S. I won't be taking anything for granted again. Even simple things like electricity, water, and food. The people of Africa were very friendly and positive. It is a beautiful continent and I look forward to the day that I can go back and have more time to really enjoy Africa's natural beauty, history and unique culture. But in the meantime, we have a championship to win!