Hello everyone back home :)
This is Michelle with some more tour updates!!! Sorry the blog has been somewhat sporadic, but internet access was a bit of a struggle during our stay in Senegal. However, yesterday we safely arrived at our hotel in Mali, and it appears that we will have daily internet in our hotel here... So more news from us!
When we arrived at the hotel in Mali, we immediately got to meet some of the players for the Mali national team, as they are staying at the same hotel. In the schedule for our first few days here we have a basketball clinic for kids, some practice and training, attending a local church, visiting orphanages, and possibly watching a big local soccer game. Soccer is huge here! Almost everywhere you look along the side of the road, even along the side of the highway or on hills, there is a big sand field with big groups of kids or men playing soccer. We even saw some games with basketballs used as soccer balls! At least we know they will definitely use the basketballs we give out in some way :)
We will be back later on with some more updates and player quotes and feedback. We really appreciate you all's comments and the guys have definitely been filled in and say thank you as well. I will be sure to get some of the guys to say hello on the blog in the near future! Please keep us in your prayers for health (getting used to the local food, allergies, and travel schedule specifically), prayers for the kids we will meet today at our clinic, and also pray for our time and relationships here in Mali. We will talk to you all again soon! God bless.
As we mentioned, our guys built some strong relationships with several of the players at SEEDS Academy in Senegal, a prep type school for exceptional athletes. We enjoyed sharing meals, watching each other's games and practices, teaching clinics, sharing cultural experiences, and just experiencing a day in their life. When a SEEDS player was asked what he felt his purpose was in life and what he hoped for in the future in a conversation with one of our players, he responded "to be good and loving people like you guys". Our players are definitely making some impact and learning a lot about themselves in the process. The SEEDS guys joined us on some local tours, walks, and canoe rides where we got to see some pretty touching images of local villages, poverty levels, and the state of children's lives. Our two women's coaches spent some quality time with 3 of the womens players from SEEDS... Despite the girls speaking limited english, at the conlusion of the trip the 3 girls asked a friend to translate for them so that they could let the coaches know that they "will never forget, are so happy, and all feel like crying because they dont want us to leave". In fact, one of the girls stated via a translator "no one has ever loved me like this". We will never forget how kind they were either, that's for sure. It was a very touching moment and reassured us of how much impact we could have despite language, cultural, and religious barriers. Mostly, our friends at SEEDS were totally hospitable and involved in the first few days of our trip. So needless to say, it was sad to leave our friends for Mali. We exchanged some gifts of college gear, friendship bracelets, tshirts, art etc and were off to the airport.... We are excited for the next leg of our trip and some more basketball games as well!