Hello, this is Michelle again with some more information from Mali...
As I mentioned, our guys coached a clinic on Monday for some local kids. Then, Tuesday morning we spent a few hours at a local orphanage just to play and talk to the kids. We brought some basketballs to play games and got a tour of the orphanage. The orphanage had 2 floors of new borns and very young babies, and one floor of toddlers and school aged kids. The director of the orphanage explained that since abortion is illegal in Mali, many young or poor mothers will abandon their babies and they are then dropped off at the orphanage by the police. I got the chance to hold a beautiful baby that was only a week old according to the orphanage mothers, and there were so many others like her. A lot of us got really attached to some of the kids. It was amazing to see how much just the human touch made a difference to the kids... Just carrying them or dancing or anything like that made them smile. Ramon had a beautiful young girl that was about a year old that just did not want to let him go. Very sweet. Pastor Steve, Ian, and I got the chance to play "ring around the rosie" with a few of the school age kids and it was a big party. Although they didn't understand a word we were saying, they were laughing and jumping to get swung around and playing catch with the beanie babies with Ramon and Jared and Urule. One girl, about 6 years old I would guess, was mute. But when we played games she laughed as hard as any of us. We brought beanie babies for all the kids and a lot of other baby supplies, such as formula which is quite expensive in this country. It was shocking because although the orphanage workers seemed very sweet and caring, they have so many babies there, and simply lack supplies and resources. Many of even the older kids stay in cribs, they lacked fitting clothes or clothes without tears, there were no diapers for any of the babies (just blankets laid underneath them in their cribs which are changed when they pee), and it was difficult to answer problems with flies or illness in the orphanage. Very hard to see cute children like that go through these things, but all the guys as well as the kids got so much out of our time there and were very much into interacting with the babies and children.
After the orphanage we went home for some rest and then headed to our first game of this tournament, against Togo. Here are some of the stats and highlights from the game:
Jake- 6 pts, 5 rebs
Jesse- 6 pts, 4 rebs
Shane- 9 pts, 4 rebs
Danero- 10 pts
Ian- 2 pts, 5 rebs
Ramon- 11 pts, 8 rebs
Urule- 6 pts, 8 rebs
Jay- 4 pts, 4 rebs
Julian- 3 pts, 7 rebs
Jared- 9 pts, 5 rebs
We won the game 65 to 53. The guys have definitely been taking notice to you all's messages and prayers, so here as promised here is some quotes from some of the guys and coach Gore. I will have some new guys add comments tomorrow.
"Hey all the UK fans... thank you for your support! I'm having a great time. I really miss all my loved ones and can't wait to see you as soon as I get home." -Ramon
"I'm loving the experience here. I'm learning a lot from the cultural experience here, but I'm also learning a lot from my teammates and learning a lot spiritually. I miss ya'll at home and thanks for all the support." -Danero
"Its been a pleasure coaching so many fine young men. All their universities should be proud that they are part of their program and school. They are representing country and faith extremely well in many trying circumstances." - Coach Gore
This morning we split the group in half; half visited a local elementary school while others visited the local university. At the elementary school we brought gifts of hygiene products and basketball and spoke for each of the 9 classrooms. We had some question and answer time for the kids and they even performed choreographed songs for us. The kids were extremely well disciplined; they rose up every time we walked in the room and greeted us in unison. Pretty cute! Then outside they had a big presentation set up for us with students performning a traditional dance, a choir song, a paper about the history of Mali, and a welcome from the school director.
Tonight we play against Guinee at 5, and I will be on later tonight to give the game stats and highlights. Hope all is well in the states and keep us in your thoughts and prayers :)
Love and blessings,
Team AIA Senegal/Mali