First camp

Sorry for the delay, but internet connection is said to be good here in Tororo Uganda.
Good is good, and we just have to take it with a grain of salt!
Anyway, the 1^{st camp was a 2 day session. It was a group of 24 youths between the ages of}
14-18. They were all very eager to meet and see me as well as learn the game of basketball. The conditions were not the best. The court was a just a dry field filled with bumps, rocks, weeds, you name it. They also had the disadvantage of playing without shoes, some were so lucky they played with flip flops! The baskets were actually better than what was in the picture previously posted.
Each day was to consist of 2 x 1 ½ hours.
Day 1:
Session 1:
An introduction to who I am and what my idea was for the day! I also addressed that the basketballs were donated by dear friends and that the uniforms were donated by Falcon Basketball Club. It was an amazing feeling to see the joy in these kids faces. It was way better than Christmas to them. I truly feel that it gave them all a piece of HOPE!
Now we had to see what skills they had. These young people (8 were young ladies) were all very coordinated as well as athletic enough. Now it was a matter of fine tuning them with the knowledge of dribbling under control (tough with a bumpy surface). A majority of them got the hang of it under the tough conditions. The others had it also but often just couldn’t hide the joy!
As many of you know we started a "water for kids" campaign via facebook. Although I must admit that we were hoping for more money, we were able to feed these kids lunch and water both days. Day one they got to enjoy meat… They usually only have meat for Christmas. A truly warm feeling when they all came up to me individually and said thank you.
Day 1:
Session 2:
We refreshed ourselves on dribbling and then we went into the basic fundamentals of shooting as opposed to throwing the ball. They were very excited about this part. It was a huge change for them but many adjusted well and at the end of the day there was already light at the end of the tunnel. The first winning team of the shooting completion was 5 young ladies and a young man. I enjoyed the presence of the ladies!
Day 2
We refreshed our drills from Day 1 then we went into more shooting techniques and ended the first session with a "knockout" competition. The winner received a Scheme Team cap. Happy to say it was one of the girls. After lunch and water the second half of the session was filled with playing some basketball. As the court was so big we played 7 –vs- 7 with their new jersey’s. They were so excited! I wanted them to enjoy the team spirit.
They were very eager and excited. I was so thrilled when already after 3 minutes there was a score. All of the "audience" was so excited. A blessing occurred when a former student returned and wanted to assist. Godfrey is his name and I will see to it to send him some printed documents to assist during my absence.
We ended the 2 day training with another round of knockout and an unexpected visit of a Uganda National team player named Peter. Now the kids were very excited. The demanded that Peter and I return over the weekend! I had to sadden them but assured them I would return in October.
Upon completion of this 2 day training I could sense that the young adults were eager and ready to learn more.
Everyone in this world deserves a chance.
A special thanks goes to: Hands of Hope, SFOF, and all the many participants both in Denmark and in Uganda. You will all be thanked personally!