Basketball Success Story Part One: Getting there!

Today was the day of the tournament.  The big day was here!  A day to witness the fruits of "our" labours.  This was a true team effort and it was immediately evident how the coaches and the boys worked hard to achieve success. Many of these boys were relatively inexperienced with the game of basketball.  They had been working together since last February and they worked diligently to learn the many aspects of the game.  They went five for five, winning all of their matches, including the Championship final game.  "Kingston's Team in Kenya" came away with victory but the success was not all basketball.  My Truedell students say that the "big idea"of this basketball story is that "anything is possible".  Today's outcome is direct evidence of that!

Anything is Possible!

Once again I awoke to the crow of the rooster.  It is never surprising to hear and see farm animals on city properties and streets in Kenya.  On this, my fourth visit, the appearance of a cow on the road is not even newsworthy.  We set out around 8:55 am to travel to the school grounds where Kingston's Team would be joining 5 other teams in a tournament.  Getting there was an adventure in itself.  After  all, this is Africa!

Dan was firm in his statements and reminders that we should be ready to leave by 8:30 am.  John and I, therefore, were outside and ready to go close to that time.  We waited and waited for Dan, who arrived 20 minutes later, saying, "there is time".  This is Africa.  Into the car and off we went.  After driving for 20 minutes to a destination that was supposed to be 10 minutes away, even Dan had to admit that we were lost.  How could this happen, you may ask?  Well the answer is not one, but many.  First the location given was not clear.  Second, the school listed was one of several in the region with the same name, and third, there are no street names or signs to direct you.  Finally, Dan got directions by cell phone and two minutes later we were there.  But where the heck were we?  This was not the school listed on the tournament schedule.  We pulled in and the staff member present had no idea about a tournament and there were no children evident.  Just when my stress level was about to peak, (I had travelled some 15000 km to attend a game and we were now about 30 minutes late) I turned my head and there was Donald, the coach.  He told us that the boys were just "over there", indicating the direction with a casual wave of his hand which could have meant just about anywhere. In reality it meant an entirely different school a few more minutes down the road.

"Ok, well let's go".  "No, not yet, you need to be received by the Chairman", said Donald.  My stress level continued to increase.  "Received?  Why are we being received here when the tournament is somewhere else. The answer was not immediately clear but nonetheless we were escorted through the school grounds, into the building where the Chairman welcomed two very confused muzungus into his office.  (Muzungu is the African word for white person).  After introductions we were given a bottle of water and then we went back out the car and followed the Chairman to the school where the tournament was being held.  Later, it was explained to us that the Chairman was the convenor of the tournament and it had been his request that we come to his school to be received.  The fact that we had gotten lost and were now late was never considered.  There was no reason to modify plans, to adapt the schedule to account for our time lost in travel.  There was a planned program and they were sticking to it.  This is Africa!

Needless to say, we arrived, now more than an hour late.  It didn't matter though as nothing had started and not all of the teams had even arrived.  The stress it seems was all John's and mine.  Everyone else was not concerned.  This was a normal day for them.  Time has its own schedule here and despite the fact that we were an hour late, in the end we were, in fact, early!  In my next entry I will tell you more about the tournament but I will leave you now with this photo of the winning team, Kingston's Team in Kenya.

The boys relax after achieving victory!  Go boys!  Go Team!