Julie Martin, Director of Basketball Operations, is on an amazing journey over 9,500 miles away from the campus of the University of San Francisco. But USF, and its values, are at play as she travels the world to help the people of Kenya by volunteering her time and efforts. Julie, a graduate of Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City and the USF Sport Management program, is hard at work supporting the mission and vision of USF and changing the world - her "here" just happens to be in Africa, at the moment.
On our fourth day we were able to meet Sammy, a 25 year old from California who started a home for disabled orphan children. She has 15 kids she takes care of. She is an inspiration and I feel so blessed to know her!Â
We said hi to the kids then she took us to the slums. We walked all around and everyone knew her. She knows where all the disabled kids are that she doesn't take in and checks on them and their families. It was the neatest experience. She has a LOVE for those children, and they light up when they see her. We met the aunt of one of the kids she checks on and she showed us her son's report card. He was No. 1 in his class of 287. In 8th grade, he took a test and scored so high he got a scholarship to one of the best schools in Kitale. They go by trimesters here and he was ranked 4th in the first, then 3rd, then ended the year 1st. That boy is going to make something of himself!
Later we went to Gilgal, the school for orphans run by Ben and Christine who picked us up from the airport. We met some of the staff there and also the seven babies they have that were dumped by their parents. We met the older children and got to teach and play basketball with them. They just had goals set up and they had so much fun! I got to play 3-on-3 with some of the boys even when it started raining - they were having too much fun to stop!Â
We got to go back to Gilgal two days later and stayed most of the day. My aunt and I taught them a little about shooting and defense then we played 5-on-5 for about an hour and a half. The kids are so wonderful, and we had an incredible time. Most were playing in flip-flops, very worn out shoes, or just barefoot but had the biggest smiles on their faces and were laughing and high fiving each other when their teammate scored.Â
What an awesome experience!
Julie
