The group outside of the Prince George's County Sports and Learning Complex

On Monday our day was so exciting, so experiential! We have met with experts who know where they come from, know what they are doing, and contributed a lot to our program.

This morning, at the Prince George’s Learning Complex, Billy Wilken gave us scenarios on teaching athletes – exercises for them, relaxation techniques, and easy ways of avoiding conflict on our teams. The material was so good, so rich. Then Joe O’Neill talked about the administration of the complex, how he manages those facilities. We saw people there for many reasons – for leisure, for weight loss, for training. We saw so many aged people swimming, jogging, using machines, being busy – seriously busy training. I saw that for all people, sports can give you new hope. Every day you can see yourself as still young, still strong. Joe also talked about how the facility was owned by the local community. And volunteers make the facility successful – people working in the office, doing publicity, running its programs.

I learned that if you want development in a community, the community must contribute. They must own first the process, then the product. I learned how parents must push for excellence. Without the involvement of parents in the center, the children could not succeed at what they do. I am going to use my position at the ministry when I get home to spread the message of what I have learned here. There is no way our government can meet all the needs of our communities – our communities must contribute. People have to volunteer. America has this habit, this spirit of volunteering, and I want to take this home. People in Tanzania want to be paid for all the work that they do right away. I want to show them that if they volunteer to work in their community to build infrastructures like I saw today – they will be repaid later, many times over.

Alijua Simeon teaches dribbling at the DC Boys and Girls Club

During the weekend we played basketball at the Boys and Girls Club. The teams were 3 men and two women on each side. Our opponents had an amazing three-point shooter on their side, Mr. Hugh Jones, and we lost 94-54. It was an amazing experience, though, to be playing basketball against real Americans, because basketball is so important here. It is like belonging to a particular religion or to a particular tribe. I was glad to be playing against these superstars.

On Friday, we had a chance to work with the AAU and train some girls. This is the first time I have had a chance to train girls in basketball. Girls catch on very fast! I tell the street boys I coach in Tanzania something and they say “What, coach?” and I tell them again and again. I tell the girls something, and they do it, right, the first time. When I return, I am going to try and get girls involved in the street basketball games I organize.

Another difference is that back home, I have to beg kids to play basketball; I have to almost force them. Here I see children asking their parents to play, to take them to games and to practice, and the parents are involved. After seeing what I have seen here, I know at home I have to fight harder to overcome the weaknesses and the other conditions in our environment. I am going to push wherever I can. I have a dream that one day I might have a basketball academy for street children, to use basketball as a way of pulling them off the streets, to get them to eat and study and have a good life. I want them to be able to say that basketball raised them up. I have learned many things in DC that will help me with this goal.

Amina Hugs Ebony after wheelchair basketball practice

On the first day we did a wheelchair basketball program. I never saw disabled people play this sport before. It made me realize they are able to do so many other things just like other people. They have such a positive way of dealing with their situation. I tried to control the wheelchair, without even bouncing the ball – and it was hard.

I think DC is a beautiful city; it is very different from what I expected. In Tanzania, our vision of the US is Hollywood. Washington is so quiet, and it is not massive like I thought. People are very nice. And I thought the security would be so strict – but even at the airport, people were friendly.

I am hoping to get a lot from this program. As a PE teacher, I am hoping to get new ideas from coaches – new techniques, different ways to do things. Even more importantly, as department head, I am hoping to learn more about planning and how to implement new ideas at my school. There are lots of obstacles to increasing participation in sports at my school, and I want to learn some ways of overcoming them.