PART ONE- "the beginning"

I have this idea that I can do something with my time here in Benin, something that will last beyond my time here in Benin, something that will improve the lives of the people here in Benin. My idea is simple and complicated at the same time and will most likely take a bit more effort than what I now have in mind. It is my hope or -- maybe better stated -- my dream to construct a full-scale basketball court in the village where I will live and work for two years.

I believe that sports are one simple way that I can contribute to the development of individuals and the community at the same time. From my own experiences as a child I have found sports to be both a means of escape from the mundane problems of day-to-day tasks and a means of building confidence in myself and my capabilities. I found in sports a means of making lasting acquaintances and a means of proving myself in the face of competition. My experiences in athletics lead me to believe that one of the best things I can do to improve the conditions of life for individuals and communities alike is to give people a greater opportunity to participate in sports programs.

In only my third week here in Benin I have already begun to see the signs of progress in what will no doubt be a long and continuous process. It started one afternoon about two days after moving in with the host family I will be living with for the training period which will last for three months. While my younger brother and I were trying to amuse ourselves with a soccer ball I showed him a game I used to play while growing up in Philadelphia that was called "taps." Normally in the United States we'd play with a basketball but here in Benin sporting equipment is extremely scarce and a soccer ball serves the purpose just as well. The game, which can be played by two or more people, consists of throwing the ball back and forth between players while in the air. The players therefore must jump into the air when the ball is thrown to them, catch it and throw it to someone else before landing. While it is by no means a complicated game, I was surprised to find my brother and some of his friends playing it in the road in front of our house when I came home the nest day for lunch. Delighted to see that this aspect of my basketball experience was already catching on, I joined them for a bit and easily impressed them with my ability to catch the ball and pass it behind my back or under my leg all while in the air.

After playing taps with them for a few minutes I noticed a discarded basket laying in a small field next to where we were playing and immediately began to see my dream come to life. Within 10 minutes I'd used my duct tape to fasten the basket to a nearby palm tree and the game was underway. We played three on three and the score of the first game was 10 - 0 with my team winning but without my scoring more than once or twice.

For the next week every time I came home from my training sessions there were several people playing basketball in the street. Even in the middle of the day when the temperature is easily in the mid 90s and most people in Benin are taking their daily siesta there were five or six kids from the neighborhood running around with a half-inflated soccer ball taking shots and chasing each other around on defense.

After about a week the basket, which was exactly that, began to fall apart under the constant battery. One evening when I came home from one of our training sessions the goal was gone. I asked my next door neighbors what had happened to our goal and they explained that it wasn't holding up and that they were trying to find something that might work better.

The next thing we tried was a kitchen bowl I found in the road that already had a hole in the bottom. I went to the local lumberyard on my lunch break and bought a piece of wood, which I had quartered to make a backboard, and attached the bowl with some nails. The neighbors borrowed a latter from someone in the neighborhood and with great effort we put up our second basketball goal.

The bowl lasted about a half an hour and we were all a bit disappointed to see it fall so quickly. The kids in the neighborhood assured me not to worry about it saying that they'd have something worked out by the end of the day. Wishing them luck, I reluctantly returned to the schedule training session.

When I returned home about three hours later I was completely amazed by what I saw. Carmel, the youngest of the kids living in the house next to mine, had managed a truly ingenious design with a metal rod that they'd had around their house. He'd inserted the rod into the backboard about three quarters of the way to the top and extended it down the length of the backboard and formed it into a circle at the bottom. By having the rod extend for most of the length of the backboard the rim reinforces itself with each shot. The overall construction is solid and so far doesn't appear to have any faults.

More than just the fact that my neighbors and I now have a place to play a simple game I am most pleased with the effort everyone involved contributed. It made me very happy to see that by taking the steps to initiate a project I sparked a creative drive in others and by working together we managed to accomplish what we set out to do. With this experience under my belt and a solid goal to play on I am currently content to give my friends a bit of instruction on offensive spacing, defensive technique, and how to move without the ball. Even still, I have already begun to come up with designs in my head for how to construct more permanent goals and what community resources I am going to need to organize in order to fully realize my dream.

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