Temple University Athletics
Dwayne Killings Trip To South Africa
8.6.09 | Men's Basketball
Aug. 6, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - It is amazing how fast time moves especially during the summer months. I was truly blessed this summer with being given an opportunity to work as a Basketball Education Specialist with Triad Trust a 501 (c ) 3 non-profit. During the early part of July I traveled to the Nkomazi region of South Africa (40 minutes east of Mozambique) and worked with some very special and committed young men and women within a community that is filled with poverty, but overly optimistic about the power, influence and impact that Triad and its volunteers, like myself, are committed to.
Triad founder Brooke Wurst (educated at Penn, Oxford, Harvard and Northwestern) has developed a very special program where leaders are developed and commissioned to run youth programs geared toward sports and the arts. These programs are used as a platform to educate and raise awareness about AIDS and HIV, diseases that have crippled the overall health of the community. One out of almost every three people within the communities we worked in has seen a friend or family member become infected with AIDs, HIV or Tuberculosis, numbers that through awareness and education will and have to be depleted. The Triad model is one that Brooke hopes to take to other areas within the world that have seen too many lives taken by disease that many, especially elders, believe are not an issue.
Over 5.7 million people in South Africa have AIDS or HIV and there are over 1,000 deaths daily due to causes related to these diseases. Over 28% of women pregnant are infected with AIDS or HIV. It is a sad reality, but one that can be prevented. Triad's efforts are just a band-aid over a very deep and deathly wound, but it is a start to creating a difference.
Presently I have taken the charge to raise financial assistance to build more basketball courts within the communities, secure sneakers, shorts and t-shirts (lightly used) and basketballs (new and old) to deliver and help grow the programs that have become a mission that I am extremely committed to. During my ten days within South Africa I had a chance to work with Ernie Nestor (Elon, Wake Forest and S. Carolina), conducting coaching clinics to the present coaches and organizers of the basketball leagues within the community. It was an experience that was rewarding professionally and more importantly, one that I will treasure so much more personally. I had a chance to truly live the life. We stayed in the Matsamo cultural village where we stayed in man-made huts, had a chance to witness a live cultural show that was amazing to hear and see.
Although time was short, as it is winter in South Africa (80 degrees during day, 45 during the night) we did have a chance to visit Krueger National Park. It was breathtaking to see the wild animals up close and personal! Aside from the animals, hikes, clinics, food and travel that we did, what struck me the hardest is how great the people were! Each morning the people I had a chance to work with walked miles or hitched a ride to attend the clinics. When we traveled to their homes and saw the way they lived two things came to mind, one that I am extremely fortunate to have the life that I live each day, and two, it shocked me how people who endure so much and have so little could have the brightest and widest smile you have ever seen!!! I realized first hand "you can't help everyone everywhere, but you can help someone somewhere"!
Part of my mission moving forward over the next season is to raise resources (basketballs, sneakers, t-shirts, etc) and help raise financial donations to Triad Trust. Over the course of the year I will be writing letters, making phone and hosting events to try and help Triad's cause. Should anyone like to become involved, please feel free to reach me at Dwayne Killings@hotmail.com or for more information on Triad log on to www.triadtrust.org.
Information on the Basketball Program
Basketball Program: Professional men's and women's players and coaches inspire kids and new coaches with exciting skill-building camps centered around HIV/AIDS education. Basketball is an increasingly global game. Players from Africa, South America, Europe and Asia now fill rosters in the NBA and WNBA, as well as in professional leagues throughout Europe. By introducing the fundamentals of the game alongside priceless lessons about HIV/AIDS and healthy lifestyles, children and coaches alike will have the chance to make their own dreams of playing in the big leagues a reality.
Coaching Clinics Any celebrity athlete can swoop in to a needy community, galvanize a group of children, and leave again. Only the most dedicated athletes and coaches stick around to train local leaders to capitalize on the interest they generated in the sport. Our volunteers teach aspiring coaches the approaches and strategies to coaching children new to the sport. But they also teach these leaders how to reinforce age-appropriate and culturally appropriate lessons about safer sex, abstinence, family responsibility, and staying in school in spite of hardships and conflicts. Each of our athletes and coaches custom-tailors the coaching curriculum to the needs of the local community.
Hoops for Hope: Camps for Kids They're superhuman on the court and off the court. Our basketball players and coaches know how to inspire kids with dazzling displays of ball-handling and footwork. But they also know how to encourage vulnerable children to balance fun with focus, individual achievement with unselfish teamwork and sportsmanship. These same values translate to life off the court, as well. Many of our players overcame tremendous hardships to rise to the highest ranks of professional sports. They share their stories to inspire the children who need successful role models.
Shoes To Use: Big Shoes To Fill Clearly most professional basketball players have MUCH larger feet than the average child in our partner programs. However, by donating their used sneakers to our campaign, we then auction the stars' shoes and use 100% of the proceeds to fund the salaries of the new basketball coaches we train.
Court Building Basketball is inherently more infrastructure-intensive than is soccer. Where soccer can be--and is--played on any level field of grass, basketball requires a proper court. When TRIAD first arrived in southern Africa in early 2007, the kids who were playing had one serviceable court in one village. Any other youth who wanted to play found themselves on makeshift courts with surfaces of gravel and broken glass. Considering most children were playing barefoot, TRIAD found this unacceptable. Those who were interested in using basketball as a vehicle to teach and learn about HIV/AIDS deserved better. With the guidance of the NBA Cares program and the leadership of the WNBA's Ruth Riley, TRIAD was able to build its first court in March 2009. Players no longer had to practice once a week at a court 40 kilometers away. In order to increase interest and participation in TRIAD's basketball program, we believed the old adage from Field of Dreams, "If you build it, they will come." New basketball teams are already organizing in the areas around the new court.
