dodoma basketball camps

last week i went to dodoma (a city in central tanzania) to do two basketball camps with a project i work with here called MAMBO basketball. we had a blast. one camp was for elementary students and we had about 130 come out total. the other was for a local club and we had about 30 older late teens/early 20s players participate. i had a good time getting to know the other coaches better and learning more about basketball, coaching and how it works here in TZ.

these are the kids from two elementary schools who came out for the camp. it was crazy!!




dodoma looks a lot like where i grew up in kenya with lots of hills and huge rocks. each morning bahati, everest and i climbed up this hill close to our hotel. good times. when i set the camera on timer i have to put it upside down...



bahati goofing off on the mountain...


teaching the kids about basketball movements. i don't have a lot of experience coaching little kids but i really enjoyed it this week. they learned so fast.



we sang the national anthem before our training sessions each day. the last day i started getting all choked up. i love this country... i love my job. man, life is good guys.

i'm still alive

hey everyone!!!! i'm still alive and finally have some time to spend on the internet. although that time is fast going and i have to go meet someone. but i wanted to put some pics up so you can see how stuff is. these are random photos from a soccer tournament in moshi, basketball camps at HOPAC, and a 3v3 basketball tournament i helped some friends run last week. good times. take care.


with the DISL girls in Moshi.



trying to figure out scores with Aime at Mambo 3v3 basketball tournament



rabia and i at HOPAC basketball camp. yeah, he's tall.

group photo from the elementary basketball camp



frustration after a missed goal in moshi.


with asha and burest in moshi.

teaching iverson about the timer on my camera at Mambo basketball practice. maybe next lesson should be on how to focus the camera. this kids got mad photo skills though. his dad is the guy who started Mambo basketball

things i'll miss about america

well, it's official. i'm leaving the US again and heading back to the homeland. i have truly enjoyed being here and there are some things i'll really miss.

10. this. sitting in the coffee shop drinking coffee and watching the world go by.




9. i got to mow our lawn the other day and that was pretty much pure bliss.

8. the noog. it's funny how you fall in love with places. but i love chattanooga. i love this city, the crazy people who live and work here and the pattern of life.


7. running without being pattered with comments. " we, mzungu!" "mchumba! nisalimie!" "chagua obama!"

6. new city... aka the mother ship. especially the likes of j'dub, randy, and the rest of the folk there.

5. living down the street from the talley/herron clan and other various and sundry friends and 'family'.

4. hamburgers. this is my last hamburger i will consume in america. sad day.



3. the front step at 4703 from whence i can see the comings and goings of my neighbors, the guy across the way fighting with lawn mower, yell at people driving too fast down our 25 mph street, and get asked out by the internet cable guy.

also where i have re-lived paul's journeys through the roman world, rewalked jesus' steps through palestine and to the cross, and generally realized again the wonder of our God through reading the new testament in my swahili bible in preparation to head back.


anna took these shots while we were hanging on the porch one day.


2. mr. t's icecream. i haven't been in chatt-town as much as i had wanted to be when i made plans to come back but each time i've been here i'm made a point of heading over to mr t's and grabbing a waffle cone.

1. the fam. here are some pics from a visit to my sister and her family in st louis. good times. note the matching shirts... we made them. yeah, sarah's the craft making bomb.


my favorite part of this picture is joanna's feet. they're so cute.

triathlon with my siblings and mkwe wangu!!!!

3 of my siblings and i did a sprint triathlon this weekend. it was our first one and we loved it. my brother in law put this video together. enjoy.

pilgrimmages

i'm not really sure how to spell that but i guess we'll just go with it.

i have been told numerous times in the last few months that i should read the book emotionally healthy spirituality. i actually have a plan to read it at some point in time but i haven't managed to get my hands on a copy of it yet. i was close at one point in time in dover, delaware thanks to good 'ol kenny and connie but we were thwarted by observation of sabbath rest by the church secretary and therefore unable to get into the church to snatch up a copy. alas...

anyway, there was a speaker at a training in attended in january/february who also spoke of this book among other things and he said something which has stuck with me. christians need to go on more pilgrimmages, he said. pilgrimmages, eh? an interesting thought. so my parents and i went to cantebury. really we did. but just as tourists.

i have realized though that the last few months for me have been a sort of pilgrimmage. more specifically, a few weeks ago i visited my grandmother on my mom's side and my grandfather's grave. i hadn't seen her in at least 4 years if not more. good times. she and my grandfather were missionaries in india in the late 40s and then moved back to the US where he pastored a couple of churches for a long time. one of those churches i visited last week and was struck to meet people who still attend the church since the days of my grandparents. again, the heritage of faith is astounding.

i have a friend who works at the church my grandfather pastored in annapolis. i went to hang out with her one day during her lunch break and we sat in a little garden outside the church. we were talking and then she says, hey, that bench you're sitting on is dedicated to your grandfather! weird. i can't escape it!!! it's everywhere!!! i guess that's a good thing.

i taught my grandmother some kiswahili while i was there... with the help of my mom. grandma, how do you say hello is kiswahili? what is the coolest basketball project in tanzania called? oh yeah.

give me your eyes

i went to a missions conference with some friends this week and a guy in the church sang this song by brandon heath. i loved the song itself as well as the lyrics. so here is a video i put together to go with it. these are all pics of people in my life. most of them from tanzania but some family as well.

i made this video today for a church that helped out with our soccer camps this summer. it took forever!!! but was fun. thanks anna for the illustrating.