Drew's African Odyssey - Mwange Refugee Camp, Zambia

Today we organized a basketball match between the Congolese youth in the camp and the Zambian Youth from Mporokoso. We loaded all the kids from Mporokoso into the back of our truck and set off. I didn’t realize the mayhem that would ensue… The Mwange team and about 500 supporters were waiting for our arrival. There were kids and students everywhere. The game started (amid some confusion surrounding uniforms and which team would take which side) and I was put in charge of refereeing. This job proved itself to be very difficult as players were complaining, baskets weren’t being counted and the time keeper was not paying attention. The game ended with the Mwange Camp team ahead by a basket, although it seemed to me that the Mporokoso side was leading and got screwed over… but all's well that ends well, as the spectators were happy with the win and as soon as the final whistle blew, the kids came scampering onto the field, cheering at the top of their lungs. We took a bunch of pictures of the two teams (people there were absolutely amazed with a digital camera…), congratulated both sides and loaded the kids back in the truck for the ride back to town…

Posted by: Drew Gardiner / 1:35 PM