A group of Carleton student athletes will be embarking upon Longido, Tanzania in April 2020 to build multi-purpose basketball courts.
The athletes are enrolled in a year-long course and project titled “Courts for Change”, that will culminate with a two-week trip to Tanzania to build the courts, as well as interact with the local Maasai district community.
“The idea is we’ll go over there and help support the building of this court and hopefully do some kind of exchange in terms of coaching and working with kids,” said Ravens basketball coach and business professor Rob Smart, who is helping out with the class.
Six years ago, engineering and industrial design students went to Tanzania for a course project set up by the director for the Sprott Centre for African Research and Business, Troy Anderson.
Anderson will be the professor for the 2020 course and said the project has had a profound impact on himself over the years.
“I just kind of fell in love with the place the first time and I really, really liked the way it worked out with the students,” he said. “I liked the interdisciplinary [aspect] of it.”
The project has continued since with students’ projects ranging from addressing water issues, beekeeping, sustainable farming, women’s shelters and others, according to Anderson.
“Last year, we did have recreation for the first time–recreational infrastructure for kids–and it was something that the community was really interested in,” Anderson added.
This year, Anderson and Smart collaborated to create the course and project for varsity athletes for the first time. There is also a class of industrial design and business students the athletes are working with. Those students are heading to Tanzania in December to test the prototypes for their own projects and get feedback, according to Anderson.
Ravens basketball player Mallory Katz said Smart reached out to athletes about the project. She and four of her teammates applied right away, and were accepted. There are joined by athletes from hockey and rowing.
Katz said they’re excited to learn about a new culture, meet people and experience Tanzania. Women’s basketball player Emma Huff said the plan is to build a full court and a half court as well as a shade structure for the community.
Prior to venturing to Tanzania, students will write a paper on a specific research interest about the community. The class also involves the athletes being paired up with local high school students in Tanzania to help the students out with their senior projects.
A main focus of the class is understanding Tanzanian and local Maasai culture through research and role-playing activities.
“Trying to understand perspective,” Katz said. “We’re going into the community, just understanding we’re coming from a different perspective and they’re coming from a different perspective.”
She said the activities have “completely changed” her perspective already.
Katz said the emphasis is on working with the community to reach a common goal instead of telling people what’s wrong in their community and fixing it.
“We’re coming from a country and we’re really privileged,” Huff said, “We need to have an attitude check and we need to be aware of how people respond to what we’re trying to do there.”
“That’s why I love this as an athlete because I’ve lived this myself–you get in a little bubble,” Smart said. “You don’t realize there’s all these cool things people are doing … this is a great way for our athletes to connect with the cool stuff.”
Anderson has seen the experience resonate with students in the past.
“They feel like they’ve grown somehow. They’ve broadened … their view of the world and for me, that’s one of the most important parts of it,” he said.
While for most of the students on the trip this year, it’s their first time participating in this type of experience, women’s basketball player Jaclyn Ronson has been on two mission trips to Jamaica prior to attending Carleton.
She said those experiences gave her a different perspective on life and made her grow up faster.
“I was very surprised at the things I was seeing, just how they live their life day-to-day and just the resources they might not have that we do and what we take for granted,” Ronson said. “Those kind of things we need to keep in mind when we go there.”
Huff anticipates a similar type of experience for herself. “It’s going to have a huge impact on us, the way we see things, the way we see privilege,” she said.
Smart added he likes the project’s hands-on nature and how students will be working with the community.
Events that have stood out to students in the past include the water walk, interacting with children, as well as discussions with Maasai women, according to Anderson.
“They’ll ask questions about everything, about social problems … and they get straight answers, and it’s pretty rough,” he said.
The fundraising goal is $75,000 for the athletics side and $30,000 for the industrial design side, according to Anderson. The students are focused on fundraising throughout the year to help offset the costs.
Smart said he hopes the course with athletes can continue in the future.
“It’s great,” he said. “I’m going and I enjoy it and hopefully, my long term plan is to make it a sustainable thing.”
For Huff and her fellow athletes, the project is also about sharing their love for sports.
“In terms of the greater good, it’s all about sharing all the things we’ve gained and all the things we’ve learned as … varsity athletes and projecting that outwards,” she said.
Feature image by Tim Austen.
