Hoops 4 Hope
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Annalina Kazickas on Hoops 4 Hope:
"During my gap year in 2008 (after spending 2 months in Lithuania trying desperately to learn the language actually) I spent 2 months volunteering for Hoops 4 Hope in Cape Town where I experienced their life skills programs first hand. Programs and organizations like H4H are critical to the development of the South African nation as a majority of the nation's citizens live in abject poverty with little hopes of leaving. The apartheid government in SA forcibly resettled hundreds of thousands of colored and black South Africans to undesirable areas and left them with little access to bare necessities like education and health care. Through sports, H4H gives these kids the skills they need to develop into productive citizens.
After I went, Peter, who loves kids and loves charitable work, decided it would be a perfect fit for him and has helped H4H in Zimbabwe for the past couple years. Being able to see the courts that he's helped repair and Cape Town's counterpart in the H4H initiative was truly special."
Peter Kazickas:
"My involvement with Hoops 4 Hope began in the summer of 2011. After I graduated from high school I travelled to Zimbabwe where I stayed for a month and worked with the non-profit. With me I brought 100 basketballs and some basketball apparel for the program. I had an incredible and life changing experience living and volunteering in Zimbabwe. The kids taught me so much about basketball and life. How much more it was than just a game. Basketball was hope; it was a vehicle for education and life improvement, and it truly was used in Zimbabwe to save lives.
I was so inspired by my stay in Zimbabwe that I returned again two summers later. Having had kept up with the great friends I'd made in Zim over Facebook, when I arrived it seemed as if no time had passed. I was so impressed at how the program had grown. I can confidently say that it is the best basketball program for youth development in the world. The coaches succeed in their mission of "providing hope to the hopeless," every single day. They teach the children, through basketball, about the important life skills of staying in school and off the streets, avoiding drugs, health prevention measures, and most importantly they teach the kids about HIV/AIDS - an epidemic that has hit Sub-Saharan Africa hard.
I'm so fortunate for my experiences with Hoops 4 Hope, and the relationships that I've made and have continued to develop. I am also eternally grateful for what Hoops 4 Hope has provided me, and the lessons and values I've learned. My only hope is that the kids have gained as much from me as I have from them."