Nine NBA players and one WNBA player visited the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine on Monday. The players taught the game of basketball and discussed world issues with campers from the Middle East and South Asia.
The L.A. Lakers' Jordan Farmar and Chicago's Derrick Rose were on hand and checked in after spending a day at the camp.
Jordan Farmar
I guess you could say I was drawn to participate in this camp because of my unique background, which is a multicultural one. I was born into a Christian household and when my mother and father got divorced, my mother married an Israeli. I was then raised in a Jewish household. So for me, having a black father and a white mother and being raised in a Jewish household gave me a whole bunch of different perspectives. I would go to temple with the Jewish side of the family, and then with my dad I would go to church. We would do Thanksgiving and then we would also celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas and Passover and other things. I got to see and learn about different cultures and religions. I was a part of all of them. I wasn’t just learning as education, but it was a part of who I was in developing me as a person.
Growing up you might think that I dealt with all kinds of name-calling and mean spirited kids, but I was fortunate enough to have sports as an avenue to mediate all that. If you’re good at sports it doesn’t really matter what you are. I would go into a community with the black kids and they would say, “Oh, that white boy can play.”
Then there were times where I wouldn’t be able to do stuff on certain days because it was part of our family day on the Jewish side. So I wouldn’t be able to play in the championship game or whatever. It affected me a little bit, but I had friends who didn’t see colors or religions, and who were open to everything. I mean, my black friends would come and do Passover dinner with me, sitting there with the yarmulke on their head and hanging out with my family. At the same time my Jewish friends would come to the black side of my family’s house and do Thanksgiving eve and soul food and all that kind of stuff. Everybody was open to getting different perspectives.
That’s basically what I tried to share during the dialogue session here at the camp where the campers come together and share their personal experiences with one another. The biggest thing that emerges from it is trying to understand where the other person is coming from. I was just telling them how I have a different perspective because I don’t have any one side to me. Although I’m not from a conflict area like many of these kids, I’m composed of perspectives and values from all different sides put together here in America. I was able to portray being part of and understanding how a black family lives and that culture and at the same time living and being part of a Jewish family and its culture and beliefs. Getting a firsthand experience on two completely opposite sides who helped shape me into who I am. As a result I don’t see one side or the other. I just see it how it is and move on. I accept everybody.
Maybe that gave me a little bit of credibility when talking to these kids and maybe not. But honestly, I think the campers are past that. I think they learned that none of that should matter. It’s really about trying to understand people no matter where they’re from. Regardless of whether or not those people have to deal with conflict, they have a perspective on something in life. They have a value and belief that they believe in and to understand that and respect it is probably the whole message that comes across. Still, for somebody like myself who is visible to open up and share that I have something different to offer, that was probably a good thing.
This is my second time taking part in the Seeds of Peace camp. I did it for the first time two years ago. It’s cool for me because the kids who were here the first time I came are now back as high level counselors instead of just campers. They’ve been through it and have gone back home to pass along this message, to try to get more leadership skills, and to find out how to better their situation.
Probably the most amazing part of this camp is just the fact that the campers are really passionate despite going through some really terrible things back home. I wasn’t shocked by their stories, though, since my stepfather is from Israel. He was in the Israeli army and would tell me stories of life over there. To think that people have to be afraid to live life, it’s just crazy to see someone who is 15, 16, 17 years old have to deal with something like that. But then when you see them trying to reach out at a young age and make a change, that is beautiful.
I’ll even be heading to Israel soon to participate in a similar setting with another organization. It’s basically the same principle there as it is here in Maine. They’re going to bring kids from conflict areas together and I’m going to try to use basketball as an avenue for having fun with each other and show that they don’t have to be at war or be enemies, but that they can have a good time with one another. For an Israeli to say that they have a Palestinian friend who they did a basketball clinic with will be a step in the right direction.
Derrick Rose
I’m up here in Maine for the Seeds of Peace Camp and I have to say I almost missed out on this experience. My agent, B.J. Armstrong (you might remember him for his three championship rings with the Chicago Bulls), told me about the camp about two weeks ago and suggested that I think about getting involved. At first I didn’t think I would be able to fit it into my schedule, but when B.J. told me it would be a nice time, I decided to jump in and do it. I’m glad I did. Just meeting the kids has been great so far.
B.J. gave me some background on the campers and what they experience back home and how they come from areas of the world that generally don’t get along, but I didn’t have much else to go by. He also told me things like how some of the kids that come here are very intelligent and that they come to the camp with the hope of being leaders in their country one day. He told me how he went to Israel and they knew who he was because of this camp. Just for that to happen, that’s crazy. It gives you something to think about.
For me, this camp is just about having fun. I never went to camp when I was younger. It’s different from anything I have ever heard of with the kids being from such different places. It’s not like camps we have with people from the same state. It’s people from different countries. It is way different.
So far, they had us playing basketball with them, sitting at the lunch table with them, things like that. The kids are teaching me their own little hand motions and all that stuff, they’re banging on the tables, singing along with each other. I wish I was in a camp like this when I was little. Everybody gets along with each other, but the biggest thing is that they’re staying with each other and talking to each other. They don’t really care where the other kids are from. Everybody is just a kid trying to have fun.
When we were in the lunch room, I talked to one girl who told me she was from Egypt and how many hours it took her to get over here. It took her a whole day. That is crazy! One of her flights was four hours and the minimum of any part of her travel was like three hours. That is how important this camp is to these kids.
This is definitely something I will be a part of again in the future. I only wish that I could go back and be a part of it as a camper. I want to stay another day or another couple days, but I guess I’ll have to make the best of it while I’m here.
