May 2019

I cannot imagine a more authentic experience of Morocco than ourCourts for Kids trip. The people of Talsint are the most hospitable people Ihave ever encountered, and that’s saying something as a product of the South.We arrived in Morocco on May 22nd after almost 24 hours of travel. We then rodeto Fez for a day of exploring and some rest, and then took a long bus ride toTalsint, the community with whom we were building the court. Our trip wasscheduled during Ramadan, the month in which the Quran was revealed toMuhammad. In order to celebrate, the people of Morocco, who are mostly Muslim,fast from sunrise to sundown from things such as food, water, and cursing. Thismeant that, in order to work with the community and connect with the people ofTalsint, we had to work after breaking fast each evening until dinner at 3 am.We were honestly very thankful for this because it was hot during the day; ourschedule allowed us to work in the cooler weather. Upon arrival in Talsint,were greeted with a large Ramadan meal and a tour around the museum beforegetting to work. The system involved gathering buckets of rocks, sand, andcement to pour into the mixer then unloading the concrete into wheelbarrows todump onto the court. It is still up for debate which task was the hardest. Thefirst two days we worked only at night and were a little behind, so we beganworking for a couple of hours during the day to finish on time.

Racing to the top of the mountain, we were out of breath both fromphysical exertion and the raw beauty we were witnessing. We stood looking atthe most beautiful sunset I had ever seen cresting the Atlas Mountains. Only asingle peak stood taller than the one we were standing on, but it was gettingdark fast and dinner was prepared. It seemed like we had experienced thefullness of the beauty, but then Will said, “Do you think we could go just abit higher?” So, we went in all the way. This was the essence of our trip –calling ourselves higher to see what more could be done.

After working in the heat for the first time, the team had gottena bit scraggly. We were low on electrolytes and down two team members, butdinner was exactly what we needed. We loaded up our van and headed out to thecountryside where our driver, Ishmael, lives. He lived in a small town but wasthrilled to show us around every piece, from the hydraulic wheat wheel to thenarrow walking paths that surround the crops. Mustafa, one of the Talsintians,picked beautiful pink roses that smelled like honey and water. They were sopotent that almost a week after picking they still had a scent. All of thiscreated a surreal and rejuvenating experience.

Every day we drew challenges at breakfast. On the second to lastday of court building I drew one that said, “Teach a local an American song.”While building the court that night I ran into Ayoub, one of the locals I hadmet the night before. He had only been speaking English for a year but wasincredibly fluent because of his love for learning and American media. He hadtaught me several tongue twisters that I could barely stammer out, yet he saidwith ease. He wanted to learn more, so I taught him our beloved fight song,“The Eyes of Texas.” The next day, while we were pouring the very last scoop ofconcrete that Tristan had rationed out, “The Eyes of Texas” began playing. Withour horns up and smiles across our faces, it felt like we were glowing. We allthought that someone on our team had played the song, but it was Ayoub. Thatwas more special than the court itself. We knew that the court was going to beplayed on by little kids and that a lot of fun was going to be had there, butthe people of Talsint could pour concrete just as well as we could. The specialpart was the mark that we left on one another. Ayoub had gone home and researchedthe few verses of the song I had taught him, then learned the significance andknew how proud we were of the song. That is what communicated to me that ourtrip was successful. We had seeped into one another's hearts and learned toappreciate one another’s culture.

Throughout thisexperience, we had no cell service. Although seemingly scary, there wassomething special about not having our phones. We weren’t in charge of anybody,and we weren’t having to budget our time into a million different thingscalling our names (unless you count the little boys). As student-athletes, wespend a lot of our lives juggling all the avenues of our life that we lead, butthis trip gave us an opportunity to just be authentic and love others withoutworrying if there was something more important we could be doing. The singulartask of serving allowed us to go all-out just for the people that we got to bewith. Shaving off all the extra expectations, we were also able to remove thefalse parts about ourselves. It was one of the coolest experiences any of ushad ever had.

After finishing thecourt, we were surprised with an opportunity to ride camels in the SaharanDesert. We raced around in the sand and had a unique opportunity to just besilly, lift one another, and enjoy the peacefulness of the desert. The men whoworked at the camp played the drums for us, and we even got to try and play. Itwas a nice refresher and helped us realize just how close we all had gottenover the past week.

For our final day, wedrove the four long hours back to Talsint and then went to a lunch filled withrounds and rounds of Never Have I Ever. This day was the day that the wholetrip had been building up to - we were finally getting to play on the courts.When we arrived, we realized that the basketball hoops were upside down, but bythis point in the trip we had certainly learned to go with the flow. Afterplaying a couple of pick-up games of volleyball, basketball, and soccer, Derekorganized a basketball tournament so that everyone could play together. InMorocco soccer is considered a male sport so basketball allowed individuals ofall ages and genders to come together for one event. After the game, we had aclosing ceremony and then went to dinner. This was the coolest dinner we hadthe entire trip because it felt like all the walls were broken down. We wereable to talk deeply about religion and politics, which lead a much deeperunderstanding of Morocco, but also a lot more questions. Morocco is incrediblyunique in its heart, and how it sees the future. If Talsint could write thefuture, every tribe, be them atheist, Christian, or Muslim, would be able tolive together in the hopes for a united world. And, they want the world to knowwhat they believe.

The next morning, we started our forty-hour journey back to Austin, Texas with a very different interpretation of what was outside our window than on the way there. I will forever be thankful to my teammates. Morocco, and Courts for Kids for this incredible journey I had the privilege of being a part of. Hook ‘em Horns -Mackenzie, student

"We are more alike as humans than we are different. Basic human emotions are universal. Despite our different races, religions, and nationalities, we have more in common than we think." - Tecora

"I feel the trip has changed me in my viewpoints about cultures. You watch the media and they try to formulate opinions upon people. This experience has changed my opinion about Muslims." - Brett

"Some of my favorite memories of this trip include learning how to do labor work because I have never done that at home. I felt like I doubted how strong I was, but I was excited to life rocks and sand… I learned that pretty much everyone loves a smile, no matter what language you speak." - Liv

"I feel like this trip changed me in the sense that it opened me up. I was able to appreciate my life more as well as have more respect for the lives of others. I was able to achieve this by living with the people in this community and having real interactions with them. This experience also allowed me to become a more caring and loving person." - Tristan

"My favorite memory was watching all of the kids help build the court and then the smiles on their faces when they got to play on it. I also enjoyed watching and interacting with everyone from the community and learning about their cultures and their lives." – Jen

"I learned about myself that I am a feminist. I never considered myself one prior to this trip, but I feel very empowered to encourage young girls to choose their best life; however they define it." - LaToya

"This trip changed me in that it allowed me to grow. I was often scared and nervous about things of this culture that I was not used to. For example, I was apprehensive to try the food, the religion, and the cleanliness of the city. However, as time went on, I began to become more open minded and less judgmental." - Peyton

University of Texas Student Athletes "Calling themselves higher to see what more could be done" in Morocco