October 13th, 2019 was a special day for Rwanda. This country in Africa is home to over 12 million people! Unfortunately, life is tough for the people of Rwanda as poverty rates are high. Jerome Williams made it his duty to travel all the way to Rwanda and give back to these great people!
Jerome visited the Eastern Province of Rwanda and gave back the best way he knows how… Shooting for Peace! He held a clinic that featured: shooting drills, stretching, dribbling drills, passing, and full-court games on not one but two full sized basketball courts. About 200 women and 150 children experienced this event! A fantastic turnout, they all were filled with such joy. Jerome stated: “Rwanda is an amazing place. The history was astonishing and the people were warm and engaging. I can’t wait to see more of my friends doing business there as well as revisiting my Rwanda DoggPound!”
In addition to the Shooting for Peace initiative on Jerome’s behalf he teamed up with Shooting Touch, an international non-profit organization that uses basketball to promote healthier lives in Rwanda and Boston, to make this event happen! Chloe Rothman, the Director of Programming at Shooting Touch was thrilled to see the absolute joy at the clinic. She had this to say, “This is a tough place to live and it’s very important to give these people something to release their stress for a bit and take their focus on whatever is going wrong. Basketball does that for them.” Chloe continues to do fantastic things with Shooting Touch!
Aliae Bamuknde, a camp leader with Shooting Touch was amazed by everything that happened. Aliae exclaimed, “The kids were crazy when they found out Jerome Williams, a former NBA player was coming to their court. They were so excited and started screaming when Jerome showed up.” People were simply fascinated with the basketball being played and were cheering for everybody, it sounded like an outstanding atmosphere.
I hope that Shooting for Peace and Shooting Touch can team up again to bring Rwanda another phenomenal basketball camp experience. Jerome Williams did a great job of giving back and made the people of Rwanda full of happiness!
