Featured Project: A Basketball Court at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp

Alpha Ba is a CorpsAfrica Exchange Volunteer from Senegal. He has been serving at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi since 2017. In collaboration with Jesuit Refugee Services and a group of young basketball players from the camp (the "Dream Team"), Alpha secured support from the NBA to build a new basketball court for youth at the camp.  The court now serves as a space for ongoing sports programs promoting dignity, social inclusion, and overall well-being for youth in this protracted refugee situation. See video at right to hear directly from the incredible people involved in this exciting project. 
Download the Press Release for the court and inauguration here.
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Full version of project overview

Additional Videos

Abridged version of project overview 
Coverage of project on Zodiak TV in Malawi
Interviews with the Dream Team, pre-construction
Liz Fanning discusses the basketball project on live tv

The Project: Key Points

  • With an estimated 34,000 people living there, Dzaleka is the largest refugee camp in Malawi. The camp was originally built to hold just 9,000 people. (Source: UNHCR)
  • Primary countries of origin represented in the camp include the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.
  • The court was designed to provide the camp's large youth population with a productive outlet for developing crucial life skills. The court’s “Dream Team” aims to play in Malawi’s national league.
  • The day before the basketball court launch, Catalyst Basketball Movement and Franck Traore of NBA Africa held a Coaches’ Training for over 30 coaches from the camp. These coaches will go on to lead basketball programs for youth promoting healthy lifestyles, teamwork, social inclusion, and discipline.

A special thanks to the project's partners and supporters: 
Malawian Ministry of Homeland Security

About the CorpsAfrica Volunteer

Amadou Alpha Ba is from Dakar. He has a degree in Applied Foreign Languages (English and German) from the University of Saint Louis. Very active as a student, he was President of the Google Student Ambassador Committee. As a member since 2013 of UGB Verte, a structure that advocates for the environment, he participated as a volunteer for Citizen Camp in the Carabane and Souloum Islands. He also attended sessions on leadership training through AIESEC. Alpha has participated in activities with Afrobarometer; he visited more than 50 villages in Senegal, which sparked his interest in helping people in remote areas. After finishing his Masters in Tourism and Hotel Management, Alpha served as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Senegal and then in Malawi at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp.

The Court: Before and After Pictures 

Photos from the Basketball Court Launch (see the full album on Flickr, here)
June 28, 2019 at the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi