Category: Summer 2024

Written by Valts Rozentāls

Of course we wanted to finish strong and packed a morning practice on the last day before departure. This would turn out also the last training – everybody together. We could see that the week was taking a toll on the kids and the energy was getting low. Still they pulled through for the last practice and we could finish the week strong.

Afterwards we had planned some time to chill out for everyone just to be together, have some fun and look back to the week.

After lunch we would be heading to Kresztur to play against the boys and girls teams of “Medvek” (Bears). We would complete one game for boys and one for the girls. Both would end in our favor, BUT the “Medvek” club is just a couple of years old and we could see they already have a good foundation to build upon. It was a great experience altogether and good exhibition matches. It was nice to see that also the supporters of “Medvek” came and cheered upon their team. We ended up front this time, we are sure this would become a more balanced game for years to come as the coaching staff is very motivated to excel and move forward. Basketball is a tight knit community wherever you go, so we are cheering for the “Medvek Club” to become a great one and lift the game of basketball all around them.

Once we arrived at the pension again, Irenke and her staff were busy and prepared a dinner for us to eat outside. Her famous stew for the main and traditional Hungarian pastries for the dessert. Everyones enjoying the food, having a good time together and you can already feel the air and emotions that are inevitably narrowing down to the last hours in Bögöz.

After dinner, we met up at the basketball court for the last time. This time not to play games or perform a shoot out, but to sit down, say the last words and our goodbyes. This turns out to be a small feedback round after some short speeches from the orga team. Afterwards it’s time for the youth to say their goodbyes and once again – not without shedding some tears. They really find and build friendships through the week. It’s always a beautiful moment to see the sudden realization in their faces and expressions – that’s it. Week is over. Experience and feelings will live in our memories, but now, in this moment – time is up. We say our goodbyes. And just like that, another week of our Romanian adventure, full of emotions and friendships, comes to an end. This was a nice dream, but now it’s time to go to sleep.

We want to cherish the moment and postpone the sleep. Traditionally, it’s time for night basketball and sleeping outside. Unfortunately, sleeping outside would be dismissed by the rain. We let the kids “party on”. They can stay up and let their emotions and experiences come out. Only thing that awaits us tomorrow is food, packing, some more food and making our way back home. First by bus to the airport, then the flight itself. This has been a long week – tiresome, yes, but full of experiences, emotions, friendships and memories.

We see the impact of this project on the local community. We can see the impact on the kids visiting. Step by step, day by day – we are changing the world. No, not the World you might have in mind, but it is the world of someone. A human being. Inner world. Full of perspective, belonging, future. One step and one world at a time.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

We had some light discussions if we should do morning practice today as we would be playing a 3×3 tournament right after. We decided for the practice to establish some more individual concepts (necessary for 3×3). While I was hosting the 3×3 Tournament, Miriam, Paul and Sandy were preparing a “Geo-Caching” game.

3×3 turned out VERY even. One team had bad luck as one player got injured, all others had some very close games (within 2-3 points range) and we had a stable competition in its core until the end. We could determine the first and last team, the rest were decided upon points and +/- coefficient after the very last game.

After all this activity, we let the kids strengthen with some lunch and recover with some free time. Afterwards we would split them into different teams and go Geo-Caching. For those unfamiliar – you get an initial lead to place to find and a riddle where to find the next lead. We set a time limit of about ten minutes upon arriving at the right place to find the next clue. If the team did not succeed within the time limit – we would offer to them to forfeit the point for the current lead and receive the next clue.

Teams could get full points for finding the clues and completing the leads. At the end the winner was the Team lead on by Mark (supervisor was Paul) and they just blew everyone out of the competition. He commented the following:

“We were of course pretty quick because Mark knew almost every location. The German kids eventually just let him take the lead. At some stations, the Germans did figure something out too. I offered to tell Mark to hold back a bit, but they didn’t mind at all. I also got the sense that they were quite glad we finished so quickly because everyone was already tired. But I still had fun.”

This was a very demanding day and we were already reaching the end of the week. Naturally everyone was growing tired and we called it a day after dinner and showering – well deserved rest was in order to overcome the last, full day ahead.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

There is something bewitching about mornings here. Sun is up quite early and once you wake up you get this weird urge to get out and into the sunlight. It’s warm. Inviting. Pleasant. Energy – this is what the rays deliver, even if you are a bit tired. Tiredness, slowly but surely week like this gets to you. This is what the sun is for, in the morning – giving the body energy to go on.

This is the second day where we skip the morning practice, which would also be the last. After breakfast Sandy and Nadine took some kids and went to Kisgalambfalva to adhere some lines on the court. Thing is – there was nothing that resembled the basketball court. So they had to create something out of nothing. Keep in mind – options are limited. Outline was the easiest job, you basically made lines around whatever field you got. Where it gets tricky is “the Zone” and “three point line”. There’s explicit measurements to that, in Europe – regarding FIBA rules. We do not want the kids to learn “something”, but learn rules as close to regulations as possible.

This is what Sandy experienced:

“We measured and glued a few times, our hands clumsy but eager. The zone looked strange, so we peeled it all away, at least on one side. I placed the three-point line three times over, unsatisfied with the curve. We repurposed the wooden blocks from Viking chess, pressing down the lines with quiet determination.”

Nadine adds.
“It was very nice that both the Germans and the Romanians cleaned the hall together. The Germans had expected the hall to be in worse condition.”

So, after lunch it was time to make it to the train stop. I guess it’s as good a time as any to explain why it’s a “stop” instead of “station”. I am sure we have suitable pictures for this. There is no station. In the sense – there is no building, no roof, no counter. There is a sign and some concrete blocks to signify a platform. So, it’s a stop. And regarding the official time table, the train should be here at 14:55. Not really to our surprise – this is not the case and Google said – it’s coming around at 15:12 instead. We were not sure, but we needn’t be – when in Rome, do what Romans do. So, we observed the people coming to the train stop and they were coming at nothing short of 15:12. So that had to be the correct time. Then again – we could not move without a train, could we?

Once we arrived at the stop of Kisgalambfalva – we made our way on foot to the gym of the school we had fixed up to serve as a basketball court.

We would spend our evening playing games on and off the court, together with the Roma kids. It was a new kind of way of communicating for the German kids and took some time to get used to. We had had a briefing the previous evening, so this was an interaction they would/could expect. 

We were pleasantly surprised and touched how the German kids could adjust themselves to the playfulness of a more childish kind. For them already reaching their teens, even thirteen and fourteen year olds, they could play with the younger kids and create so much fun. Either with basketball games, dribbling and giving high fives or with the Viking chess – despite being way bigger and stronger, they played with the younger Roma kids – not for them, not separately from them. Everybody was included. It is indeed a trait, a quality to be mature enough and rediscover the seriousness one had as a child by playing. To be competitive, but stay gentle and create games together with others for others. Purely joy to watch from the side.

That’s a wrap up. Sandy takes some kids on a VW bus along the “Wild-Kisgalambfalva”. Rest of us take the yellow bus over the regular route. Which turns out not so regular after all – the road has been closed! So we have to move through some smaller streets and end up asking for directions as there are no traffic signs in place. Somehow we end up on a gravel road on the side of the village, but it gets us around the closure.

Just right after that we remember we were supposed to pick up three kids on our way back and bring them to the evening practice. So, the issue is – we can’t really communicate with the driver who has route A to B in his mind. Miriam quickly calls Sandy and through phone call we are able to communicate with the driver to turn around and drive back to the closure. In our favor, we were not far away and could return in a couple of minutes. Nadine took in on herself and ran down the closed road to get all the three kids on our bus. Comically, they didn’t realize that they can’t be picked up on a closed street.

We close our evening almost routinely – practice, dinner, shower and feedback circle. Once we are done, all we can do is go to sleep. Heads are heavy, hit the pillow and we doze off in the dream world.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

Sleep a bit in – no, practice. Tasty breakfast and off we go to conquer the day. After a short bus ride we arrived at “World of Mini Transylvania”, just a bit outside of Udvarhely. We had to wait a bit, so we started a round of “the circle”. A team game against boredom. We didn’t get to finish it as we had to move forward towards the entrance. 

I don’t think there was any perception for anybody of the group what “World of Mini Transylvania” meant, but from the start to the end it was very beautiful. You start off with the Castle of the Vlad (yes, the Dracula!) and go through with bigger and smaller castles, fortresses, strongholds, churches, abbeys, monasteries, manors and even sunken island in the middle of the river. The spectrum and history really makes it interesting and at some point you even become overwhelmed and understand – I will have to visit this place again. Amazing experience of the History of Transylvania with exquisite miniature models.

After we left, there was no time to spare as we wanted to take the bus to our beloved pizza place for lunch. As it happens – when someone sees the bus standing at the stop, we start to think we will miss it. Solution? Gun it! Run, run for your lives! At least we were not sprinting… I mean the group can only be as fast as the coaches right. It gets your blood pumping and you can enjoy the climatised bus even better. We even get some kind of “sightseeing” experience out of the bus ride as it does not drive directly to the stop near the pizza place, but takes its time and cruises through the city making a decent loop. There is the church, the “Alexandria” (as we call it, it’s a confectionery/pastry shop) and the school. Unfortunately, the building hosting boarding students is not there anymore. It caved in and took a couple of innocent lives with it.

At last we arrive at the stop we need to get off near the hospital. Then it’s less than five minutes on foot until we can work towards eliminating our hunger. This time we were smarter and had Johannes, Paul and Nadine arrive before us and already make an order of the first pizzas. We did it again – we hit them by surprise and the personnel had to check with their owner if they could produce the pizzas for a group of this size. I mean, for the time being we pretty much occupied a good 90% of their facility. At the end everything turns out good, pizza is as tasty as we remember and of course – kids love some pizza.

Time for some swim – do not worry, we still have some distance to cover until we get there. And basically the youth is always so hungry, that everything we put into them just evaporates and is directly transformed into pure energy by their bodies. Truly athletic group of kids. By the time we get to the swimming pool, food has settled and we can have some quality fun in the water. Despite the warm day, there are not so many people there and we have a decent part of the swimming pool just for us. Swim, enjoy the sun, swim some more, jump and close it all out with some throwing ball around in the water. It is amazing how competitive it can get if you just make out two teams and include some throwing of a ball. Not even goals or baskets.

Now, one of my personal favorite parts, which I enjoy perhaps way too much. Music box, techno and train. Somehow we are missing time today. So we hit the street with the techno and light running towards the train station. In the end, I think we would have made it in time anyway, but perhaps I only think it because we made it in time and had to wait… who knows. Train arrives and we board. And again some Romania magic happens. Evi has to get off of the train in the city to get to her car – she’s not coming all the way with us. The catch is – there is no train stop for her to get off. Then, somehow, she manages to convince the locomotive engineer to make a stop in the middle of well, city – no stop, nothing and let her out so she can get to her car. This would be UNTHINKABLE back in Germany or even any other place. But here – here is the place where stuff happens. And it’s so random, nobody even notices that it’s a stop out of ordinary.

We top the evening off with some practice, at this point we are really crushing it. Dinner, feedback and let’s hit the blankets.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

We kick Monday off with a practice session at 08:00. Even if this week of summer is less intense than last year, the temperature still hits between 28℃ and 34℃ around the mid-day. So our best option is to practice early in the morning before the heat and late in the afternoon after the sun sets. Even at 08:00 in the morning we will be sweating at around 24-27℃.

While the others enjoy the practice, Sandy and I are off to Kisgalambfalva. We have a meeting with the handyman supported by Hajni, the principal. It’s time to mount the baskets. Lines will be done by Sandy, Nadine and the kids on Wednesday. As we arrive we are greeted by Hajni. We pickup the key from the local shop and proceed to the gym. Hajni speaks English and we can communicate freely with her and she translates for the handyman, his name is Sándor. We can throw away our doubts as Sándor is up for the task and has all the necessary tools to mount the baskets. Only thing he quickly needs to fetch from the nearby building is a ladder. As one of us has to hold the basket until he secures it with a couple of wooden screws, we stack some nearby benches one upon another so I can get to the necessary height of around three meters. Before we get the basket up, we do some quick, but solid measurements and he pre-drills the holes in the board where the screws will be going. The mounting itself then is quite easy and we get one side up in no time. Now we have understood the technique required and the second basket goes up to the wall even faster. We had planned three to four hours for this task, but we are done in a bit over one. Amazing! We shoot some balls to test the durability of the baskets and they make the trial. We use our, now free, time to chat with the Hajni, make some side-deal on possible storage space and clean up. Then we head back to Bögöz.

As we arrive, kids are supervised by Paul and Johannes in preparation of lunch for all of us. Some good foundations of nutrition for the future.

Kanufahren (Paddleboat)

If you follow Târnava Mare down the stream from Bögöz, after some time you would reach Zetelaka – our next destination. There we wanted to borrow some paddle boats from KayaKing water sports. Zetelaka is a Hungarian name, Romanian name is Zetea – in the case you want to find the place on the map. We can’t forget that we are navigating in a world of multiple natures, two main languages. One is official, one is of people. Zetelaka village nearby is where our beloved host Irenke was born, it bears the same name as the lake. Lake is located behind the village of Zetelaka, about 40-50 minutes drive away from Bögöz.

Here we spent some amazing time on the lake paddling around, playing catch and there were even some “water fights”. Sometimes one-on-one, sometimes even three or four boats would attack each other by driving by and splashing water. Exactly what we needed to cool off on this hot summer day. At the end everyone was soaked and happy. After drying off, it was time to head back and enjoy some nice evening practice.

With the help of Dora and her amazing English it was easier to communicate in the practice and we could move through it faster than in previous years. It has also become easier to work because of higher basketball understanding among the Bögöz kids. Truly we could split the kids in two groups and work with them either split on a basket for each or let them play and work on fitness on the side with the other. When I think back how much time and effort we had to invest in the years prior – we were really seeing some good progress.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

Bögöz greets us with a lovely, sunny day. Sun is already warming up the ground, in the shady places the grass is still wet and comfortably refreshing. One needs nothing more to wake up than a brisk walk over the field and the warm sunlight. If there is some coffee too, it is perfect. Strangely enough, this group is already up and we do not need to wake them up. This pattern would continue throughout the week. I don’t think we ever had a group that woke up this early by themselves. Even if they mentioned that the training in the morning was too early… go figure.

Practice is standard. We try to mix the kids up between Munich and Bögöz, so we can have demonstrations from Munich kids and spare some translation to Hungarian. Level has gone up since last summer and local kids understand more and catch up faster. Another pleasant observation is that they understand and speak more English – which makes communication lighter and more efficient on our side as our Hungarian is really not so great.

Then we split up and me and Sandy went to the Kisgalambfalva (Small-pigeon-village) to check on the local gym where we want to invest some time and materials to mount the baskets on the walls and bring some lines on the floor in the form of a (smaller) basketball field. Driving around Romania is always a little adventure. This summer – roadworks. I guess it depends on whenever they get some budget for the roads, so there is construction going on every couple kilometers. This, of course, slows us a bit down.

Once we get to Kisgalambfalva – we get out and the first thing is to get the key for the gym. This is where the small community really shines – the personnel from school have left the key in the nearby corner shop next to the facility. Keep it simple. We get in and observe the place. It’s not new anymore. Some lines on the floor are missing, some are completely gone. Walls and equipment are worn down and damaged. Storage room is full with random stuff, one would not really associate with a sports facility. We can’t fix everything, but we can make some things better. We inspect the walls where we tend to fix the baskets onto. I’ve brought some quality screws with me – they should hold nicely, as long as no one will dunk on the baskets and pull them down. We do some rough measurements and conclude – this won’t be perfect, but good enough for the environment we are working with. 

Right in the middle of our visit there were a couple of kids running to us and shouting “Sandy, Sandy!” Those are Roma kids that are training in this gym we will be trying to fix up. At first there were a couple kids, then some more and at the end within a short time we had some ten kids in different ages around us. One bigger sister was carrying a smaller child and everyone wanted to get “up” in our arms, or well – at least hang in them. For my nature it is a bit too much touching and contact – these kids try to get or show all the love they can. After some time I need to set my “border” what is enough. This encounter leaves me thinking and even now I can’t rightfully describe this experience and what I felt at that moment. I saw bright faces, the biggest smiles and radiating happiness. They just want to be part of whatever is going on at the moment. Be included. And I guess as an adult I see it differently now, but it seems it’s true – despite how and in what conditions we grow up, most of us will remember our childhood mostly as a happy place. But now it’s time to move on.

Sandy got in contact with someone from the school to be sure that tomorrow we won’t be standing alone in the gym – everything is assured. The only open question is the handyman who’s coming tomorrow to help us. We do not know – is he any good? Will he have the right equipment with him? Powertools? Extendable ladder? I guess we will see tomorrow morning… 

We leave the key again in the nearby shop and head off. 

Sandy wants to go through “Wild-Galambfalva” where the excluded Roma’s live. I’ve been coming on this project for four years now and never came near one of the excluded communities of Roma people. This is a place outside and between two villages (Kisgalambfalva and Nagygalambfalva) on a small hill, next to a small “Târnava Mare” (Romanian or “Nagy-Küküllő” in Hungarian) River. I do not know what I expected. Until now I only had a vague impression of one of the earliest works on the Blog of Basketball Leben and some stories from Sandy and Miriam.

What I saw resembles something that is shown about remote tribes on natural documentaries in the deepest corners of the world. Far, far away. Another continent, another world.

But here I am, looking at this scene that unfolds to me as we drive by. Looking at this far, far away, but oh so close… And I see: no communications present – no clean, running water, no plumbing, no electricity, no facilities or heating. Houses (if that word even applies, I’d describe them more as advanced huts) are basic “cubes” with wooden beams as a frame and walls are filled with whatever the inhabitants could get their hands on. It might be wood or wooden boards, perhaps pressed cartons and some plaster. For the most part there are some kinds of roofing above the buildings, many have missing tiles. We won’t stop and look closer – it could become dangerous if we do it alone, just the two of us. Don’t have to be, but can. In my mind I do not see the danger, but then again – I do not want to find out either.

People are either between the allies, on the nearby field or down by the river. Scene in the river reveals that it is for everything: for people to wash themselves, to wash their horses or other animals if they have them, to wash their clothes and their dishes. You see many kids around, perhaps left to themselves. I’d imagine other rules apply – if you have some older siblings around, that’s enough. Adults need to go and do adult things. Provide however they can.

What shocks me the most is that we are not in some remote part of the world, tens or hundreds of kilometers from civilization, where one would expect these conditions. We are in the middle of eastern europe. European Union. And Romania has been part of it since 2007.

This is perhaps the idea that I can’t wrap my head around. They are living between two villages with necessary communications and utilities. And they are there because no one is willing to deal with them. And they come as they are because of it – it is a vicious cycle.

People say – but they won’t do this or that. Education could help, but the kids don’t come to the school. Latvians have a saying: “A satisfied person will not understand a hungry person.” And this is the attitude towards Roma. They are mis- or not understood. Looking at this scene I see only that they need a breather. A chance to have their basic necessities met. That is when you can lift your head up and see other opportunities. And we have seen this happen in the project – the moment the people are able to meet their basic needs, they can lift their heads and see what happens around. That is the moment they can learn and develop. That is the moment they break the cycle.

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The rest of the team stay back with the kids and go on exploring Bögöz led by Szili and Dora.

As I was not there to observe the happening, here are the comments kindly provided by Miriam and Nadine.

Miriam:

“It was cool! The two of them did a great job. Szili talked about his town, traditions, and other random information. And Dora translated for us.  

The mood was great. (As a group, we cheered for passing cars) Lots of laughter, lots of conversations.  

The suspension bridge was, as always, a highlight for the Germans. But not just for them, also for our guests from Kisgalambfalva.  

Oh, and the storks with their gigantic nests also led to many “ohh” moments for the kids from Munich. In response, the Romanians started singing a children’s song about storks.”

Nadine:

“In general it was super cute how Szilli did it. He was very proud to be in charge and that he could show us his “hood” and always making sure we didn’t lose anyone and that the group stays together. Dora was the translator and also did an AMAZING job.”

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After all this we all met back at “Inn the Barn” for some lunch together. Followed by some free time for youth to share their first experiences and encounters among themselves and to get to know each other better. This year they really hit it off quickly, perhaps that had to do with some kids overlapping from both sides as they already knew each other. Familiar faces make it easier.

Then it was time for the “Summer Festival” with some basketball, spike ball, viking chess and circus curricula presented and taught by Johannes. Some snacks on the side and it turned out to be an active and pleasant evening – everybody together, as invitations went out to parents and other people from the community.

As usual, evening ended with dinner, showers, housekeeping and feedback. Then time for bed – tomorrow will bring more adventures.

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Written by Valts Rozentāls

It’s a pleasure to meet you!

And what a pleasure it is. Either you think that first impressions are important or do not last – it does not matter here. Within a week you can learn a lot about others. Johannes is a handsome, thoroughly clever man in his prime. Paul, Johannes’ son, is a vibrant, calm, young man in his early twenties starting out in life. Both are joining us this year as an ‘off-court‘ support duo – taking over responsibilities and tasks which otherwise would cost us a big part of our waking hours and require much more juggling around. Most likely we would not ever meet back in Germany, but in the middle of Transylvania – everything is possible.

After the long journey the Youth (kids from Germany) are shown their lodging, followed by very late dinner. Needless to say – afterwards they quickly go to sleep. The Orga team stays up and spends the first evening talking, catching up, getting to know our new friends and coordinating the upcoming day. As we arrived late, the conversations continued late into the night until around 2AM. At some point the mind just keeps wandering off and there is no more energy left for willpower to continue on.  A new day awaits and we will need the rest before we can welcome it.

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Meetup at the airport went without any challenges. On the first day after school was out we expected more people to be there, but this year the situation was quite calm. Security control went well and due to changes in cross-border regulations we were not required to go through customs.

Nevertheless – Déjà Vu, our flight got delayed. LH1670 was supposed to leave Munich airport at 14:50 and the first delay bumped it up to 15:45. Yes, the first, we received a couple more for 16:00 and 16:20. Delays like this today had a significant impact – as we still had to take a bus from the Airport in Cluj-Napoca to Bögöz (Hungarian; Romanian – Mugeni). Estimated travel time without stops – around 3h 16min.  And this was the reason we would arrive considerably later as planned.