Foundation's Voices: "Basketball has no barriers and can bring everyone together"

Following the success of the Foundation’s Female Voices series, we will be continuing to share some of the Foundation’s beneficiaries’ voices. Today you will learn about Sharo Charlottie Kaiche from Malawi. The 26 years old went through the Foundation’s Youth Leadership program and is now using Basketball For Good in her community.

Sports has played an important role in Sharo’s life, “From a young age, sport has always been a safe space, it has helped me escape stress whether at home or school”.

She grew up watching her sibling play but only started playing later. “In high school, during our physical education lessons, I was able to pick up the fundamentals. I was picked for inter school basketball games and schoolhouse games. I only started playing competitive club basketball after I graduated from high school”.

Basketball then gave her valuable opportunities. “I received a school scholarship, so basketball helped me get my university degree as well as gave me the opportunity to travel to different countries”.

Sharo was then selected as a Youth Leader for the Foundation’s 3x3 Basketball For Good project in Southern Africa. “Being a Youth Leader was a very exciting opportunity. Getting to be part of the workshops and watching how the players would interact and learn together was heartwarming. It was nice getting to meet people with the same vision, sharing ideas and helping solve problems that we have all experienced in different settings”.

“The biggest thing I learnt was inclusion and not leaving anyone behind. Seeing youths with different nationalities and languages, breaking barriers to communicate to each other was amazing.”

“Basketball at that point showed me that it has no barriers, borders, it does not choose color or language and can bring everyone together”.

 

Coming back to Malawi she became a Youth development officer for the newly established Likuni Gators whose vision is to use basketball to develop and guide the youth of Malawi. “Likuni Gators is a spiritual based basketball development club, it provides youth a safe, fun and educational environment to broaden their knowledge, as well as develop character and leadership skills”, explained Sharo.

Likuni Gators’ vision is aligned with the Foundation’s goals. Sharo explains, “Our vision is to create young leaders who will then take the initiative and disseminate what they have learnt to others, systematically growing the number of potential leaders overtime”.

Their activities are run in four schools. Despite a promising start, the program was put on hold because of the current pandemic. “We are on a stand still as school sports restrictions have not been lifted in the country. However, in the meantime, we are planning a new approach to getting teachers more involved with basketball trainings. We hope to increase our involvement with 3x3 trainings and Mini Basketball initiatives when these restrictions are lifted.”

Sharo is also the Vice Captain of the Lilongwe Arkangles, a contender for the top women’s basketball team in Malawi. She is also coach for Next Gen academy and of Catalyst Basketball Movement both of which encourage youths to play basketball and be active.

The young women has great plans for the future, “I plan to push for the development of 3x3 and youth participating in sport in Malawi and increase the number of grassroots and youth participation in basketball.”

“Through touching base with all 3 zonal regions of Malawi, teaching them about 3x3, creating a database that will help our basketball federation in identifying future U18 and U16 players for Malawi” she continued.

After going through the Foundation’s leadership program, Sharo truly embraced and put into practice the Foundation’s values, “Basketball for good is bigger than just playing ball and watching fancy dunks and top handles, it’s a platform that can be used to better our kids, youth and young adults in our communities. It is a platform that can be used for awareness and change through different teachings that participants will be able to remember, keep and use over”.  

Sharo understands the power that basketball can have in her country. “Basketball in Malawi is a sport that has not fully received recognition yet. Most of the time it is individuals that have come together and are contributing to the development of basketball, individuals who go above and beyond to help change the lives of youth in their basketball communities. These individuals have taken it upon themselves to find partnerships with universities through scholarships, giving players allowances and equipment to give players a brighter future.

She concludes, “From this I've seen kids that have not grown up in the best environment bloom through basketball, passion, and hard work. University sports scholarship are very rare in Malawi. However, universities are opening doors to students who may be struggling financially which has been one of the biggest positive opportunities basketball has opened up in the country”.