At 6 a.m. on Thursday, June 12, 28 University of Oregon student-athletes and athletic administration shut their alarms off, zipped up the remaining construction apparel littered across their rooms, and slammed their duffles closed. We headed to the parking lot bridging Papé Field and Autzen Stadium, loaded the bus, and waved goodbye to Eugene as the engine cleared its throat in preparation for the next 5 hours of driving to SeaTac Airport. What lay ahead of the next 50 hours and 38 minutes was defined by a cluster of emotions, uncertainty and excitement at the forefront.

10 hours later we gathered with locked knees and disoriented mindsets entertained by episodes of delusion. After another 8 hours in the sky, we landed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. A shower, a few meals, and many “Karibu” (welcome) chants later and we were fully immersed in eastern African lifestyle. Operating on Kenyan time is akin to southern living: it waits for everyone, prioritizes honor and respect, and communicates with foot and ball.

In our final chunk of travel - the nearly 9 hour drive from Nairobi to Rusinga Island - we were awarded the world’s most precious intangible: the gift of time.

“I was still shocked I was in Kenya in the first place. We weren’t fully invested until we actually got to the island. We didn’t feel like it started until we picked up those first buckets, but once it began we were on a roll,” says Acrobatics and Tumbling base/tumbler, Nicole Jackson.

As emotions circulated, Jackson reflected on them all - the excitement, joy, challenge, struggle, and resilience. “Everybody worked so hard and worked together to reach a common goal,” she says.

Our trip was accompanied by friendship bracelets, rounds of mafia, card games, and chorus performances. They were the connective tissues that transformed the unfamiliar to the all-knowing. Our group of 28 didn’t appear to the island by happenstance - we were prematurely selected and built to be tested by worldly experiences.

In the minutes spent outside the vans and on the bridge that guided us to the island, we shared a visceral detachment from who we were and who we were about to become from this experience. Everything we’d grown to learn about ourselves, new cultures, and global sociopolitical tensions seemingly melted as we greeted a foreign terrain with our safeguards nonexistent. We rewired our brains and built a new chemical foundation, and with it a new standard about what it means to pioneer community-level change.

Rusinga Island is beautifully untouched and naturally preserved. It’s a more remote part of Kenya, an island that stands alone sequestered by the vast depths of Lake Victoria. Houses are fortified by wood and cargo ship scraps polished by dust particles from incessant construction to evolve the rather primitive community. Children travel by foot to and from school each day, sometimes miles one way, to receive a top-tier education. Mothers care for their cherubs and tend to household chores while fathers scour the island for manual labor jobs and practice polygamy. At every corner and empty patch, you can find a green hut labeled “Safaricom mpesa” with chilled Coca Colas and a herd of cattle being shepherded down the dirt stretch. The landscape is hilly and rocky but balanced by green pastures rich with goats and chickens free to roam until supper came around.

The most important part of this serene ecosystem is the people that inhabit it. Rusinga embodies every essence of living on the land and leaning into your surroundings for support. The people we met along the way - Hela, Brian, David, Frederick, etc. - are some of the most pure and selfless people you’ll ever meet. Hela was the lead Courts for Kids coordinator for the island. His empathy shines through off paper - from the way he single-handedly supplies nearly 8,000 people with clean water to his efforts to supply all schools on the island with sanitary pads so the girls can study comfortably. While a large cultural adjustment for many of us who’d never witnessed or served a poverty-stricken community prior to this trip, we were blessed by the chance to watch others take mundane moments and transform them into the simple joys of life.

Come nighttime, the girls and boys parted ways in the lodging behind a church on a region of land owned by Hela and his family. It was there that we slept like sardines in a tin canister with pink princess mosquito nets that towered over our twin xl mattresses. Only we weren’t there to maintain uniformity, but to embrace newness and outgrow personal boundaries our western upbringings had molded for us.

This service trip is much more than admiring an ungentrified world. Watching the sun rise multiple times in a day as our circadian rhythms rebooted was unlike anything we’d ever witnessed. Walking down to Lake Victoria after day 1 of construction, the sunset was different. It fell below the equator and was far bigger, brighter, and more opportunistic.

Visiting Kaswinga Primary-Secondary School after our longest and arguably toughest shift in day 2, we were met by some of the sweetest souls with the biggest hearts. The girls stepped into the classroom with their hand-stitched royal blue and yellow skirts and dotted white face paint and let their bodies speak life, love, and celebration into ours. Scanning the room, eyes welled with tears as we relished embracing new communities and connecting by way of music. It was confirmation that the little wins out on the basketball court - from retrieving the fiberglass materials that got stuck in the airport to scooping the last pail of rocks to finish the section off for the day - was all worth it if it meant these children would have a bigger platform to keep dancing.

As night fell and we retreated back to our fairy nets, we couldn’t help but continue our own kinds of games. We bonded over new cuisine including lentils, sautéed cabbage, and the fan favorite chipati bread. Our Kenyan ambassador, Austin Aunyasi, lead our group through rounds of traditional games including 1-2-3, Mingle, and Simon Says. Between long hours hauling buckets of sand and rocks into a concrete mixer, we reveled in the wee hours of the night to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of game and friendship. Austin was the perfect bridge between Kenyan culture and the lense with which we viewed and understood our new environment and he feels similarly with the work we provided for part of his home.

“I’m truly pleased and honored to have met the University of Oregon students and serve the community together. Your dedication, kindness, and hard work have left a lasting impact. Thank you for being part of this journey,” says Aunyasi.

Three days later we had finished the court and would set out for new adventures. Our first day construction-free entailed trekking to desolate rock island just off the Rusinga shore. We grounded ourselves in the morning with a sunrise and salutation and headed to the shore of Lake Victoria to boat to the small rocky lookout points littered with venomous snakes, poisonous bushes, and a curse that warned against pointing at anything on the island for fear of the defendant turning to stone.

But we were graced by this paranormal myth long before we arrived at the island when the transmission bailed on our wooden dingy. Though we made it in one piece, the destination itself was rather anticlimactic (and a bit traumatic), and made for a ripe twenty-third birthday memory for the newly graduated Oregon Lacrosse alum, Mady Sweeney.

“It was the most memorable birthday I’ve ever had and probably the most I’ve ever laughed,” says Sweeney.

On Thursday, we celebrated with nearly 300 children from local schools. There are 24 schools spanning the tiny island, all with a shared affinity for leading with integrity and humility, qualities we hope to have also carried through our court-building service and society-enhancing legacy. The “clinic” we held prior to the ceremony was an extended recess for the kids and hours we all prayed we could freeze time for. From basketball, volleyball, whiffle ball, and jump rope, it was a day of celebration that is forever etched into our memories.

Through hours of bussing around in a Galaxy charter and driving through a day-long safari trip around Lake Nakuru, this trip has been an incredible fusion of history, both new and old. We saw three of the “Big Five” animals on our second-to-last day in Kenya, which just about sums up the chaotic, fun, exhausting, inspiring, and memorable journey this trip has been. Getting to serve a community that thrives on human connection has been the strongest test of my personal desire to help others and is an experience I would do one hundred times over.

So asante (thank you), Rusinga Island, for an experience that will undoubtedly shape the trajectory of our lives. We made the best rafikis (friends), invited new opportunities with grace, and capitalized on them with the athletic court we built for people we can now call family. Swapping handshakes is more than a physical interaction in Kenya, but a commitment to a generational bond. It’s a deeper sense of belonging through shared sunsets. We leave the island not with a goodbye, but a see you later. For Oregon Athletics, athletes and staff alike, Rusinga will forever share a piece of our hearts. With light and love, we have Courts for Kids to thank for this unparalleled opportunity.

~ By Brianna Carrasquillo, University of Oregon Women’s Lacrosse

Volunteer Quotes:

Going to the girls' school was moving in a different way. They were all so smart and so curious. It made me extremely grateful for the opportunities and privileges I have as a woman in the US.
~ Kacey Johnson

I knew going into this trip that it was completely out of my comfort zone but I knew it was only going to help me in a positive way. I am more of a shy, introvert kind of person. But during this trip I felt that I was able to go talk and meet new people throughout the trip. Which is something that I have a hard time doing when we are at home.
~ Ashlee Wagner

My favorite memory from the trip was when we went to Kaswanga school and the girls sang and danced for us. This was so grateful for their talents. This performance brought tears to my eyes.
~ Kylee Manser

I learned that the world looks different everywhere you go. I know that they are kind and genuine people in that not everyone leaves the same style of life and not everyone works at the same fast pace of life that I am used to. I really enjoyed slowing down and not having to worry so much about time.
~ Katreena Koellner

Positive thinking does not come naturally to me but learning to do so will impact my life in a way where I can be a better husband, father, coworker and person.”
~ Ian McFarland

I have understood that patience and care can take you so far. With unpredictability and new environments, I am more patient and looking for ways to help those around me more.
~Nicole Jackson

All in all, it was a great experience, and I would definitely come again if the opportunity arises.
~ Ehis Etute

While many words such as family, education, and community support seem to align, it feels that different cultures can practice these in various ways, much different from home.
~ Hallis Fields

I learned a ton from the community, but my favorite is what I learned from the teachers. I was so beyond impressed by the control they had over their students, and as someone in the teaching world, that showed me how much respect the kids have for their teachers. I asked a few about their values, education system, and tips to be an effective educator. I learned that the first thing they teach is discipline. Next, they form a relationship with the students and get to know them well enough to individualize education to their strengths. “Invest in your students and they will invest in you”.
~ Paige Crowther

My favorite memory from the trip was the morning of the ribbon cutting. Learning a new sport, sharing empowerment, and learning new dances, all warmed my heart.
~ Morgan Hood

The trip taught me that every act of kindness, no matter how big or small, can have a lasting impact. I realized that if I have the ability to help someone, I should, because that moment of support can open a new path for them or even change their life.
~ Karl Holmes

Community Quotes:

I'm truly thankful for the new court. Previously, we never had such a facility within the school, and now the entire Kaswanga Primary community is enjoying the new game. It's been a great addition to our area. Thank you so much for making this possible.
~ Abigael Mwangi, Kaswanga Primary School

Sincerely, I’m very happy to see the basketball court placed at the community playground. I’m not the only one who feels this way—everyone who passes by can clearly notice the new development. It has brought a positive impact, and we believe it’s just the beginning of many more good things to come. Lots of thanks.”
~ Vidaline Vinia, community member

I just want to sincerely thank you for the amazing work on the basketball court project. The new court has brought great excitement and energy to the school, and learners now have a safe and beautiful place to play, grow their talents, and stay active. Your efforts, together with the support from our American friends, have truly made a difference in the lives of many young people. We are very grateful for this gift and the teamwork that made it possible.
~ Gloria Omondi, community member

Well, as a community, we are very happy with the project you brought to us. We will be able to nurture new talents like basketball. I'm more than happy. I met many new friends from your team, guys who are passionate and positive towards what they are doing, exchanging ideas and thoughts. We are very happy to have more projects with you guys, and we say bravo and God bless. Thanks to oregon boys and girls.
~ Bryan Otieno, community member

I might be older to play basketball, but I'm truly grateful to our son, Hella, for bringing this kind of sport into our community. It’s something we never had growing up, but now, thanks to his efforts, the future generations will enjoy opportunities we could only dream.
~ Joshua Odhiambo, community member

At my 40 years of age, I had one of the greatest experiences of my life, spending five days interacting with students from the University of Oregon while working together to support our community. For me, it wasn't just about the moment; the work we did with the students would leave a lasting impact and continue to benefit the community for years to come. Furthermore, I made some new friends; connections I will truly remember for the rest of my life.
~ Amigo Otieno, community member

University of Oregon Athletics students will forever share a piece of their hearts with the people of Rusinga Island, Kenya