Living on a park, we have a basketball half court just outside our front door. The lucky kids of the area enjoy the flat concrete and proper hoop in leafy surrounds. On a recent trip to the Philippines, for the Edmund Rice Foundation, I was lucky enough to visit an informal settlement of Bajau people or sea gypsies on the island of Leyte. The boys love their basketball and play in rain and mud for hours on end with a bent length of steel reinforcing as a hoop and a bundle of rags as a ball. The contrast was irresistible. On my return to Melbourne I had this image enlarged and stuck it on the side of the house opposite the half court. Response so far has been 100% positive!
MARK CHEW
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