Meeting with Mandela caps "best trip" of his life

Johannesburg, South Africa -- (Sunday) was the last day of the camp, and it was mainly basketball. We didn't have any community events to go to.

We had our championship game, with two of the 10 or so teams winning the most games advancing to the final. We also had two sets of all-star games and a dunk contest. We got guys excited about that. And then we had a big, big barbecue on the soccer field for a final goodbye, an exclamation point of the whole week.

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It's kind of sad, like when you go to camp as a little kid, and have to leave. All these kids seem like brothers to me. No telling when I'll see these guys again.

But I might see a select few some day in the NBA. A lot of these players have great potential, going on to college to further their education. Some of these guys are really raw. Some NBA scouts literally picked them off the street. Some of these guys are fishermen, and have never played basketball in their life. Each day you could see them get better and better. A lot of these guys never had tennis shoes before, especially the guys with size-22 feet. One player had a size-22 foot but was cramped into a size-16 shoe.

When I came back to the hotel, I was barefoot. I gave everything I had to these kids, including my shirt. They were living pretty good in the hotel, but now they have to go home to poverty.

I leave (tonight), after I see Nelson Mandela. Everybody is excited about that. He's 87 years old and not in such good health, but the NBA has allowed us to spend like 25 minutes with him. That's like the icing for me, to go see Nelson Mandela.

But it's already been the best trip I've ever been on in my life. I encourage every NBA player to come and do this. A lot of people over here want to see NBA players. We have a lot of support over here and these people need our help.

Abused kids tell frightening stories (9/11/05)

Johannesburg, South Africa -- Today was awesome. We started off in the morning doing what we always do, meet with every individual child and counsel them a little bit, just see how they're doing.

They are abused kids here, and we try to teach them a positive life. All the kids performed skits on a stage, talking about life experiences. Some of them had been raped. Some have AIDS. Some have had prearranged marriages. It's all real. These kids tell true stories, and they're frightening to hear.

The kids were crying during their re-enactments. Chris Tucker, the actor, was over here, and the NBA, along with Tucker, donated washing machines for the school. They're used to washing things inside a pot, then they wash their dishes. It's not a good system. The NBA donated a bunch of dryers, too. We also donated a car for the school, so if the kids have to go somewhere, they can.

(Ithuteng school founder) Mama Jackie basically took in all these kids as orphans, trying to give these kids something. She's a remarkable lady, but first she had no help. Now she has Tucker,the NBA, and Oprah Winfrey, who was over here, too, donating $1 million.

It's really hard to describe. I've been talking to a lot of people from home, and they asked how it is and I have a tough time explaining it.

I grew up in a ghetto, but my ghetto compared to this is like Beverly Hills.

But we're here trying to make a difference, and I believe we're doing that.

Campers' lives pull at heart (9/9/05)

Johannesburg, South Africa -- It was the start of the camp today. We were introduced to the campers, like 106 campers from the continent - 28 countries. There are definitely some good athletes here. The majority of the day was just teaching kids fundamentals, shooting, ball- handling.

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Afterward, we went to Soweto and met with a lot of the youth there. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, seeing the living conditions and the kids' spirits despite the conditions. Their spirits are so high.

It's really deplorable living. There was one area of, like, 40,000 (people) with, like, 50 water hoses for all those people. A lot of these kids are raped at a young age by their parents.

The program today was more like a theatrical program, where they were able to get out their emotions. They were able to talk about their life, express themselves. It definitely brought tears to my eyes and to other players'.

There was a lot of interaction with the kids. We're also opening a reading center - there were a lot of books donated to that - we signed autographs, exchanged addresses.

I'm looking forward to all the events we have, going into towns where there is really nothing. Most of the children have no shoes, it's tough to bathe, the sanitation system is poor. I want to help these kids, whether it's monetary or just lifting their spirits. Every NBA player should experience this. You see Africa on TV and you can't get the feel of it until you're here.

Denver Post Editor's note: Nuggets center Marcus Camby will write a diary for The Denver Post while in Johannesburg, South Africa, this weekend with the NBA's Basketball Without Borders group. The program is designed not only to identify young basketball talent in Africa but features community outreach initiatives that include building reading centers and organizing forums to discuss issues such as the impact of poverty and HIV/AIDS prevention.