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Friday, June 17, 2005

Penn Stater Stephan Bekale Helping Africans

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Ex-College Hoopster Helping Africans:

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Stephan Bekale left his home in Gabon with a teenager's dreams of a U.S. college education and a career in the sport he loved, basketball.

"But his personal game plan changed when his parents, back home in their country on Africa's west coast, died a few years later, just months apart. AIDS had stolen them both.

"With grief as a coach, the 6-foot-9 forward went on the offensive to spare others a similar fate. Bekale (pronounced beh-CAH'-lay) set aside his dream of NBA stardom and created Hoops4Africa, to use the star power of American hoopsters to spread the message of AIDS prevention to Africa's youth.

"``You can touch kids through basketball,'' the 26-year-old Alexandria, Va., resident said in an interview. ..."

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