Our Côte d'Ivoire tour: The second time around

Zoumi Koné playing with his cousins and the neighborhood kids.

After being delayed for two years as a result of the pandemic, we were finally able to resume our adventures and take a group of American travelers to Côte d’Ivoire. Unlike our inaugural tour in December of 2019, all of our participants this time were college students. Of the people that traveled with us, most of them are already longtime friends, either through school or sports, so I was especially excited to introduce them to a country that made up a huge part of my life growing up. Since we’re a group of college kids, the things the group was looking forward to ahead of the trip included hanging out at the maquis (outdoor bars) and clubs, of course, but after having some time to reflect on all of the things we did, the group’s highlights were surprisingly similar to the highlights from the first tour.

During our first tour, we only got to spend a day at the Saint Genevieve Orphanage in Katiola, and in that day we only got to spend three to four hours with the children. It was still a highlight for everyone there, but I think we all wished we had more time with the kids. Knowing that, this trip we planned three full days to spend at the orphanage. This gave us a chance to not only present gifts to the kids but also to teach them how to use their new games and equipment. Robley, one of our travelers, plays college baseball, and one of his gifts to the orphanage was two brand-new wiffle ball sets. This gift was probably the biggest hit out of all of them, and we spent an entire afternoon teaching each of them how to hit and pitch to one another. A few of them caught on very quickly, and I think I can say with confidence that we organized the first wiffle ball game in Côte d’Ivoire history.

We are now beginning to plan our next trip that will focus on soccer as CI hosts the Africa Cup of Nations - in January 2024. Sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page if you are interested in learning more.

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