The Orlando Magik American basketball player Dwight Howard, visited last Friday, the children of Camp ACRA [Delmas 30] who participating in the program that the Haitian Olympic Committee (Comité Olympique Haïtien COH) put in place for several months thanks to the partnership of UNICEF, the organization "Peace and Sport" and the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Civic Action (MJSAC).

"I am here to say to you that I never forgot you, that I support you and do my best to you always have a smile on your lips. We shall have some fun, playing basketball and practicing with what you would like to learn this sport" said Dwight Howard to children who were waiting impatiently. He then spent over an hour to play basketball with them and teach them the concepts of the sport, as practiced in the NBA under the watchful eyes of Fritz Gerald Jean-Jacques, Vice-President of the Federation of Haitian Basketball (Fédération Haïtienne de Basketball FHBB), and other leaders of the Haitian Olympic Committee (COH) including Jean Edouard Baker, the President.

This indicated that the foundation of Dwight Howard wanted to come and help not only children living in IDP camps but also in the reconstruction of sports facilities in Haiti. The COH president said that to other major players in the NBA including Koby Bryant and Pau Gasol have also shown keen interest in the case of Haiti, stating that for basketball to grow in Haiti, Dwight Howard and other American basketball stars could build a center for this sport and that according to the sources the center is already under study.

BF/ HaitiLibre