Yale Opponent Spotlight | Guard lays bricks - the good kind

This time last year, basketball was the furthest thing from Porter Braswell's mind. He was too busy exploring the Serengeti and throwing spears with Masai warriors.

Braswell, a freshman guard at Yale, spent just over two weeks of his senior year at The Lawrenceville School on a trip to Tanzania.

The trip was the culmination of a three-month course on the Serengeti taught by Dr. Leah Domb, an anthropologist and teacher, and her husband Gil Domb, an award-winning wildlife filmmaker.

Braswell was one of the 16 students accepted into the class, which taught about the ecosystems of the Serengeti, the customs of the Masai tribe and the education system of Tanzania.

But the real draw for the class, Braswell said, was the trip to Africa.

The students spent much of the time on the trip going on safaris and getting first-hand experience with the wildlife of the Serengeti. They also had a chance to spend some intimate time with Masai tribe members.

The Masai are an indigenous African ethnic group that live mainly in Kenya and northern Tanzania. The Dombs have spent much of their time in Tanzania interacting with and studying the Masai people.

As a result, the Masai warriors, the group of men responsible for community protection, allow students to get a peek into their lifestyle.

Braswell, along with his classmates, tried on Masai clothing, learned how to throw spears and watched tribal dances. He even witnessed a demonstration on how to extract blood from the neck of cattle, a staple of the Masai diet.

"That's what you would see on National Geographic. We were a part of it," Braswell said. "For them to allow us to partake in that kind of activity was something that most people never get a chance to do."

The most rewarding part of the trip for Braswell though was during the final four days, when the class visited the Olasti School, an elementary school in Arusha.

"There would be 50 kids at like 20 desks. People are standing up in the classroom and sitting on the ground. There was one board and they don't have any supplies," Braswell said. "It was like what you would see on those sad commercials."

Beyond bringing supplies into the classrooms, Braswell and his classmates built desks and made bricks that would become the foundation of a brand-new classroom. On the final day of the trip, the Lawrenceville students delivered their gifts to the school.

"Nothing else in my life can come close to that feeling; no basketball game, no basketball accomplishments I've ever had, no awards I've ever gotten," Braswell said. "Nothing has come close to the satisfaction of seeing the joy on those kids' faces."

Braswell and his classmates also came across one seven-year old student, who walked four miles - across mountain ranges, no less - to get to school every day.

"In America, kids complain about getting up in the morning for a 9:30 class and walking across campus," Braswell said. "To see a seven-year-old walking four miles to school, it makes you realize how fortunate we are and how easy we really do have it."

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