Darfur Gets McGrady's Attention

By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

He listened to stories from parents who had seen their babies thrown into fiery huts and burned alive, from orphaned children who had seen their parents shot and killed, from women who had been held captive and raped repeatedly.

He watched 4-year-olds walking around, unattended, with infants on their backs. Children sat on his lap to show him drawings, mostly covered in red crayon to symbolize the blood spilled in their villages. And then, there were the boys, ages 14 or 15, carrying AK-47s for protection.

By the time Houston Rockets all-star Tracy McGrady's five-day visit to three refugee camps for Darfur's displaced residents in eastern Chad ended last summer, he had lost about 10 pounds from a lack of food and some restless nights. On his last night in this war-torn region of central Africa, McGrady cried and couldn't stop staring at the ceiling of his tent.

"It was sad, man. It really was," McGrady said in a recent interview. "I don't [care] how tough you are, you go over there, it will have an impact on you."

McGrady always thought he had a tough upbringing growing up in tiny Auburndale, Fla., but his definition of tough changed after spending time with people living in squalor in shoddy, cramped homes made of plastic sheeting, with little food and no plumbing. Through the horror and the sadness, though, he kept hearing the same theme: Parents wanted their children to get an education. The children wanted to learn.

"They feel education is survival," McGrady said.

McGrady, an 11-year veteran and two-time NBA scoring champion, decided he would return to the United States and make their stories known with a documentary titled "Not a Game," which is expected to be completed in the spring.

He has also established the T-Mac Alliance, a humanitarian project that will work with other charitable organizations to raise money to build schools and train teachers in central Africa. The initiative includes a sister schools program, Stand Up For Darfur, in which a dozen American high schools will raise funds to provide books and supplies for children at the refugee camps.

Darfur is a region of western Sudan about three-quarters the size of Texas, where an armed conflict has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and forced about 2.5 million to flee their homes since 2003. The United States has classified what has occurred in Africa's largest country as genocide.

McGrady felt compelled to visit the refugees after hearing about the atrocities from Chicago Bulls forward and Sudan native Luol Deng and Rockets teammate and former Georgetown star Dikembe Mutombo, who has championed humanitarian causes in Africa and opened a $29 million hospital in his native Democratic Republic of Congo last July.

McGrady once cited safety concerns as a reason for backing out of the 2004 Athens Olympics and was involved in a controversy last year when he initially threatened to skip next month's NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans, fearing the city was unsafe. Yet, he still went to the refugee camps in Chad, which were less than three miles from the Janjaweed, a major player in the conflict.

"I was terrified a little bit," McGrady said. "I don't fault people for not wanting to go over there. A lot of people don't know a lot about it. People can hear about the devastation and the malicious acts going on, but people say, 'Man, that's messed up' and go about their day. Me, I was in the same boat. Then, I was like, 'Let me go over there.' And it really touched me."

"It was the hardest thing I had to do in my life," he said, "but it was a great trip. I'm glad I took it."

John Prendergast, who has worked on crisis issues in Africa for 25 years and served on the White House National Security Council during the Clinton administration, organized McGrady's visit and is guiding him through this project. Prendergast co-wrote "Not on Our Watch," a best-selling book about the Darfur crisis with actor Don Cheadle, and has worked with other celebrities, such as George Clooney and Angelina Jolie.

An avid basketball fan, Prendergast was initially cautious about getting involved with a person he knew only as "T-Mac on the TV." He worried that this could be "a fly-by-night trip, where he gets some positive publicity, shows up, bye, and there is no impact." But Prendergast also believed that if McGrady came to Darfur and was moved, the NBA superstar could return and influence a different audience to take action.

Prendergast saw the potential of that influence two weeks ago when he, McGrady, and Omer Ismail, a native of Sudan and founder of the Darfur Peace and Development advocacy group, went back to McGrady's former high school in Auburndale to kick off his sister schools initiative. They spoke to about 400 students and showed them a 10-minute preview of the documentary chronicling McGrady's visit.

Afterward, Prendergast said McGrady was rushed by dozens of students seeking not autographs, but more information about how they could help.

"I think he has partly found a purpose," Prendergast said of McGrady. "He seems like he's going to be a lifelong advocate instead of a hit-and-run artist."

Cleveland Cavaliers reserve Ira Newble brought attention to concerns in Darfur during the playoffs last season when he issued a letter -- signed by most of his teammates and other NBA players such as Washington Wizard Etan Thomas -- directed at China, a major importer of Sudan's oil and the host country for this summer's Olympics. Newble also visited Darfur camps last summer as part of a group called Dream for Darfur, which includes actress Mia Farrow. He was excited that McGrady has taken up the cause for Darfur. "Any NBA person can have a voice, but obviously if it's somebody like Tracy McGrady or an all-star caliber player, it definitely can reach more people," Newble said in a phone interview. "I'm glad that he's stepping up to do what he can."

Prendergast is attempting to market the documentary to HBO and ESPN. He also expects the NBA to get involved in some capacity.

McGrady has already committed $75,000 to build a school in the Djabal camp he visited in eastern Chad. He mailed invitation packages last week to 11 other NBA players, asking them to get involved and become "principals" for the other schools.

His stance is unusual: High-profile professional athletes often shun political causes for fear it will hurt their business interests. "I didn't think about it at all. Wasn't a concern," McGrady said. "It's something that crept up on me. It happened, I'm in it. I believe I was put here to do things like that."