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Redskins Rookie's Mission
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"There were so many times with tears in my eyes," Rahn said. "He wasn't repulsed by what he saw."
Even after the traveling party retreated to their rooms for the night, Rahn said Kelly sneaked to the care center on the boat to play with the children.
Kelly sat in the recovery room playing with 6- and 7-year-olds when he told them he needed to leave and would be back the next day. As he walked away, Kelly heard feet clapping behind him. It was the kids.
"They see a white woman like me with a camera crew and around the corner comes [Kelly] -- their faces lit up," Rahn said. "It's instant recognition" that he's like them.
"When you see someone who in their eyes is successful who might not come from the same country but came from the same continent, it gives it more common ground," Kelly said. "When it's someone like them coming back, they open up a little more."
Moses Kelly does not know his ancestry's nation of origin, but said the Liberians greeted Malcolm with "welcome home."
The information offered to Liberian athletes and coaches by Kelly and Smith was met with great anticipation. Coaches asked questions about training, health and diet. Smith told the coaches that he advises his athletes to eat one gram of protein for each pound they weigh. A coach asked Smith if that was in one month. Smith said it was one day, and the coach was stunned.
"That was asking them to grow feathers and fly," said Smith, the founder of Competitive Edge Sports. "They eat three or four grams a day, and it's rice."
Although Liberians were told Kelly was a world-class athlete, they do not devotedly follow professional football, much less University of Oklahoma football. Rahn said Kelly even needed to spend time simply explaining American football. But knowing Kelly was an athlete enhanced the prestige of the visit.
"The very fact he's an American football star opened their eyes," Liberian Ambassador Charles A. Minor said. "What can he do? What he's doing for Mercy Ships itself is appreciated."
Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf greeted Kelly during the trip, and Minor hosted a reception for Kelly at the Liberian Embassy in Washington on July 17. Within the lobby of the embassy are enlarged photos of Kelly, one with Kelly surrounded by smiling children.
"When you take Malcolm Kelly into the ward, he's laughing and telling stories with people who normally wouldn't have people who care," Rahn said. "It doesn't matter that he's a football player. The fact he cared to sit down and play and engage and share, that's what it's about."
Yet it matters entirely that Kelly is a football player. He wanted his presence with Mercy Ships to lend more exposure to the work they do. The irony is that Kelly's experience in Liberia enlightened him perhaps as much as anyone.
"It changed the way I look at everything in life from here on out," Kelly said. "You wake up and take for granted so much stuff that's given for you. These people over there, they're struggling for fresh water to drink, they eat one meal a day. I mean, can you imagine eating one meal a day? . . . It really lets me know I can't complain about anything I go through. When your parents tell you growing up it could be worse, they aren't lying. It could be a whole, whole lot worse."
