The Assignment Of A Lifetime

Monday morning, off goes our intrepid photographer, snapping pictures along the way. As it turns out they were merely practice shots. When he gets to the border, Burundi soldiers take his camera and go through it merrily deleting virtually every shot. Finally, Monday afternoon Dom arrives at the Serena Hotel in Kigali wanting nothing more than to crash on a bed — and without a mosquito net. Turns out the hotel gave away Dom's room when he didn't show up on Saturday. My bad for not checking.

After a few phone calls we find a room for Dom in the Hotel des Milles Collines, just five minutes from the Serena. A relieved Dom sighs, "Perfect." That's when I ask Dom if he knows what the Milles Collines is. When he doesn't answer, no doubt wondering what further curveball can be thrown at him, I say: "It's the Hotel Rwanda." Never flinching he calmly replied, "The story just keeps getting better."

It was exactly that kind of roll-with-the-punches attitude that was going to be needed on this trip. Fortunately, we got Dom back into the Serena Hotel a couple of days later. One thing is for certain, next time Dom is out for a few beers with a bunch of photographers and they complain about the working conditions at the Ryder Cup he has a story to top them. He can also tell them about when the First Lady of Rwanda, Jeannette Kagame, nailed him with a golf ball while he was shooting her getting a lesson.

Let me tell you about the boys club in Rwanda. The six golfers at the core of the trip were Betsy King, Renee Powell, Juli Inkster, Katherine Hull, Reilley Rankin and Wendy Posillico. Also along were Inkster's two teenage daughters, Hayley and Cori, Rankin's aunt, Diane Reilley, Posillico's mother, Whitney, and Debbie Quesada. Throw in World Vision organizer Kathryn Compton and long-time AIDS activist and former Clinton Administration staffer Sandy Thurman and there was an overwhelming female presence.

The boys were Dom and I, World Vision organizer Rowin Floth, Steve Roberts and rotating local World Vision staffers, primarily Ananais Stentozi, who was with us every day. Roberts is a man of deep faith who as watching TV one night and saw a report about AIDS orphans in Africa and decided to start an organization called Golf for AIDS to raise money to help. Then, at a charity dinner a short while later, Steve ran into Betsy King, who told him about Golf Fore Africa.

"Some would call it coincidence," Steve says, "but I call it divine intervention." Steve immediately folded his organization into Golf Fore Africa and less than a week after returning from Rwanda to his home outside Philadelphia was on his way to Scottsdale, Ariz., to brainstorm with King and Quesada about how to grow the charity.

Let's talk about spaghetti Bolognese. Food was an issue in Rwanda. You had to be careful what you ate. Even in the best hotel in the country it was wise to brush your teeth with bottled water and it was smart to stay away from salad or other foods that might be washed in water. Meat and dairy was also wise to avoid, as Betsy found out when she opted for the kabobs one night and was down for the count all the next day.

At the Credo Hotel in Butare (another establishment where the rooms have mosquito nets — people do die from malaria in Rwanda) the management laid out a buffet for us one night for diner. I filled my plate then sat down next to Inkster. Looking at my food selection of potatoes, rice, noodles and bread she asked, "Planning on running a marathon? Nice carbo loading." Oh, the Hotel Credo doesn't take credit cards. That's sure to generate an email exchange between me and the people who audit my expense report.

By the way, how cool was it for Juli to bring her daughters with her on this trip? And I can't tell you how impressed I was with how enthusiastically Hayley, 17, and Cori, 13, embraced the experience. I did have to laugh when Cori came down to breakfast one morning with about a five-pound bag of Cheerios. She had her food backstop. That's OK; I had my power bars — and spaghetti Bolognese, which was pretty much what I had for lunch and dinner anytime we ate in the Hotel Serena.

Let me tell you about the player on the trip you probably know the least about. Wendy Posillico teaches golf in both New York and Arizona and had a cup of coffee on the Duramed Future's Tour. But here's what is remarkable: She didn't play golf until she was 29 years old. Wendy, now 36, was one of the greatest lacrosse players at the University of Vermont and is among the career leaders in both goals and assists. She is a remarkable athlete and, as a former special education teacher, a remarkable instructor of golf.

Finally, let's talk about the LPGA. Dom rarely shoots women's golf and on several occasions I said to him, "Do you see why I love covering this tour?" The spirit among these six players was truly admirable under sometimes trying conditions. There were no whiners in the group, and there were things about which an overly self-focused person could whine.

What these six did in undertaking this trip to call attention to the plight of the 1.3 million orphans in Rwanda provides a model for other professional athletes. There is a world out there, and getting involved in it is a good thing.

King and Inkster are Hall-of-Fame players, and they are Hall of Fame people. Powell is a pioneer and remains so. Rankin and Hull are young players whose goodness raises hope for the emerging generation of stars in golf. And Posillico was an equal to her more accomplished companions in the size of her heart. They were amazing, Rwanda was amazing, and World Vision is doing amazing things there. Dom and I were fortunate to be along for the ride. It was the assignment of a lifetime. Next time we skip the Burundi part.