3 Points: Peace, Protection, and Punishment

The following is a documentary chronicling the trip that Tracy McGrady (NBA all-star) took to the Sudan. He what he encountered there was life changing for him.

Kevin Arnovitz writes:

When McGrady first arrives at Kou Kou Refugee Camp, Prendergast recommends that they walk around the camp inconspicuously rather than emerge from their jeep as the center of attention. McGrady heeds the advice, but it's hard for a regal 6-foot-8 man in a crisp while linen shirt to escape the attention of throngs of curious kids. In no time, McGrady has a band of cheery followers as he makes his way around the squalor of the camp.

Upon watching the kids play soccer on a hardscrabble sheet of dirt, McGrady's first gesture is to commit $1,000 to building a more suitable, flat pitch with proper goals. McGrady then inquires about what it would take to build a swimming pool before being told by Ismail that such a gift would be thought of as extravangant in a place where people desperately need basic amenities such as a roof.

It's a lesson McGrady quickly takes to heart. He sits beneath a tree to visit with a Chadian refugee named Ashta listening to her story. When she finished, McGrady simply asks, "How can an everyday American help her situation?" The answer: security, a functioning well and a school.

As McGrady goes deeper into the region and the stories of bloodshed become more grotesque, his mild observations evolve into expressions of heartfelt concern. The most profound and heartbreaking lesson we learn from 3 Points is that the victims of Darfur know that there are people nearby who want to slaughter them and their families (they've witnessed as much). But they're completely unaware that there are people who want to help.

It's this reality that drives McGrady more than anything.