Seems I've spent so much time telling others what the Big Bangs are about, yet haven't taken a moment to tell my li'l cousins why I do what I do...
So here you go guys. Love y'all.
I was born in war-time Iran in 1982, the son of an Iranian mother and a Norwegian father. Raised in a household of UN Diplomats, I was exposed at an early age to the harsh realities of war and poverty. At the same time my parents ensured I saw the incredible resilience and strength of the human spirit, from the Afghan refugees taking shelter on the Iran-Iraq border, to the incredible generosity and openness of Albanian refugees struggling to make a living in modern Greece, still proud, still at peace.
Having been brought up around the world, along the way picking up an American accent, a French name, a Fijian disposition and a love of all languages, not to mention a European appreciation of food, my mom and I eventually settled in Australia after the untimely passing of my dad.
In spite of having spent the majority of my academic career in French-language schools, I eventually established himself at Canberra Boys Grammar, diving into all the options presented to me and taking advantage of every opportunity to expand my understanding of and appreciation for other cultures.
I then attended the University of Canberra, studying both Law and Journalism, where in 2003 was named the President of the Isaacs Law Society. In 2005, I received a scholarship to attend the University of Georgia, USA, where I was the 1st undergraduate student admitted into the prestigious UGA School of Law. My concentration was international civil, criminal and human rights law, presenting a paper on the scope, function and jurisdiction of international law on sovereign states.
On completion of my semester at UGA, I was accepted into the Cornell University International Comparative Law Program at Universite Paris-I Sorbonne in Paris, France.
On return to Australia, I completed my Journalism degree, and began full-time employment as the Legislation Officer for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing in Canberra, while continuing my legal studies.
In 2007, I was accepted as an Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, and spent the next year working with Habitat for Humanity International, Bangladesh. From creating a marketing and fundraising platform to Program Evaluation to the development of Habitat Bangladesh’s first disaster rehabilitation program, I immersed himself in Bangladeshi language and culture, and successfully helped revamp the Resource Development Department of the organisation, ensuring the future sustainability of the program.
It was while on this assignment, through the weathering of a devastating cyclone and the pressures of the position, that “The Original 4”, including myself, created the Big Bang Ballers.
From just a team to a squad to a registered NGO, the Big Bangs grew from 4 boys playing basketball to a worldwide organisation using basketball to fight youth poverty and social disadvantage.
It all began on a dusty basketball court in Bangladesh.
I’ve always felt as though I’m not doing enough, as if there is so much more to give, and so little time to do so. My friends joke that I never sleep; not so funny when it’s the truth.
I always wanted to work in International Development, since as far back as I can remember. I can still see myself sitting across from my father in his office, a giant oak desk between us, papers and files strung about, staff rushing in and out, my dad dealing with the latest refugee crisis to hit. He was the Regional Representative for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at a time when internally displaced people around the world seemed an unfortunate norm; with major wars on every continent, it seemed an unending dilemma.
I sat across from him, in a small leather chair, my Asterix comic in one hand, in French of course, a sandwich in the other. My dad looked up from his papers, stood up, came around the desk, ruffled my hair, checked which one I was reading then went back to work.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to. He never once made me doubt his dedication to his work, his family, his dedication to me.
How can you not want to follow in those footsteps?
My father passed away 11 days after my 12th birthday, and I found myself thinking more and more of him while in Bangladesh. After his passing I turned to basketball to keep my strength; I played every waking moment I could, losing myself in the game and the situations.
Now I found myself in one of the poorest countries on earth, one least able to help itself, which had just been hit by the worst cyclone in 3 decades. On visiting the worst affected areas, I found myself at times so overwhelmed by the pain and destruction, the loss and helplessness felt by ordinary people that all I could do was force myself to think of those days in Greece, when a court, a ball and a basket were all it took to get me through the hurt.
I found myself getting even less sleep, if that was possible, and working even harder to try to secure funding to rebuild homes and villages, campaigning as if my life depended on it to draw attention and support to that part of the world, debated and argued and yelled at and cursed so many different heads of mission and government officials for never implementing preventative measures so this could never happen again…
One night in Dhaka, when it all got too much, I ran into someone who told me of a basketball court… I had found a court in my 1st week in the country, thanks to another Australian, but had found no ballers, no games. I hesitantly made my way to this place, this dusty, downtrodden, cracked court with no lights, no lines, no shelter… and found my family.
I met a Bangladeshi kid who had played for the national team.
I met a Frenchman working for a telecommunications company.
Another Frenchman, working for the French Economic Mission, moved in across the hall from me.
These 3 became my team, my outlet.
After playing with locals for a couple of weeks we knew there was huge demand for a tournament; knowing the only way we could really compete was to do it ourselves, we organised “Hoops for Habitat”, a charity tournament to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. We were told we couldn’t secure a court; we ended up convincing the International School, Dhaka to lend us theirs. We were told no foreigners would come; we had 12 teams full of embassy and company staff participate. We were told no locals would come; we had 14 teams made up of locals from all parts of town, people who traditionally never mingled. We were told no females would come, not in that culture; 4 teams solely of girls showed up, ready to play.
Our success that day fuelled our every activity thereafter; we coached teams, created tournaments, sponsored other teams and groups who wanted to run tournaments. We helped the Bangladesh Basketball Federation promote a tournament, we ran camps and clinics at schools and orphanages, all while increasing our volunteer base across the board, from school-kids, both foreign and local, to adults from all walks of life, all different types of communities and cultures… we brought food and clothing and basketballs and school materials to schools and orphanages around the city, along the way creating partnerships and establishing teams in every corner of Dhaka.
Today we work in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Philippines, Australia and Papua New Guinea, expanding our teams, our reach and our activities day by day. We have 11 Board Members, a long list of organisations and individuals wanting to partner with is, and a bright future.
In fact, we have just launched our major fundraising campaign, aiming to raise $11,000 for our activities for the next financial year, which includes a week-long series of camps and events in the Philippines.
I am so immensely proud of all the Big Bangs have achieved in such a short time – I no longer feel as if I am wasting time… although I do feel there’s simply not enough time in the day for all we do!
I will always be indebted to the AYAD program; the experience made me realise just how well suited I am for this line of work, and gave me the opportunity to create this extraordinary organisation.
You can’t call this work; all I do is play basketball with kids, how is that work?
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