The Kings' Ron Artest, with National Basketball Players Association president Billy Hunter and fellow players Theo Ratliff, Maurice Evans and Etan Thomas, is in Kenya on a humanitarian mission held in conjunction with "Feed the Children" co-founders Larry and Frances Jones. Their goal was to distribute 44 million meals to 1 million residents. In e-mails to Kings beat writer Sam Amick, Artest conveyed some of his thoughts about the trip. Look for more on Artest's trip this week in The Bee from columnist Ailene Voisin:
Africa is beautiful. I met the Massai tribe. They live like what I imagined 300 years ago. They drink blood and milk and eat a meat-only diet. They are organized and support each other in the community. You have to have 10 cows to be married and 22 years old, approximately.
They didn't know how my skin color was so different and didn't know that slaves were taken from Africa to America. It was humbling.
They were poor in my eyes but rich at heart.
(Taking this trip) makes me want to help and care for people in poverty, and they do matter to me and should to others. The tribe was truly happy at heart, but the people in the slums needed major attention.








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