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Redskins training camp report Date published: 7/25/2008
BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH ASHBURN-- Practice has ended and Malcolm Kelly is jogging to the Washington Redskins' training facility.The rookie wide receiver sees five members of the Air Force holding jerseys and footballs that they would like signed. Kelly stops. He takes a pen from one of them, and he begins scrawling his name. "You've got the best hands on the team," one of the soldiers tells Kelly. "Thanks," he says, smiling. "You guys are some brave souls." One of the young soldiers looks up innocently at the 6-foot-2 Kelly. "If I could do what you do instead of what I do, I would," the solider says. Kelly clenches his jaw and nods his head approvingly. He has seen some of the things the soldiers have seen. He is so grateful for the position he is in. Earlier this month, Kelly spent a week on a hospital ship off the coast of war-torn Liberia. He saw an area ravaged by civil war. He saw children in dire need of care. He did not go on this trip because he wanted attention. He did not go because his agent or his team or his shoe company asked him to. He went because he wanted to help. Kelly's former teammate at Oklahoma, Manuel Johnson, told him about Mercy Ships, a goodwill organization based 25 miles from his home in Longview, Texas. Since 1978, the organization has sent hospital ships across the world to offer care where it is needed most. "In Liberia, those are the poorest of the poor," Kelly said. "Once I found out about going over there, I wanted to be a part of it. It was a life-changing experience." Liberia, with a population of about 3 million, sits off the western coast of Africa. It was ravaged by civil war from 1989-96, then again from 1999-2003. More than 250,000 people were killed and over 1 million displaced during the two wars. Today, few homes have electricity or running water. There is no structured educational system. The mortality rate for children under 2 is nearly 40 percent, and there is minimal medical care.
Date published: 7/25/2008
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