Watch on Youtube: Promise Academy Goes To Ghana
 
GHANA – Iona College men's basketball alumnus Kashif Hameed '99 recently took 10 of his students from Promise Academy Charter School to Ghana for a volunteer educational experience and cultural exchange.
 
A standout four-year men's basketball player for Iona College at the turn of the century, Hameed is currently the principal of Promise Academy Middle School located in Harlem, New York.  In association with Harlem Children's Zone, Hameed began communicating with Project Nyame NSA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphans and highly vulnerable children in Ghana and Zambia in 2017. Hameed and the project's founder Devon Leondis discussed how the American students could benefit from making a difference in Africa.
 
Early this May, Promise Academy embarked on its first trip to Ghana and volunteered time at the Village of Hope.
 
"I wanted the kids to understand the cultural norms in Ghana, and really see the differences," said Hameed. "I really knew it was going to happen with Ghanaian kids and what they'd present to us, but I wanted to make sure we presented it to them as well."
 
Project Nyame NSA aims to create an environment where children have a culture and environment to learn and nurture personal growth. Hameed's journey with his students helped change the perspective of all those involved by cultivating knowledge values, preferences and behaviors of others.
 
"All the support builds these types of experiences. The students will take memories like this for the rest of their lives as they become positive members of society." Hameed continues, "This is how education impacts us. Educating students in so many different ways. In a lasting way."
 
At Iona, Hameed was part of one of the most successful stretches in men's basketball history from 1995-99. The Maroon & Gold earned back-to-back MAAC regular season championships during his freshman and sophomore campaigns in 1995-96 and 1996-97, earning bids to the NIT.  As a junior, Hameed led the Gaels to a MAAC tournament title and a berth in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Iona drew Syracuse in a first round matchup in the South region at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY. He was named the MAAC Player of the Year in 1998.  In 2016, Hameed was inducted into the MAAC Hall of Fame Honor Roll. Hameed joined the Iona College Goal Club Hall of Fame in 2010.


 
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