In the middle of the night in August 1994, Washington and a gang of doctors and nurses snuck into Goma, Zaire, for a humanitarian mission and made their way to a refugee camp outside war-torn Rwanda. The stench of decaying bodies and human waste stretched for miles. Dead bodies lined dirt roads and fields. Trees had been blown to bits by repeated bombings or had been chopped down to make fires and build shelter. Thousands of refugees wandered in search of food and hope, creating an air of desperation and despair.
The refugee camp, featuring hundreds of thousands of displaced Rwandans, became a temporary home for those fleeing the front lines of Rwanda's civil war. And they were the lucky ones who had escaped the genocide that eviscerated roughly 20 percent of the Rwandan population.
"It was a sad, sad sight," Washington says. "A sight I'll never forget."
For most NBA fans, Washington is known as the man who nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich with one violent punch during a game in 1977. But for thousands of Africans, he's known as the man who brought hope to a region besieged by disease, hunger and poverty.
Since making that life-altering journey in 1994, helping Africans has become Washington's passion and he has dedicated an immeasurable amount of time, money and sweat to improving the quality of life in a world thousands of miles from home. He's made more than 40 trips since 1994 – another is planned for next month – and spearheaded the creation of a medical clinic, school and food distribution center in Nairobi, Kenya, one of the poorest slums on Earth.
So why Africa? Why Washington? The answer starts with that visit to Goma, Zaire, involves part of Washington's difficult past, and perhaps more than anything, ends with the idea that Washington just can't help himself.
"What it is, honestly, is I don't like to see people abused or taken advantage of," he said. "I've been the same ever since I was a kid. I don't like bullies. I think poverty is a bully. Disease is a bully. Corruption is a bully. Growing up, I loved Robin Hood and Zorro and all the stories about people helping other people.
"Even though people say this and that, I've been very fortunate in life. I've had a lot of lucky breaks and I had a lot of people who helped me. I've always been a very giving person. It's just in my nature. And when I go overseas and work, I feel like I'm doing something."
Making a mark on defense
Washington was a defensive standout during his nine-year NBA career, a player who always guarded the opponent's best offensive frontcourt player -- bruisers like Moses Malone and Darryl Dawkins. Washington was twice named to the NBA's all-defensive second team and played in the 1980 All-Star Game when he was with the Blazers. But his career was, and always will be, overshadowed by the punch he delivered to Tomjanovich during an altercation between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets in 1977, when Washington played for the Lakers.
In 1982, at the twilight of his career, Washington tried to play one final season with the Blazers even though he had an ailing back. It was then that his charitable spirit took hold and his future of giving evolved. In lieu of a yearly salary, Washington told the Blazers to donate his paychecks to charity. The team agreed and said it would match his contributions.
The comeback fell short, but the selfless idea spurred the creation of the charitable Sixth Man Foundation, which helped Portland-area kids in need. The Sixth Man Foundation eventually became Project Contact Africa and remains the charitable arm of Washington's efforts to help Africa.
Washington lived in Portland long after his playing career, going on to co-host a local radio sports talk show and own a restaurant in Vancouver with the late Kevin Duckworth. In 2003, he moved back to the Washington D.C. area, where he grew up, but it was during his time in Portland -- when he made that trip to Africa with those Portland doctors and nurses -- that Washington developed the passion that would guide the rest of his life.
Some of his key partners in the effort remain in the Portland area.
Hustling aid for Africa
Kenya is situated on the East Coast of Africa, occupying 224,000 square miles along the Indian Ocean. Nearly 40 million people live there.
Most are plagued by poverty and disease. The average Kenyan makes $360 a year, more than 20 percent of the adult population is illiterate and life expectancy is less than 50 years. One in eight Kenyans is HIV-positive and many others suffer from malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis.
When the name Kermit Washington pops up on a cell phone caller ID, odds are he's calling to seek help for the people who live in this depressed environment.
"I'm a hustler," he says, laughing but not joking. "I have to hustle for everything to help these people."
In 2003, Washington and Teresa Gipson, a Portland doctor and professor, opened a 6,000-square foot, two-story building that has become a medical clinic, food distribution center and school in Nairobi – Kenya's largest city and capital. The first two years, Washington funded the operating expenses of the food distribution and medical clinic himself, at an annual cost of roughly $35,000. The school opened the following year and the hustler was born.
Over the years, Washington has used his NBA connections –he works as a regional representative for the National Basketball Players Association – to gather autographed shoes from Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Carmelo Anthony, among others, and auction them off on eBay. Washington convinced Ron Artest to donate money to create a medical lab at the clinic and the NBA Players' Union to help raise awareness and money.
Washington has called in favors from old college friends, old teammates and business leaders from the Northwest and Virginia, where he lives. He also accepts donations on his web site, projectcontactafrica.com.
Over the years, he's raised millions of dollars and spent hundreds of thousands from his own pocket.
"Kermit has been a phenomenal supporter of the people of Kenya, especially those living in the slums in Kenya," Gipson said. "I have a lot of admiration and respect for Kermit. I really feel like he's been selfless through his contributions and work to help this cause."
A legacy with children
The medical clinic features four patient rooms, a pharmacy and a lab and brings more than 40 healthy Kenyan babies into the world every month. Between 20 and 30 people visit the clinic every day for medical care. But the school has become Gipson and Washington's biggest passion.
Roughly 50 kids, between the ages of 3 and 10, attend classes five days a week. Almost all are HIV positive. They live in poverty and receive little educational guidance at home so they lag behind educated peers in every measurable barometer. The goal is to catch them up and send them back into the Kenyan school system with the tools to graduate and go on to college.
The kids are fed two meals a day during the school week –usually grains and beans but sometimes meat – and the school gives grains and beans to the their families, providing food for up to eight people in each family every day.
"The kids don't want vacations and they hate the weekends," Washington said. "They cry when they can't go to school."
The school features two classrooms and a library and Gipson and Washington recently acquired laptop computers through grants. When the kids learn enough to catch up to their grade, Gipson's nonprofit, Ray of Hope, pays for uniforms, books and supplies so the children can return to public school and stay on track.
Washington returns to Nairobi every year, sometimes paying for doctors and nurses to go with him and provide medical help, but the operation is now mostly self-sustained thanks to his fundraising efforts and tireless work. A voyage that started with a trip in the middle of the night 17 years ago has, indeed, come a long way.
"I remember people walking around with big machetes that had been thrown out of their country," Washington said. "I was scared to death. You didn't want to sleep at night because you knew that 90 percent of the people walking around had nothing. They were desperate. You wondered if they were going to cut our throats for food. But in the middle of all that were nice people. They just needed some help.
"I'll keep doing this until I die."
