Self-Awakening
It is impossible to eradicate someone's origins: even continents away, even cultures away. Awak Kuier has a gift, the gift of knowledge, of acceptance, the gift of an African heritage that must be passed on in Baltic Finland, the most antithetical of second homes, and in the entire basketball universe.
Words by Gianmarco Pacione
"I grew up in a South Sudanese family. My parents are members of the Dinka tribe, when they migrated to Finland they brought their culture, their language with them: they didn't forget their past. That's why I feel connected to South Sudan, it's a bond that I feel deep in my bones. One day I'll go back to that country and it will be a special moment: I'll understand where my family's story began, I'll understand something more about myself".
“I want to be a role model for immigrants and for Finns, I want to be a role model to refer to: a figure that I lacked. I want to be strong. I want to prove that if I can do it, so can many others”
To understand something more about this rising star of European basketball, second overall pick of the last WNBA draft, you have to imagine a journey, you have to imagine countless air and sea routes, a long parental route that starts from the South Sudanese hinterland, that develops in the economic and academic hub of Khartoum, that passes through Cairo and arrives up there, where everything is colder and more reserved.
Kotka is a splinter harbor overlooking the Gulf of Finland, a sprawling archipelago observes it unchanged and unchanging. Kotka is an unsuspected mecca of Nordic basketball, of ‘Koripallo’, a magical place, atypical and perfect cradle for the greatness of a young predestined migrant. "When we arrived in that small town, we didn't have relationships with other people. Basketball was key to becoming part of the community, to understand the Finnish way of life. Neighbors, classmates, everyone was passionate, everyone was united by basketball. If it wasn't for that local tradition, I would probably be a different person today".
The youth development, the first calls to the national team, the Maamme sung from the loudspeakers. Awak Kuier's process was a natural one: to become the face of an entire movement, to change the face of an entire movement, to define its present, its multicultural and inclusive future, to do so with the power of talent and shyness. "I totally feel like a Finnish player. When I play in the national team I know what I'm doing, what I represent. I want to be a role model for immigrants and for Finns, I want to be a role model to refer to: a figure that I lacked. I want to be strong. I want to prove that if I can do it, so can many others".
The futuristic modernism of Helsinki undergoes an architectural involution in the late baroque buildings of Ibla, the ancestral district and fulcrum of the present Ragusa. Churches and women's basketball, here, define the everyday life of every citizen. We are in southern Sicily, we are where Awak Kuier is telling us about his life, making us participants in a journey of infinite facets, infinite departures and destinations. "This is my second year as a pro and my second year in Ragusa. I came back here because it's a special place. Although it is a completely different place than Finland, I feel at home here. The coffees offered, the warmth of the people, the connection with teammates.... I'm a people person, we often don't value the importance of human connection enough".
There is no road that does not lead somewhere, says an ancient Sudanese proverb. Today Awak Kuier's roads are divided between Virtus Eirene of Ragusa, the Finnish national team and the WNBA seasons in Dallas Wings jersey. A whirl of parquet and notoriety, a steep and calm climb, without dizziness, as witnessed by the noble basketball and human goals of this 20 years old girl: "The WNBA is a dream, I'm the first Finnish to play there, I hope I can do it for many years and win a title. I think the choice to avoid college has paid off, in the last two years I feel I have grown a lot as a player and as a person. Now I would like to leave my signature here, in Ragusa, in the WNBA and in Finland, where the basketball movement is experiencing an absolute expansion. Then I will go back to South Sudan to help the country, to organize something to help those people, following the example of Luol Deng and his camp".
Credits: Eleni Albarosa (photography), Nicola Rossi (video)
