Kermit Washington A onetime NBA pariah delivers medical supplies to an impoverished nation

When Kermit Washington is on one of his regular missions to Kenya,
he's regarded only as a man who's there to help the sick. Nobody
sees him as a former college All-America and 10-year NBA forward
who, fairly or unfairly, is most remembered for throwing a punch
that nearly killed Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court brawl.
"They just see a tall American," Washington says. "I like that."

The 6'8" Washington, who lives in Arlington, Va., has traveled to
Africa more than 20 times over the past 10 years as the founder
and driving force behind Project Contact, a nonprofit
organization that provides medical treatment to impoverished
peoples. The trips can be hard: He's gotten sick and he's been
robbed. "You know why it happens," he says of the mugging. "It's
because these people don't have anything." His volunteers usually
visit for a few weeks at a time, until medical supplies run out.
This summer's goal is more ambitious: Project Contact will
establish its first permanent clinic providing year-round care,
in the Nairobi slum of Kawangware.

That means more fund-raising for Washington, 52, who also runs
predraft and summer basketball camps for big men. When he founded
Project Contact (projectcontactafrica.com) in 1995, Washington
provided most of the money himself, but he's had to ask for more
donations over the past few years because a restaurant he owned
in Vancouver, Wash., with fellow ex-Trail Blazer Kevin Duckworth
went out of business in 2000. "That was the dumbest thing I ever
did," Washington says of the failed venture, Le Slam Sports Cafe.
"We can laugh about it now, but I have never worked so hard and
lost so much money in my life." Washington is so devoted to
Project Contact that he even auctioned off his Porsche to raise
money for it. "The responsibility is constant, and it scares me,"
Washington says. "But when you can help thousands of people, you
just put it on your back and try to do the best you can." --Bill
Syken

COLOR PHOTO: COURTESY OF PROJECT CONTACT AFRICA HEALING In Nairobi, Washington (above, center) is known as afriend, not a fighter.

COLOR PHOTO: AP (INSET) HEALING In Nairobi, Washington (above, center) is known as afriend, not a fighter.