Photos: A migrant’s journey from Congo to Greece’s basketball league

Christ Wamba fled hardship and unrest in Congo Republic with nothing but his ball and a change of clothes. Now, not yet 18, he is training with a professional basketball club in Europe. Taking a well-trodden route north out of sub-Saharan Africa, Wamba clung on to his treasured ball until he had to jettison it on the sea crossing from Turkey to Greece. He is now under the wing of one the country's biggest clubs, Aris, as he waits for his asylum application to be processed.

Updated on: Sep 24, 2018 10:42 AM IST

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Congolese basketball player Christ Wamba enters the court after halftime during a friendly game between Aris Thessaloniki BC and Istanbul BB at the Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall in Thessaloniki, Greece. Wamba fled hardship and unrest in Congo Republic with nothing but his ball and a change of clothes. Now, not yet 18, he is training with a professional basketball club in Europe. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Christ Wamba onboard a Hellenic Coast Guard vessel following a rescue operation, when he tried to cross part the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Lesbos, on March 21, 2016.Taking a well-trodden route north out of sub-Saharan Africa, Wamba clung on to his treasured ball until he had to jettison it on the sea. He is now under the wing of one the country’s biggest clubs, Aris, awaiting his asylum application to be processed. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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“I didn’t have shoes to play basket,” Wamba, a towering figure with boyish looks and bleached hair, said of life in Congo, a nation rife with poverty despite oil wealth. “I played with flip-flops. Sometimes with nothing, without shoes, with only my legs, with blood sometimes,” he said, cradling a ball between legs that are almost too long for the bed in the room provided by a UN refugee agency scheme. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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When Wamba, 17, arrived in Greece, his prospects, like thousands languishing on its islands, were dim. Then technology changed his luck. After months on Lesbos, he created a profile on Athlenda, a start-up described by its founder Lazaros Papadopoulos (C), a former Greece national team player, as “LinkedIn for athletes,” bringing together players, coaches, clubs and scouts. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Christ Wamba takes a selfie at the Moria camp on Lesbos. He was quickly spotted by Aris, the Thessaloniki-based team of Greek basketball great Nick Galis. “I liked him from the first moment because I saw his passion. And when I see talent, a kid trying to do whatever it takes to play, I couldn’t not be moved,” said Papadopoulos, who mentors Wamba. “He’s got all the specs to succeed.” (Christ Wamba / Handout via REUTERS)

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Wamba trains at the Alexandreio Melathron Nick Galis Hall. In Africa, the 6’7” (2-metre) Wamba was too tall to play. He bought his first basketball with food money and taught himself by watching NBA videos. He fled in 2015 when protests and violence broke out in the capital Brazzaville over a contested referendum by President Denis Sassou Nguesso to lift limits to his term. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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He was jailed for days and feared for his safety, he said. Wamba travelled to Turkey, spent months scrabbling together money to pay a smuggler for the journey to Greece. Rescued by the Greek coast guard, he was taken to Moria. There, he skipped meals to practice for seven hours a day. Often, he ran some 20 km to find a basketball court, he said. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Since June, Wamba, whose full name is Christ Wamba Bouassou Joachim Mossai Fidele - trains in Aris’s yellow jersey as shooting guard and forward. Without legal status, he’s banned from playing. “He’s very cooperative, he’s a great kid and he deserves this opportunity. We’re happy to have him,” Aris coach Vangelis Angelou said. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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The team is even considering taking him on as a foreign player, he said. Back in his tiny room, Wamba dreams of joining the NBA one day. “I try to be the best. Maybe one day in the future they will talk also about me,” he said. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)