“We were curious at first but as the game went on, we fell in love with what we were watching,” says Martha Nyamal. The 16-year-old South Sudanese refugee now lives in Gulu, Uganda at ChildVoice’s Lukome Center. It’s where she and a group of other young women squeezed inside of a small thatched roof hut to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes play the Ohio Buckeyes, on a monitor powered by solar energy and Wi-Fi earlier this month.

“Seeing how things were happening was like magic in my eyes,” smiled Nyamal. “I liked it so much and I said ‘Wow, I can also try it.’”

Young women at the ChildVoice Lukome Center in northern Uganda have found inspiration in Iowa Hawkeye Caitlin Clark.

The group of nearly two dozen young women had never watched a game of basketball in their lives, let alone played the sport until the nonprofit organization they are receiving education, skills training and therapy from introduced the sport to them.

Richard Kyitarinyeba, the head of office at ChildVoice Uganda, says sports act as therapy for the girls who are refugees and victims of war.

“We believe in empowering young girls; girls who have faced terrible trauma,” explains Kyitarinyeba. “For girls, empowerment and believing in themselves that yes, I can make it no matter what circumstances are surrounding them.”

ChildVoice gifted black and yellow Caitlin Clark t-shirt jerseys to the girls to wear while they play netball, Uganda’s version of basketball. The organization’s founders, who are avid Iowa Hawkeye fans, say Clark is the perfect role model for the women they serve.

“These girls have lived very tough lives to this point and they really have not had roles models,” says Dr. Neil Mandsager, a former board member of ChildVoice and Iowa alum. “They are learning how to be the best version of themselves and we are trying to reinforce any positive role models we can.”