Through the support of the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, 10 high school students from KVBFF’s partner, After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles (ASAS-LA), were able to take an educational tour through China during the summer of 2012. All students are a part of ASAS-LA’s Mandarin Language and Culture programs, chaired by Kobe Bryant.

During the China tour, ASAS-LA students spent ten days at the Hangzhou Foreign Language School and participated in Mandarin language courses & cultural classes. Students later spent time in Shanghai, Beijing, hiked up the Great Wall of China, visited Tiananmen Square, saw the Forbidden City, and engaged in a wushu performance during the Closing Ceremony of Chinese Bridge Summer Camp for U.S. High School students at the Beijing Royal School. It was the opportunity for a lifetime for the inner-city LA youths.

“The international sojourn opened the minds of our students,” says ASAS-LA President and Executive Director, Ana Campos. “The great majority of the students in ASAS-LA programs do not have the chance to leave their own neighborhoods, let alone see the world. Kobe and Vanessa Bryant and KVBFF made this opportunity possible. It has been a life-changing experience for our students, and it will be exciting to watch their lives successfully evolve due to the impact of this trip .”

Credit: Shannon Mayock