Rising senior basketball player Steven Pearl is in Odessa, Ukraine, until June 7 as part of a goodwill contingent that is administering a sports and wellness clinic to Jewish youth at Tikva Children's Home. He is keeping a daily blog of the experience exclusively for UTsports.com. For background information on Steven's trip, click here.

Day 3 - June 6, 2010

It was my final day with all the kids. Once again we got up early and started the day off with some breakfast. I had a day full of fun activities with the boy, girls and the infants.

First, we went to the mall and met the boys and the infants at the arcade. We were given a card that had a certain amount of points on it so we could play enough games for an hour and a half. The kids loved every second of it. They were running around as fast as they could to be sure they could play every game before we left. I was being pulled in every direction by the kids so I could play different games with them.

By today the kids had really warmed up to me and treated me as if I was a big brother or something. It was very cool knowing these kids liked me and looked up to me in a way.

Next was a boat ride on the Black Sea with all of the orphans: boys, girls and infants. It was a very large boat, and they played music while we were on the top deck so all of the kids were dancing and having a great time. I was with the older boys for the first part of the trip and they were showing me some of their favorite american music. Some of the artists included Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and some other hip-hop and rap artists.

Next, the infants pulled me over to the dance floor and I danced with the little ones for a while, which was so much fun. They were hanging on me like I was a tree the whole boat ride.

After the boat ride it was time to say goodbye to the girls and the infants. I was taking pictures and signing autographs and giving hugs and it was a great send off from the girls and infants.

Next on the agenda was my last basketball clinic for the boys.

First, I met with the boys at their house to eat the lunch that they had prepared for me. We ate chicken mixed with rice and tomato soup, and it was very good.

Next we walked over to the school and started playing basketball. Today wasn't as organized as yesterday because they boys wanted to show me everything they learned. So all around the court the kids were practicing different skills that I had taught them. They enjoyed showing me what they could do, and they were all so proud of themselves.

We played a couple games and had a couple contests. And on one of the lower rims, some of the taller boys were trying to dunk, which wore them out a good bit. The teachers really appreciated that.

After about three hours of basketball with the boys, it was time for me to head back to the hotel. We took some pictures and I was signing everything the boys threw at me. They really appreciated me coming to play ball with them and kept saying, "Thanks, Steve!" which was all the English they really knew.

Once I walked them back to the home, we all shook hands, gave a couple hugs and said our goodbyes.

It was sad having to leave them because they really looked up to me like an older brother or an older friend and I wish I could bring every single one of them back with me.

All of the people keep thanking me for doing this for the kids. But in the end I really just want to thank the kids for having an impact on me.

Throughout the weekend I have heard all of the stories of how these kids ended up with Tikva, and the stories are so sad and terrible.

But none of the kids want anyone to feel bad for them or give them any sympathy. All they wanted was a second chance and a stable home. The strength they have showed through their lives, having to struggle at such a young age and still come out of it with positive outlook, is truly remarkable. They have made me appreciate my life so much more, and I know all of the blessings I have should not be taken for granted.

This is an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. I can say that this weekend and these kids have turned me into a better man and I will definitely be coming back here again.

See you Monday Knoxville.

Day 2 - June 5, 2010

Can't begin to tell you how amazing today was! The first part of the day we toured around the city of Odessa. We first went to a place called the catacombs of Odessa. It was originally an underground mine, but during World War II, Russian Partisans used it to hide from the Nazis. The Partisans estimated they would only have to be there for two months, but it ended up being a little more than two years! There were many tales of battles in the tunnels and the Partisans fighting off the Nazis while being hidden in the darkness and silence.

After the catacombs we made our way to a restaurant called the Columbus Restaurant right next to the Black Sea. We ate lunch for about an hour and enjoyed some of the sights by the sea. We then got ready to make our way to the boys' orphanage school to run the first basketball clinic.

Once we arrived at the school, we walked up to the outside basketball court and there was a big sign right by the court that read "Thank you for coming Steve Pearl.' As soon as I saw that I was just ready to get this going and have a great time with the kids. I could tell they were all very excited, but also not so sure of what was going to happen.

These are very tough kids who have come from very difficult situations, so I was going to have to earn their respect to get them moving the way I wanted them to. The first thing I did was walk them through some of the stretches that we do in our practices at Tennessee. And they were all laughing while doing them because this was not something they were used to doing. After stretching, the translator and I broke the kids up into two groups of 10 and one group of 20 for stations. I had a shooting station, a dribbling and passing station and a 3-on-3 station. I ran the dribbling and passing station while two of my helpers ran the other stations.

As soon as I started doing these difficult dribbling and passing drills, the kids understood that I wasn't a slouch and knew how to play basketball. So from then on, they started to respect me and do the things I was telling them to do. After about an hour of stations we did a couple of dribble relays and shooting contests that the kid were going crazy over. Once two hours had gone by, I let the kids go and practice their different skills around the court and the yard. As I was doing this, a group of the older kids challenged me to a game of what they called "street ball.' It was basically 3-on-3, and we all had a great time.

Once the basketball clinic was over, the other men on the trip - Max, Elliot, Andy, Art, Sandy and myself - all had gifts for the boys at the orphanage. I had many t-shirts for the boys, while the rest of the men brought tennis balls, volleyballs, basketballs, ping-pong paddles, whiffle-ball bats... they even brought the boys a Wii video-game system! It was an amazing experience that couldn't have gone any better.

Next we went to the infants' home, which was about three blocks down the road. As soon as we walked in, all these little children came sprinting up to us to be picked up and held. They were some of the sweetest children in the world and couldn't have been any happier. We also had presents for them: candy, coloring books, markers, crayons, dolls and many more things. One of the boys had just arrived there today. His name was David, and he was this beautiful little boy whose mother refused to take care of him. She drank tons and tons of vodka and couldn't get rid of this amazing boy fast enough. All of the stories about why these children end up at the orphanage are just heartbreaking, but the staff at Tikva does an amazing job making these kids feel like they have a family and somewhere to call home. It is truly amazing the things they do for these children.

The rest of the night we visited the famous Odessa Opera House, went to the steps of Odessa and then visited the boys' orphanage home and had a big barbeque with all of the children of Tikva. It was a great way to end the day and conclude our night. Now it is back to bed because we have another long day tomorrow filled with fun activities with the kids.

Tikva is truly amazing. I urge whoever is reading this to check out their website, and, if you are able to, support their cause because they change lives every single day: www.tikvaodessa.org

Day 1 - June 4, 2010

We did so many things on Day 1! There's not much time left in the day after all of the traveling.

We arrived in Vienna, Austria, and flew from there to Odessa. After we got to our hotel, we got changed and got ready for the rest of the evening's events.

The first thing we did was visit the girls' orphanage at their home called "Leah's House." The orphanage is about a year old and is an amazing place for these young ladies to grow up and restore their lost childhoods. This house offers these young ladies schooling where they learn four different languages: English, Hebrew, Russian and Ukrainian.

When we got there, all of the girls were so excited to see us, and they put on a show for us with dancing and singing. It was really fun seeing them get this excited for us to be there.

Next we went to the synagogue with all of the boys from the boys' orphanage and celebrated Friday night Shabbat. All of the boys kept coming up to me and asking "NBA? NBA?" That's about all the English they knew.

After services we went to the Rabbi's house and had the longest and biggest meal I've ever been a part of. It has been a long day, and I'm going to hit the bed because tomorrow will be even longer when I run my first basketball clinic to 50 orphans who don't know English.

Goodnight Knoxville.