Something powerful happens when sport connects athletes to a greater purpose.
Antonina "Tosia" Serafinowska experienced that firsthand this summer while working in Tanzania with the nonprofit Let's Keep The Ball Flying.
“I’ve been struggling to find purpose in life other than volleyball,” Tosia said. “I feel like that trip made me realize there’s so much more to do.”
She went to Tanzania to share the sport she loves and returned with a new perspective on life.
The opportunity of a lifetime
Tosia, originally from Poland, arrived at Arizona State in January 2026 after transferring from Wisconsin. Before she ever set foot on the court at Desert Financial Arena, Head Coach JJ Van Niel presented her with the opportunity of a lifetime.
Let's Keep The Ball Flying was on an American tour, inviting student-athletes to join its international service trips, which the organization calls “volleycations.” The nonprofit provides volleyball equipment, courts, coaching and other resources in communities where access to the sport is limited.
"They were guests at our spring practice, and JJ introduced us to them and said, 'Whoever wants to go, I've got it covered.'"
“I was like, ‘I’m in,’” she recalled.
From Tempe to Tanzania
After spending part of her break at home in Poland, Tosia was scheduled to fly from Poland to Tanzania. A mix-up with the time zone math had her land a day early, and on her own.
"I did everything I was always taught not to do," Tosia laughed. "I did it all in like one single night. I literally landed in Africa in the middle of the night, at the end of the world. It's dark outside, and I had to go in a stranger's car to drive to a hotel. I didn't have internet, and I forgot the name of the hotel."
Tosia also climbed into the driver's seat of her taxi, forgetting that the steering wheel was on the opposite side.
“He was standing there like, ‘So, are you going to drive?’”
It was a chaotic beginning but also her first introduction to the warmth she would experience throughout the trip.
“People in Tanzania were super nice, very welcoming,” she said. "I didn't really have a situation where I felt like I was unsafe."
Getting to work
Once everyone else arrived, it was time to get to work. The group was made up of professional and college volleyball players, including Iga Wasilewska, a player Tosia looked up to when she was starting out in volleyball.
"She's a Polish professional player, and when I was younger, I would watch her on TV. I remember the day she joined the group chat. I called my parents, and I was like, I can't believe I get to share this experience with her."
Their days began around 6 a.m. as they traveled by bus from school to school to meet young students and teach and play volleyball. At some stops, they built and paved courts, painted lines, put up nets and inflated volleyballs.
At one stop, they painted the court in the heat, leaving their handprints as a final touch. At another, 300 students showed up to play, though only 40 were expected.
A different view
For Tosia, accustomed to the state-of-the-art facilities of college athletics, the contrast was impossible to miss.
Some children played without shoes. Others wore aging school uniforms. The courts could be little more than dirt, dust and rocks.
Yet Tosia was most impressed by their ambition, drive and love of the game.
These kids dove for balls. They chased every play. They wanted to learn.
“I have never experienced children being so willing to work,” Tosia said. “They were just genuinely so happy.”
Days spent coaching hundreds of children could be physically and mentally exhausting. Yet every evening, Tosia found herself thinking the experience couldn't possibly get better.
"Every night we would sit together at dinner, and we would share the best moment of the day. It was super hard to pick just one."
But a few moments stand out.
"We were practicing the whole day, and at the end, when parents were picking up the children, one of the girls I was practicing with, she literally made her dad come and say hi to me," Tosia said. "She really wanted me to meet her dad, and it was just so precious to see."
More than volleyball
One visit changed the meaning of the trip for Tosia.
The group traveled to a school and residential facility serving children with albinism and children with disabilities who had been abandoned by their families. Tosia recalled that the facility was heavily secured to protect the children. In Tanzania, people with albinism have faced violence and persecution tied to superstitious beliefs about albinism.
The volunteers toured it before meeting the children, and then they rounded a corner.
"I'm telling you, 300 children were running toward us screaming with joy and happiness," Tosia said. "It was very special because in different places, the children would be super happy to work with you, but there would be a distance between you. They wouldn't hug you and jump on you or anything like they did here."
She had arrived expecting to help lead a volleyball practice. Instead, children grabbed her hands, shirt and pants. When she sat down, large groups gathered around her, playing with her blonde hair and simply wanting to stay close.
"For me, it was a very emotional and tough day because you could see how much affection they need. It wasn't really about volleyball at all."
Volleyball could wait. The group barely coached that day. It was more about spending time and playing with the kids.
"I remember one of the girls had a Polaroid camera, and the children loved it. They loved that they could hold their photos, and it would be so precious to them. It was a great feeling."
But for Tosia, there was also a sense of heartbreak in that joy.
"It was also like a big reality check of how privileged we are."