Americans take for granted that women are allowed to participate on sports teams at every age level, but in many countries, that is an alien notion. In 2007, Paul Revere Middle School P.E. teacher Holli Omori spent a month at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protshtan (BKSP), the national sports facility, with fellow teacher Ray Marsden. When they arrived in Bangladesh, she learned that physical education for girls in the largely Muslim country was either a version of musical chairs, or no physical activity at all. After visiting the country, Omori set up a nonprofit group called Sports Education Leadership Foundation (SELF) to help youth develop SELF-esteem, SELF-confidence, and SELF-discipline through sports and physical activity while instilling the value of global citizenship. Her hope was that she could not only help the girls in Bangladesh, but also provide an opportunity for Pacific Palisades students to observe cultural differences. Omori, who was an All-American basketball player for Central Wyoming College before transferring to Colorado State University where she continued to play, was asked by Bangladeshi officials to return to the BKSP. ‘I will, if I can also work with the girls,’ Omori told them. They agreed and this past November, she returned with six students, from Revere, Palisades High and Crespi Carmelite High. ‘They had shown leadership skills, were in my P.E. class at Revere or had played on the Revere boys’ basketball team,’ said Omori, who was named the Nike/LeBron James ‘More Than a Coach’ award winner for the city of Los Angeles in 2009. After the 10-day trip, Omori said how proud she was of her students. ‘Never once did I hear a complaint about having to take cold showers, or brushing teeth with bottled water or the electricity going out each night. I enjoyed seeing how they conducted themselves with the officials and the friendships they made with the players and people in the villages.’ Omori, who grew up in Indiana, received a bachelor’s degree in exercise sports and a master’s in education from Colorado State in 1989. She coached basketball at CSU, New Mexico and the University of Denver, but felt she spent too much time recruiting. Since she had completed her student teaching in middle school, she liked the age and came to Revere in 2002. After the trip, Omori asked each student for his/her reflections. Hannah Wasserman, an’eighth grader at Paul Revere whose sports are soccer, basketball and dance, wrote: ‘The rush of people and the congested air overwhelmed me when I first arrived. Dressed as an American was uncomfortable.’We were we starred at, followed and asked to take pictures with the people. The food was shockingly delicious and no matter where we were, tea was offered.’ MAASAI Ephriam, a junior who plays soccer, basketball and football at Crespi, wrote:   ’After a 14-hour flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, we then flew to Dhaka, Bangladesh. On our first day in that city we went to the International School of Dhaka and played competitive badminton and ultimate Frisbee with students about our age. Later, a bus was waiting to take us to the recently built dorms at BKSP.’ ‘The next morning, we met the basketball team that we would train twice a day for the next week. The average height of the players was over 6 feet tall, so all we had to do was help them with their fundamentals. It felt good to teach them new drills. By the end of the week, I had developed friendships and whenever we were not practicing, they would want me to take pictures with them, or grab my arms and call me ‘muscle man.’ ‘We went down to the ‘hostel’ to see where they lived. The conditions were terrible compared to the dorms we were staying in, but none of them cared because it was better than the homes where they had grown up. It made me feel really special when some of the players said that they would pray that I come back next year. They also said they will miss me ‘so much.’   ’When we were not training, we visited villages in Bangladesh, everyone would stare at us and even follow us.’   ’The people are extremely poor, most don’t have shoes and many have terrible health and/or mutations. There is no fresh running water and the malaria risk is high.   ’One day, we ventured to one of the ancient buildings in Bangladesh and were treated like celebrities. People asked us to take pictures with their babies, and there wasn’t a pair of eyes that was not fixed on us in the massive courtyard. We were welcomed inside some of the people’s homes and offered food.’ They use cow poop to fuel the fire for the food they cook. We gave toys and played with the children in the villages.’ On our last day, we visited an orphanage and distributed cleats and soccer balls to the young children. It was crazy to see a field full of little kids having a blast with the soccer balls and cleats.’ ‘ ”””’Going to Bangladesh with the S.E.L.F. Project was an experience that I will never forget.’One of the players, Asim, gave me a bracelet that his father gave him before he came to BKSP.’ This showed me how much I meant to him. I look forward to doing the same for other people, like Asim, all over the world.” Ashli Marino, a’junior at Palisades High School who plays soccer and lacrosse and takes dance lessons, wrote:’ ‘Arriving in Bangladesh was overwhelming with the thick smoky air, Muslim men and women shocked by our skin color, and their long, intense glares of disapproval. Entering Dhaka by microbus and swerving through rickshaws and CNG’s (small motorized vehicles) gave our first taste of chaotic traffic in Bangladesh, where three lanes of traffic were suddenly transformed into six and red lights stopped no one.’ ‘Traffic was not the most memorable aspect of this trip though.’ It was the joy in kids’ faces in the villages after we gave them gifts. ‘   ’One reason Ms. Omori asked Hannah Wasserman and me to join her on this trip to Bangladesh was to give hope and inspiration to the girls of BKSP.’Being with the girls and seeing how fascinated they were by us gave me a sense of how diverse cultures really are and how such small tokens of respect and time can pay off in one’s personality.’   ’My experience in Bangladesh has given me a drive to do more in my life to help the less fortunate, and a gratitude to my country knowing I have the freedom to be who I am without any limitations.” Gabe Plesent, a freshman at PaliHi who plays soccer, basketball and baseball, wrote: ‘The moment we stepped off the plane things were different.’ All the women were covered and most of the men wore hats and long, white shirts that went down to their ankles.’ ‘A kind man named Nazim, a P.E. teacher at the International School of Dhaka, escorted us to the hotel from the airport. While in Dhaka, we visited a place called ‘Old Hindu Street,’ where we got some dirty looks from the local people because of our skin color and clothing. ‘At the sports institute, we got up every morning at 6:45 a.m. to practice basketball with the team. We also met with the principal of the academic school and he informed us that at BKSP, sports come first and academics second. That was very shocking to us because we are all student-athletes; student comes first.” ‘ Sam Wasserman, a PaliHi sophomore who plays soccer, basketball and baseball, wrote: ‘During my days in Bangladesh and Hong Kong, I noticed the poverty that plagues many. While playing basketball with the BKSP basketball team I gained relationships with people across the globe. I also noticed how driven they were to become the best in their country. I take that home with me to become the best person that I can be.’ Evan Shaner, a senior who plays basketball, cross-country, lacrosse and runs track for PaliHi, wrote: ‘My experience in Bangladesh is one of speaking without talking, virtually listening without understanding.’The friendships made on this adventure are more than first impressions.’They stem from sheer, raw respect, passion of personality and eventually intangible attachment, making the vast expanse of oceans and land, of Pacific or Atlantic, seem a little bit closer.’ ‘After a 14-hour flight and a 10-day trip, no matter where I travel my final destination is always home.’ However, this time I return with a new sense of culture, and the empowerment of others and myself.’ Visit: YouTube: Self Project Bangladesh Trip (BKSP), visit www.theselfproject.org or call (310) 218-9753. Paul Revere Middle School P.E. teacher Holli Omori was invited to the Bangladesh National Sports Facility and, when not training athletes, went into nearby villages and met with children.

Palisades Symphony and soloists will perform an all-Mozart concert on Sunday, February 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Palisades Charter High School’s Mercer Hall, 15777 Bowdoin. The concert, under the direction of Joel B. Lish, will include the Seraglio Overture, Concertantes Quartet for Oboe, Clarinet, French Horn and Bassoon and the ‘Jupiter’ Symphony, No. 41. The soloists will be Naomi Ozawa, oboe, Oliver Karp, clarinet, Robert Eatman, French horn, and Michael Sandler, bassoon. All have extensive musical backgrounds and are principals in the orchestra. ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ is the earliest of Mozart’s operas that are still regularly performed. The opera, written when Mozart was 26, mixes sparkling comedy with pathos and is one of the composer’s singspiels, which combines spoken dialogue and musical numbers. The Sinfonia Concertante was composed while Mozart was living in Paris and was originally intended for solo flute, oboe, bassoon and horn with an orchestra. Mysteriously, the manuscript was lost and nearly a century later the composition turned up with the solo clarinet part and no flute. The ‘Jupiter’ Symphony, the last of Mozart’s symphonies, was written along with two others within a period of a few weeks during the summer of 1788. The finale represents Mozart’s supreme achievement in counterpoint, and is so smooth flowing and seemingly simple that the layman can enjoy its charm while the music student appreciates its intricate construction. The concert is free of charge.

Theater Review

  If you need a chuckle, a giggle or a complete evening of laughs, catch ‘Caught in the Net,’ by Ray Cooney, playing at the Morgan-Wixson Theater in Santa Monica on weekends through February 19.   Given the dearth of sitcoms with physical silliness and the proliferation of comedy movies that rely on lewd jokes, it was refreshing and fun to watch this farce. The high-paced physical comedy that relies on pratfalls, innuendo and mistaken identity, makes for an entertaining evening.   Improbable as it may be, our hero, taxicab driver John Smith (Michael Silva) has kept two households and two wives for 17 years, with neither knowing about the other.   Smith, who has one child with each wife, a boy and a girl, might have gone on happily for another 17 years, except the teens connect on the Internet and agree to meet.   Real problem for Smith. Not only are they half-brother and sister, but also the moment they come to one of the houses, they’ll find out that they have the same father, and his gig is up.   Drat and doggone, what’s a father to do? Confess and let everyone know he’s leading a double life? Of course not. Smith simply forbids his teens to meet each other. Anyone with teens knows how effective this method of parenting can be, so Smith presses upstairs lodger Stanley Gardner (Tristan Wright) to help keep the youth apart.   Gardner, who was literally on his way out the door to take his dad (Paul Guay) on a holiday, is mistaken as Mr. Smith and ends up trying to aid his friend’s deception. Dad, a doddering senior citizen, shows up at the door and becomes confused, thinking he’s arrived at his hotel for his vacation, which only adds to the hijinks.   Silva, as Smith, throws himself into the role with exactly the right amount of physical energy. As it becomes clear his life is unraveling, his frantic attempts to stop it become increasingly amusing.   Wright, as Gardner, is simply brilliant. Especially hilarious is a scene when he is talking on a cell phone, while screaming at a non-existent secretary in the background.   Doug Oliphant plays Gavin (one of the teens) a steady, seriousness that provides a nice contrast to the zaniness. The other teen, Vicki (Julisa Lyn Smith), is perfect as a young woman rebelling against her dad.   The two wives, Barbara (Laura Buckles) and Mary (Denise Carole), give agreeable performances as the ‘straight men’ in this comedy.   The real hero of this play is director Tina Polzin, who understands that comedy is all about the pacing and timing, and has produced remarkable results. She also directed last year’s play ‘Run for Your Wife,’ which was the story on which this prequel was based. This family-friendly fare is highly recommended.   Tickets: www.Morgan-Wixson.org or call (310) 828-7519.

  The Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club will celebrate this month of presidents’ birthdays with a special program on Tuesday, February 8.   Peter M. Small, a historical impressionist, will appear costumed as George Washington to bring our first president’s accomplishments to life. His performance will separate fact from myth, in vignettes ranging from the cherry tree incident to crossing the Delaware River.   Small has presented his engaging history lessons at the Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon and Herbert Hoover presidential libraries. An adjunct instructor for the North Orange County Community College District, he has performed as Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Edison and even Golda Meir. The History Channel and KTTV-TV’s ‘Midday Sunday’ have showcased his work.   The program is free and will begin at 11:45 a.m., followed at 12:30 p.m. by a special Chinese luncheon for $10. For luncheon reservations, call Judy Grosh at (310) 454-7144 by February 5.