PHOTO 1 CAPTION: Children from Thembalethu Orphanage and Community Center don their new basketball jerseys, courtesy of Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center.

PHOTO 2 CAPTION: South African children learn the fundamentals of basketball.

When Charlestown Lacrosse & Learning Center Executive Director Bob Cutler traveled to South Africa in late June, his goal was to bring the same principles that his program promotes locally to children, teachers and community leaders in the impoverished region.
“The lessons we’ve learned over 10 years can be taught to help other programs, regardless of the geographical areas they serve,” said Cutler, who introduced the Charlestown Lacrosse coaching philosophy to a fledgling South African basketball program. “ With Charlestown Lacrosse, we encourage a team structure, the importance of the individual athlete within the team and using sports as a catalyst and motivator for the development of the individual child.”
Besides teaching the fundamentals of teamwork and instilling respect in the individual players, athletics is used as a tool to raise awareness of AIDS and HIV, which have ravaged South Africa and left many children in the region orphaned in recent years. Cutler soon learned, however, that misconceptions about AIDS and the virus that causes it were as prevalent among South African adults as children.
“Some coaches were completely ignorant to testing and what the virus was,” Cutler said, adding that commonly held falsehoods included that spermicide in condoms was poisonous and that getting tested automatically denoted an individual as HIV positive.
Cutler, along with six other Americans, traveled to South Africa as part of a program sponsored by Triad Trust, a Boston-based non-profit consortium of athletes, artists, musicians, filmmakers, physicians, educators, policymakers and healthcare advocates who train local leaders to run sustainable sports, arts and media programs for orphans and vulnerable children in areas affected by HIV and AIDS. Over the past two years, Triad has sponsored three previous trips to South Africa to implement soccer, rugby, netball and basketball programs. (Triad has yet to bring lacrosse to the region).
Brooke Wurst, founder and executive director of Triad Trust, has collaborated with Charlestown Lacrosse in the past and described Cutler as the “pied piper” of South Africa as children and coaches followed him to the basketball courts each morning.
“Bob did a lot of leadership education by talking to coaches and players about the fundamentals of teamwork, which are transferable on the courts, on the fields and in the community,” Wurst said. “He taught them the same values that he brings to the Lacrosse Center by fusing sports and education.”
At the Thembalethu Orphanage and Community Center in South Africa’s Nkomazi Region, Cutler worked with more than 400 children and trained staff members from Youth in Action, a non-profit organization serving South African adolescents that he likened to the Boston Center for Youth & Families.
Among the messages that Cutler hoped to convey was that South African adolescents who aren’t involved in sports and educational programs are more likely to contract the HIV virus, much like how their American counterparts who aren’t involved in positive youth programs are more likely to get in trouble or do poorly in school.
On July 5, Triad sponsored a basketball tournament that perhaps best exemplified its work in the region — on and off the court.
“At the tournament, warm-ups before and after the game were well organized and purposeful,” Cutler said. “Conversations during the game and on breaks illustrated positive coaching and a good rapport between coaches and players.”
Players and children from the basketball program at the orphanage were tested for HIV at the tournament. Thirty percent tested positive for the virus, compared with the nationwide rate of 70 percent.
And while Cutler said he wasn’t able to truly gauge the full impact of Triad’s work during his 10-day visit, he wishes to return to South Africa to see firsthand how the basketball program has evolved.
“My hope is that if I go there again next year, there are twice as many kids involved and some sustainability in the basketball program in conjunction with the lessons we taught, so we can raise awareness [of HIV and AIDS] with more players and teach valuable lessons in sports and community responsibility,” Cutler said.
For more information about Triad Trust, visit www.triadtrust.org.

Roseland Management Company was recently contracted to manage HarborView, a luxury condominium development in the Navy Yard that is being repositioned as a high-end rental complex, according to a statement from the Boston development company.
HarborView is an 11-story, 325,000 square foot development at 250 First St., containing 224 residential units, 29,000 square feet of residential space and 334 below-grade parking spaces.
On June 24, the Boston Redevelopment Authority board of directors approved a proposal from a subsidiary of Newark, N.J.-based Prudential Insurance Company of America that sought to foreclose on HarborView and take ownership of the property.
The same day, the BRA issued a memorandum to its board stating that the Prudential-owned subsidiary “has explored all options regarding the project including but not limited to, selling [it] to another party, attempting to market [it] as condominium units as previously approved or repositioning [it] as a rental properties.” The subsidiary opted to offer the units as rental units at that time and “will convert back to home ownership when the market allows,” according to the document.
Prices for units ranging from studios to duplex penthouses are between $1,765 per month and $6,100 per month. HarborView provides first preference for “Charlestown Urban Renewal displacees for up to 50 percent of the units,” according to Roseland. For more information, contact the Leasing Office at 617-242-1598 or visit www.harborviewnavyyard.com.

CAPTION: 100 City Square, the former home of Copia and Meze restaurants.

The French café Petit Robert Bistro has abandoned plans to open a third restaurant at 100 City Square after financing for the project fell through, said Petit Robert Bistro co-owner Loic Le Garrec.
“We lost a few investors because they were scared of the Charlestown location,” Le Garrec said. “They didn’t want to take the risk with the economy being what it is today.”
Le Garrec and Petit Robert Bistro co-owner and master chef Jacky Robert announced plans last fall to open a new restaurant at 100 City Square, following the success of their other restaurants in Kenmore Square and on Columbus Avenue in the South End. Paul Licari, owner of the venerable Lock-Ober restaurant in Downtown Crossing, was slated to join Le Garrec and Robert as the third business partner in the Charlestown venture.
Le Garrec said Petit Robert Bistro would open a new restaurant in Needham in September or October and still hopes to find a suitable location in Boston or Cambridge. Still, he said he was disappointed that plans to move to City Square had been scrapped.
“We’re very sad it didn’t happen in Charlestown,” Le Garrec said, adding that he had received numerous calls and e-mails from Charlestown residents inquiring when the City Square restaurant would open.
The space at 100 City Square was previously home to two other restaurants. In July of 2007, Copia, a restaurant launched by the owners of the North End eatery, Prezza, closed after operating out of the site for less than a year. The award-winning Greek restaurant Meze Estiatorio occupied the location before that.
Meanwhile, Tim Doherty, assets manager of Norwood-based Cornerstone Developers LLC, the property management company for 100 City Square, said recent discussions with prospective tenants were “fruitful.’
“We’re hoping we can put something together,” Doherty said.

The Boston Police District-1's National Night Out celebration, which includes the North End, Beacon Hill and Charlestown, will be held on Friday, Aug. 1, from 3 to6 p.m. at the station located at 40 Sudbury St.
The block party style open house will give residents and neighbors a chance to meet officers that patrol their neighborhood.
"We will have food, pony rides for kids, a face painter, and we will be performing a children identification program for those that are interested," said Officer Robert Luongo
District 1's celebration is part of Boston's citywide National Night Out 2008 dubbed the "Power of Neighbors" and marks the 25th anniversary of National Night Out.
The celebration aims to cultivate and strengthen partnerships among the community, youth, police, city agencies and community-based organizations. National Night Out also acknowledges the remarkable contributions of Neighborhood Crime Watch groups, and seeks to increase participation in Neighborhood Crime Watch programs among local residents.
The 25th anniversary will culminate in a citywide celebration at the Franklin Park Zoo, Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 5 to 8:00 p.m. Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis will host up to 10,000 Bostonians who will enjoy free admission and access to zoo attractions and sponsor booths.
National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime,” was introduced by the National Association of Town Watch in 1984. The program was the brainchild of NATW Executive Director Matt A. Peskin. In an effort to heighten awareness and strengthen participation in local anticrime efforts, Peskin felt that a high-profile, high-impact type of crime prevention event was needed nationally. At that time, he noted that in a typical ‘crime watch community’, only 5 to 7 percent of the residents were participating actively.
Due to the growth and success of these programs, he felt this percentage was too low. He proposed a national program which would be coordinated by local crime prevention agencies and organizations - but that would involve entire communities at one time.
The first National Night Out was introduced early in 1984 - with the event culminating on the first Tuesday in August. That first year, 400 communities in 23 states participated in National Night Out. Nationwide, 2.5 million Americans took part in 1984.
In subsequent years, participation has grown steadily. The 24th Annual National Night Out last August involved over 34.2 million people in 10,325 communities from all 50 states.

Charlestown-based accounting and consulting firm Vitale Caturano announced last month that it has leased an additional 22,000 square feet of space at 80 City Square in response to rapid growth for the business.
"Our Charlestown facility is an ideal location for employees, clients and business associates of the firm,” said Richard J. Caturano, the company’s president and chief executive officer. “We are excited to be expanding in a building that offers first-class amenities at leasing costs substantially less than downtown rates.”
With this expansion, the firm now occupies a total of 91,000 square feet on all four floors of the building. Build-out of the new space is now underway and slated for completion in August, according to a company spokesman.
“We’re very excited that Vitale Caturano has expanded in the building, said Tim Doherty, assets manager of Norwood-based Cornerstone Developers LLC, the property management company for 80 City Square. “We’re happy we can accommodate the company’s growth.”
Doherty also said the new space Vitale Caturano is leasing was previously occupied by the Charlestown technology firm Keane, Inc. Last August, Keane notified the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development that it planned to eliminate 92 of its approximately 640 positions in Boston between Sept. 30, 2007, and March 31, 2008.
Representatives from Keane were unavailable for comment.