POMONA, Calif. - From the heartbreaking walk through a genocide memorial to a mesmerizing and joyous dance with local children, a trip through Rwanda and Uganda for four former Broncos evoked some of the strongest emotions imaginable.

In what Cal Poly Pomona political science professor Dr. Renford Reese called a "Dream Team" of leaders, a mix of current and former Bronco student-athletes - Bryce Brady, Austin Swift, Reyana Colson and Mariano Baez - were among the group of 12 that traveled through Africa from July 19 to Aug. 4.

Those should be recognizable names for Bronco fans as Swift starred on CPP's 2010 national title team, Colson became an All-American as a student-athlete and now serves as a Broncos' assistant coach and Brady started for the men's basketball team that went 28-3 last season.

All 12 travelers are volunteers with the Prison Education Project (PEP), a program established to sustain and develop educational resources within the California correctional facilities. PEP has helped fill the gap between resources and need, while creating benefit to The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the inmate-students, the college student volunteers and ultimately the community.

"Many think that we go to the prisons with the thought that we are going to educate and help with their reform, and we do," Swift said. "But the majority of the time, we get more out the experience than the inmates. They teach us just as much, if not more, than we teach them."

The trip through Rwanda and Uganda presented a unique and incredible opportunity to the Bronco leaders as it brought them to memorials, museums, churches, schools and prisons.

"This trip has made me value and appreciate my life in a whole different level and has allowed me to truly believe that we are agents of change," said Baez, who competed in cross country and track and field for the Broncos from 2006 through 2011. "In Africa, I was able to see how we could bring hope and belief to the locals in every way. To me, inspiring and bringing hope to these individuals is priceless. Their sincere appreciation and gratitude to us will be in my heart forever."

At one point the PEP group visited the Uganda School for the Disabled in Entebbe, where they delivered supplies and spent time singing, dancing and celebrating with the children. The excitement of that day was captured in a video, which features Swift in the left of the crowd, Brady in the back center and Colson on the far right.

"We experienced every emotion on the trip," Colson said. "When we visited the children at the Uganda School, there was a lot of joy. But certainly taking a trip to the memorials in Rwanda made for a very heavy and tough day."

The visit to the Ntarama Genocide Memorial in Kigali proved to be the most eye-opening experience of the trip for the Broncos.

"Visiting those memorial sites was the most powerful experience of the trip for me," Baez said. "It was there that I truly recognized how blessed and privileged I am, to respect and value not only my own life but every life and person I meet. I am now more humble and spiritually stronger."

The church in Kigali is the site where some of the most brutal killings of the 1994 Rwandan genocide took place. The victims' remains are still there with bones, skulls and tattered clothes strewn about.

"I wanted the group to understand that just because this tragedy happened on the African continent, it is still our tragedy," Reese said. "When you can begin to empathize with people in the far pockets of the world, you are embracing the same humanity as the Nelson Mandelas of the world. I want this group to become global citizens and one way this is done is by exposing them to a myriad of global experiences."

Through all the pain and suffering that was reflected in the memorials and churches, the Broncos' group was still amazed with the peaceful and positive attitude that filled the hearts of the Rwandan locals they met.

"In Rwanda, we were able to see how they've developed in the past two decades since the genocide," Colson said. "We could still see the damage but it was great to see that there was a peaceful attitude within the country."

This summer's PEP trip wasn't Brady's first experience in Africa. He spent three weeks in Tanzania last year and upon returning to California, he thrived as a volunteer at the PEP Reintegration Academy set up by Reese to immerse former inmates in academic, life skills and career development programs.

In early August, Brady started a Congressional Internship Program at the Panetta Institute in Washington, D.C. Through his travels overseas, Brady continues to learn more than just a simple cultural lesson.

"More than cultural difference, I learned that we have a lot in common with people no matter what part of the world you live in," Brady said after last year's trip to Tanzania. "There's just certain things about being human that's just the same no matter where you are from."

In addition to the four Broncos already mentioned, here are the other eight travelers on the "Dream Team" with bios provided by Reese:

Matt Bennett: CPP Graduate, Rapper in the Inland Empire aka Whyte Boy
Shelley Bruce: "Student of the Year" in CLASS, Director of PEP Art Program
Franbert Calderon: CPP Political Science Graduate, rising star in CA Democratic Committee
Denise Garcia: CPP Master's Graduate in Public Administration
Tyee Griffith: CPP Master's Graduate in Public Administration, Program Coordinator, Reintegration Academy
Esche Jackson: USC Student, Involved with Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Rosemary Kyompa: CPP Master's Graduate in Public Administration, Ugandan
Chris Osuala: 2012-13 ASI president at CPP