A much needed lie in had us leaving the apartments at 10 to go the Kagarama School to watch their school cricket team playing a match, it was incredible to see that the equipment they were using was some that we had handed over the day before on our arrival. A good indication of the lack of hard ball equipment that is in the country.
What was even more poignant was that the kit bag they had was donated by Mark Lawrence who was due to be with us on the trip but tragically passed away a few weeks before. We had some pictures and video taken with the children and the Lingfield CC kit bag and will ensure that these get back to his club.
We had been playing cricket with some other local children in the trees surrounding the pitch and then after the match we went out for a play with the team on the matting wicket, Tim’s off-spin was particularly harshly treated and his two overs went for serious damage, he did eventually get his man though with a catch at long-on by Dave and seemed pretty pleased with his figures of around 2 overs 1 for 25.
It was then back on the bus and away to a local restaurant for a buffet style lunch, before heading out to the genocide memorial. Hard to say much about this other than it is a very impressive and informative tour explaining the history behind the genocide and the actual event as well as looking at the future of Rwanda. The second floor then is dedicated to other genocide that have taken place around the world.
Around 1 million people were killed in the 1994 genocide over a 100 day period, while the UN failed to intervene and this building is in memory of those that were killed. There were some horrifying images especially those of mass slaughter of women and children, there is also a room including dozens of skulls of the victims and outside is a mass grave containing over 250,000 people. For anyone who has seen the film Shooting Dogs the college featured is actually where the Kicukiro Oval is situated, the only cricket ground in Rwanda.
After a shower and change we were invited out to dinner by the Rwandan Cricket Association (RCA) at an Indian restaurant near by. After a short speech by Charles their chairman we began the starters which seemed to go on for ever, before eventually the main event of Chicken Tikka Massalla.
Click here to view all the videos from the trip on our YouTube Channel.
