Lee’s thoughts on Botswana and week 1.
With only the 450km – 6 hours bus journey from Francistown to Maun on the agenda for today it seems a suitable time for a reflection on our week but also an opportunity to compare Botswana to the other countries I have visited with CWB.
Firstly, it’s hot. I guess most people would say aren’t they all and until this week I would have agreed with them, the heat here though has been brutal, touching 40 degrees most afternoons and not a breath of wind to help cool things down. I can’t thank the team enough for how they have coped and ensured that all the children have had an amazing experience despite my usual rather slack efforts at lunch breaks / rest days etc.
I think the thing that has struck me most though is that it’s empty, we saw more ostriches (3) than people (1) in around two hours of our drive today and the flat barren landscape just seemed to go on forever.
I guess this shouldn’t have been such a surprise with a population of just over 2 million, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated nations in the world but when you are used to visiting Rwanda where every inch of the rolling green hills is teaming with life then it feels odd to say the least.
The small population and relative wealth of Botswana also means that the schools are much smaller than in other areas, one school yesterday had 458 pupils and 17 teachers, I have met many teachers who have more than that in their class and have to teach the same lessons twice in a day to cover all the students.
The real benefit for CWB with this is that the coach education has been really well attended and we have been able to work with the teachers over 2 or even 3 days. This would be the ideal model across all our countries as it allows them time to really work at their coaching skills as well as learning more about how to play this strange game.
A big highlight for me has been to see the teachers working back in their schools and to watch them put into practice their new skills, it also provides a welcome few minutes of hiding in the shade while they run the session.
We have been working really hard as an organisation to improve and standardise our coach education with new coaching materials and sessions more suited to local delivery, so it’s pleasing to see this being translated into real impact with teachers on the ground. It is only through getting more people out in schools coaching that we can truly leave a legacy and start to grow the game as well as hopefully helping to educate the children on a range of health issues.
One thing that has been exactly the same here in Botswana is the children, enthusiastic, well behaved, loud, excitable and a pleasure to coach the sessions have been just as frantic and lively as all our other countries.
The only noticeable difference is a positive one and that is in the general understanding of the ABC message to help stay safe from HIV, this again must be down to the quality of the awareness education in the schools and is perfect for us as our model works best when reinforcing message taught in the classroom rather than starting a fresh.
All in all a great first week 50 new teachers trained, just under 2,000 children coached. All of this in a small small area called Tonata about a 40 minute drive outside of Francistown.
The spark has been set there now and it will be interesting to see how we can continue to support the Botswana Cricket Association to ensure that cricket grows in the region. Given the talent level, the enthusiasm of the teachers and the support of Clement, the development officer for the North, I am sure it will.