A 7am pickup and the group of intrepid adventurers, accompanied by five local coaches visited their first school of the trip where in a whistle stop hour over 60 kids were put through the CWB carousels of cricket. An early start for both kids and coaches, the hour went in a blur and we soon set off to our second school of the morning where another 70+ kids spent two hours shouting their ABCs with the widest smiles and plenty of competitive spirit. It was here that the value of local coaches became immediately apparent both in terms of their own infectious enthusiasm for cricket, their commitment to the CWB messages on HIV and their ability to speak French!
James, Winston, Dorian, Karin and Michael are simply fantastic and a great asset to the development of cricket in Yaounde and as ambassadors for CWB.
In a last minute change of plan our third school of the day was unfortunately cancelled and the team had a few precious hours to themselves, spent shopping in a local market and updating the blog.
After refreshing ourselves we were then taken to the national television station where the President of the Cameroon Cricket Federation, Victor with Dave and Jo, appeared on 'The Monday Show', the Cameroonian equivalent of the BBC's 'One Show'. In little over eight minutes the trio were able to outline what cricket was, how CWB was helping develop the game in Cameroon and vitally how important the HIV messages are as part of the development.
Hot footing it from the glamour of television the team then attended, under invite, the Gala Dinner for the Commonwealth, the culmination of a week long celebration of diversity, culture and achievement. Held in front of government ministers and the High Commissioners from many Commonwealth nations including Great Britain, we were treated to singing, dancing and a banquet buffet of local and national dishes…… and French wine!
However, events took a turn to the wine induced surreal as the entire team ended the evening as dancers to a national singing stars performance, flanking the exit of dignitaries, spoofing 'that Oscars selfie' and ending up as the centrepiece in photographs with just about everyone. CWB is definitely in the Cameroonian consciousness if not on the mantelpieces too.
Three days in. Could it get any more interesting tomorrow?