Off and running in Douala

5th March.
First day in Cameroon. Douala.

It’s hot , it’s humid, it’s bustling, it’s noisy, it’s colourful, it’s happy, it’s Africa. And yes , the sun is out ( apparently it rained last week , so it might rain this week!).

Our first session this morning at “bilingual high school New Bell” with a group of keen to learn local school teachers. Some have seen cricket before and some haven’t and some have coached children a “petit peu”. Language is going to be a challenge but James, our local coach translates and the teachers want to practice their English which is generally better than our French but it won’t take long to learn the important words to get the coaching / teaching messages across. The enthusiasm for trying something new and having a new way to teach children in a different way is obvious.

By the end of the session we had eight qualified coaches, keen to learn more about cricket and health messaging. The teachers got this straight away, with one of the more enthusiastic teachers, Patience, shouting ‘my bat is my condom!’ The messages were sinking in well. Patience also talked about the importance of kids being active (“physical activity opens the minds of the children”) and the importance of the children speaking about health messages in a fun environment. Music to our ears.

Tomorrow we return to the school to help the newly qualified teachers coach the children. All good so far!

(blog by Ian and Dave)