A quick stop at the wrong school and a session at (super) Mario started on a small field near a smelly rubbish tip lined by palm trees. Mario is an anglophone school so the session was in English, much to the relief of David and Tracey. Heavy rains overnight meant the field was a bit of a swamp but the team, as always, set about making the best of the very limited area. Chants of ABC were soon resounding as another group of 10-12 year olds were reminded of the importance of staying healthy to play cricket. Becca took some time out of data gathering to play catch with Sama and Nadelyn, 2 preschoolers whose big sister had been persuaded to join in even though it was not her school. No child left out. Our fearless leader then huffed and puffed her way up a very steep hill to meet the Principal who shared her thoughts on HIV and how Cameroon society is slowly becoming more accepting of those who have the virus.
Over lunch we visited the HQ of the Cameroon Cricket Federation where we saw pictures of the indomitable Lions on the walls, including many of our local coaches. The boys hooked guava out of the trees with big sticks for us to eat while Tracey had a chat with Victor, the head of the federation.
Back to Mario for the start of the afternoon and over 100 more children were given the CWB treatment. As is now becoming customary, with the luxury of so many local coaches, Tracey went and found some primary school children to play with. A selfie attempt went a little bit wrong and a rush of kids saw Tracey flat on her back, giggling away (her team will be shocked to hear she fell over!)
Meanwhile, somewhere at a location unknown, Jo was speeding with Winston on a motorbike taxi to join us for the next session, something best done with a hairband and not in flip flops.
We headed back to Itie where a driving test was taking place on our area, complete with concrete posts to do figure 8’s around. This explains a lot about some of the the driving we have witnessed, although clearly not Johnson, the best driver in Cameroon. Anoucks superior French (quelle surprise) came to the fore once more, and this group of older kids had lots of questions for our other French speaker Becca, including how to put on a condom and is it true that a condom makes you last longer?! Well, if it means they wear one…..
Hehe Tracey, fall over?!? Never!!!! Hope it’s all going well and keep up the good work. Big hugs and hellos to Winston and James.
Jules x