Having not blogged for a while I thought it was time I wrote again to give my perspective on the first week in Nakuru.

The week has been incredible and I’ve again been impressed with the enthusiasm of the teachers and children we have coached. I’ve been accused of not doing much as project leader and this is simply due to the quality of the volunteers. It is difficult to describe what we do as hard work but the team trained 22 teachers and coaches in the first two days. Over 2000 kids were coached in the following two days, with 500 in one session.

This was my second visit to Nakuru and seeing how things have developed is fascinating. I found myself chatting to Quintor Aoko, who is a full Kenyan Ladies international at 15 and had her first taste of cricket through CWB in 2011. Listening to how her career has progressed in 12 months was inspiring. The effort that the local teachers and coaches put into developing cricket and spreading the AIDS/HIV message will continue to produce more Quintors in the future.

James and Sarah are the two quiet members of the group and are asked daily for their top 5’s so I think it’s appropriate for a PL’s top 5 of the week.

1. Hearing a local teacher called Jack deliver a personal and moving HIV/AIDS message to his pupils. He believes that the ABCT message is far more powerful when delivered through sport.

2. Coaching 500 kids in one hour and the beers that followed with all the CWB and Kenyan coaches. Not many drinks will ever taste that good.

3. The invention of Colvination, to Colvinate, to be Colvined and TBB.

4. Arriving at the farmhouse in Lolldaiga. Words simply cannot do this place justice.

5. Sarah spoke to a pupil as part of her monitoring and evaluation role who was HIV positive. The young girl said she had told all her friends her status and was really pleased we were spreading the message so that they would stay safe.

There have been so many fantastic moments already and I am sure there will plenty more to come as we head into week two of the project. We have now moved north to Laikipia where we will be training around 40-50 more coaches, delivering sessions in schools and orphanages and meeting the Massai Cricket Warriors.

I find being in Kenya with CWB such an incredible experience and would encourage everybody to volunteer. Writing this blog has made me realise how much CWB means to me and the rest of the volunteers.