Festival Time!

Today the time came for some of the schools we’ve visited to put their wits against each other in an age 10-13 festival competition in Kisumu.

Eight teams entered the field and teams were mixed up to ensure boys and girls played together and each other. We used pairs format to make sure that every single child got to bat, bowl and field.
It was fantastic to see children with smiles on their faces giving cricket a go – whatever result it brought! It was also great to see so many local teachers having a go at umpiring, scoring and coaching their children after our training this week.

Whilst teams were waiting to bat, we took this opportunity to sit with them and discuss their wants, needs and aspirations and discuss various messages around HIV/Aids, gender equality and how cricket can help them in their quest to be happy playing together.

It was identified that although some girls wanted to play there were still some way to go in them being treated as equals, not only by their peers but also by some of the teachers. Whilst Kenya has come a long way in dealing with gender equality, there is still some way to go and CWB is keen to help by helping to train coaches and discuss this with the boys and girls directly.

Another issue raised was the lack of kit available, hopefully with the 150KG and 7 bags left with Derek the local coach, CWB has helped in starting to overcome this issue in Kisumu

In amongst all this, Team CWB took on Kisumu Senior School in a T10. Amy Gordon top scored with 64 and the game ended in a tie. We went some way towards proving women and old people can play cricket too!!!

The day ended with a very moving trip to a children’s home outside Kisumu. We spent an amazing hour offering gifts and playing games with the children; an experience that will stay with all of us forever. One particularly touching moment was when Nico was reunited with Lavendar, a girl he had been coaching in Kisumu before she stopped coming to the sessions. He had no idea what had happened, but found her at the orphanage, and they shared a special moment reconnecting – she continues playing cricket to this day.