Final Reflections

Coaching & Community Engagement

• 52 sessions delivered over 70 hours across multiple schools and community sites.
• 3,634 children engaged in cricket-based activities.
• 53% of participants were girls, ensuring a focus on gender inclusion.

Capacity Building & Leadership Development

• Trained 42 ICC Foundation + 6Cs learner coaches.

Team Reflections

Sara:

My highlight from the project was our final day in Rajbiraj – and the last day of the project. From a Cricket for Equality and Cricket Changemakers programmes perspective, I loved seeing so many girls I have gotten to know over the years playing and mentoring the next generation of up and coming new cricketers – although I’m a little sad that I won’t see them again until after Tihar (Diwali) – sometimes it feels like I have about 30 little sisters in the Madhesh! And then from a volunteer project perspective, it was a real joy to see how the group clicked effortlessly into action to set up and organise the ground and games to make it a super fun and enjoyable experience for the girls – from a group of 7 brand new to CWB volunteers to cricket for development pros in 2 weeks, you guys were awesome – and lots of fun too! Thank you and well done!

Alison:

My best moment of the week from coaching side was the smile on the face of the small girl at the deaf school when she hit the ball. From the personal side it is tea at Sima Ray’s house and the hospitality shown to us at that wedding in biratnagar.

Paul:

Hard to isolate a moment from 2 weeks so will consider an experience and go with that. Nepali people have an energy and their children have a thirst for knowledge evident in every session we engaged in. This flowed through our CWB team arriving at each venue seeing kids smiling and excited igniting a energy that we maybe didn’t know we had. Whilst I’ll say the school for the deaf had the biggest impact those small village schools with mixed ages and abilities and fueled by passionate teachers that will be my lasting memory of Nepal.

Mo:

The reality moment within the 2 weeks was the visit to the volunteers house.

I felt I had some understanding, as my parents came from very similar backgrounds in Pakistan, living in mud houses, using cow dung and straw for burning and heat, also remember visiting the fields for toilets.

However that was in the late 70’s and revisiting such scenes was nostalgically emotional. The immense hospitality and gratitude from the hosts really hightened these feelings.

I guess, from then on the cricket and focus on gender equality took a different perspective, certainly within the government schools.

I couldn’t help but register the very basic footwear, physical and nutritional health that the children presented with.

I felt connected and wanted talk to each and every child and possibly did through Hindi , which surprised the children who beamed with delight as we had fun within the sessions.

I remember talking to Alison on one of the journeys and ‘welling up’ I guess it was the registration of the real worth of the project and experience.

The fun bits were equally rewarding , the random photos as the locals had not seen white people before were quite hilarious, Tarun and I joked about our perceived ‘less worth’ both here and in the UK and sharing that humour with the group was funny.

Linus:

As with everyone I’m sure, it was very difficult to pick a highlight, but what has consistently remained across Nepal has been the hospitality and kindness of the people, and this was really relevant when Sima Ray invited the team back to her village for chai and impromptu sugar cane. It was a small settlement off a main road made up of mud homes with corrugated iron roofs, and we were made extremely welcome. The tea was super, sugar cane a proper experience (my first time) and the company great. Attempting to hold some of her goats was quite funny, although it wasn’t my forte. This was not the only occasion where strangers invited us into their lives, with the brother of the bride imploring us to stay for dinner and dancing at the wedding in Biratnagar – and both will stay with me for a long time.

Felix:

I’m sure I’m not alone in finding it difficult to select a single moment that stood out in our two weeks. How do you cull so much enjoyment and new experiences into one choice? Maybe it’s cheating but for me it was the overall sense of joy and laughter expressed in so many happy children. Their enthusiasm and sheer delight were written large across all their faces (even through the dust and heat).

Tarun:

It’s hard to pick a single favourite part or moment! But I really enjoyed witnessing the skill and development of the local coaches that we worked with. We worked with such a range of coaches in so many different regions – but they all shared a deep passion for cricket, and an ability to engage and motivate the kids we worked with. I am excited to follow their continued work and see the impact they create in their communities.

Santhosh:

This Journey was definitely an eye opener for me to understand a lot of things about life , about me, about many other people n things around. As I say, this Journey gave me the realisation of “PURPOSE OF MY LIFE”. Especially my future involvement with Deaf Cricket or Disability Cricket.