After a successful first week, Ange had worked out that we have coached cricket and spoken  to 728 children about HIV/AIDs, we headed out to a local bar for beers, pizza, and el classico, before some us went to throw some shapes at the local nightclub ‘Planet’. Following a rather entertaining dance-off where the team comedically decided to take on, what turned out to be Kigali’s finest street dancing crew, we retired to bed ahead of another week of coaching.

Week two of our trip sees us based solely in Kigali, the capital, for the whole week. This morning we started at Green Hill Academy, one of the richest schools in Rwanda attended by well to do Rwandans, and children of ex-pats. Having started to get used to coaching 90 children in any one session, for us to have 30 children to coach per session, was a little unusual but did afford Ed and Lee the chance to break away and speak to Oli Broom and ‘Right to Play Ambassador’ Boris. For those of the team that remained, it was a great opportunity for the newer coaches, Ange, Jim and Jules, to lead batting and bowling sessions with the kids.

Green Hills is predominantly a basketball playing school. The coaches here, Albert and Alexander, are ex-pro basketball players and the school gym has three basketball courts. All the kids here have basketball sneakers and baggy basketball shorts (even baggier on some of the smaller kids). The names of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are more familiar, to that of Tendulkar, which when mentioned in conversation is met with the response of ‘who?’ In knowledge of this, we get Albert and Alexander involved within the sessions and get them trained up to bat, bowl and field so that they too can  appreciate cricket and hopefully get another sport into the curriculum at Green Hills.

After a hearty school lunch with the children of fish fingers, rice and peas we returned to the playing field to be met with the most triumphant of thunder storms. Whilst the team are used to the English summer rain, at Green Hills, where there is no cover near the playing field, and with thunder rumbling around, for the first time this trip rain officially stopped play.

Oli Broom is now based in Kigali heading up the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation and after being in email contact with him for several months it was good to finally meet up and view the latest plans for what looks like an amazing ground planned to be constructed in Kigali over the next couple of years. This is obviously much needed and would provide a huge boost to cricket in Rwanda.

The meeting with Right to Play was also very successful as there are obvious similarities between what they do and our own delivery programme, we are hopeful that during the next few days they will come and see us in action and that they can become another avenue for us to improve and expand our work in Rwanda.