Day 8 in Rwanda and we are still in sunny Huye. This morning was quiet compared to others however there was still high amounts of banter flying around, mainly aimed towards James (Lawrence).
To begin the day, we made our way 2 minutes down the road to the Rwandan history museum! This was showing us the culture and geography of the country. This was an enjoyable experience (more so for Brad, who was reading each exhibit intensely) while the rest of us were more interested in playing with the bongos or sitting in a wicker hut.
After this, we quickly grabbed some lunch before shooting off to coach for 5 hours in the afternoon. However, we were given the task to completely plan the day for ourselves and this was the reason we sang faith by George Michael on the way to our first school.
Because Lee and Sarah had given us their faith!
The plan for the first school was to split into four stations, a batting relay, 2 separate throwing and catching drills and a final bowling drill, and then to rotate round each drill. This session was very successful as we started with around 70 kids but finished with over 150.
Following on from that school we moved on to a tiny primary school where we had two separate groups, first a group of 50 kids and secondly a group of around 100 younger children. For the first set we had two games, cross-fire and rapid-fire, both us and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.
Then for the second session, we added a third station, testing our adaptability, where a small relay batting station was set up! It was hugely satisfying to see kids with such a big smile on their face, as it came from just seeing a cricket bat.
For the final trip of the day, and probably up there with the more emotional bits of the trip, was a visit to a girls orphanage. 50 young girls lived there in two small houses, with a tiny playing area.
As soon as we walked into the orphanage, the girls smiled, laughed and ran towards us with joy! It was great to see the girls with so much joy and just playing with a few tennis balls and singing songs with them can make a world of difference.
To be honest it is probably the highlight of the trip seeing the girls faces and seeing that you actually are making a difference to their lives but the heartbreaking thing was learning that they don’t eat everyday and they have literally nothing. It really puts into perspective what they have and what we have. However, If you could come to Rwanda, go to this orphanage, it will definitely leave a mark on you, and we are already planning to go back tomorrow.
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Reflecting on my time here, it is truly a life changing experience. The amount of happiness you can bring to the children is brilliant to see. 8 days in and the experience is getting greater, speak soon x
Awwwww – brilliant- I wanna come