Day ten saw us going to an orphanage and then to Derrick’s old school in the afternoon.
When we arrived at the Pefa orphanage the challenges of getting started on time in the mornings continued, as the older children we should have been coaching were at the primary school up the road. We unloaded the mini bus as the plan and our flexibility was tested again. This was our first visit to Pefa and we didn’t really know what to expect. We walked down a steep dirt hill with all of our kit – two young children came and hugged a couple of us which made us think a little more of what we were about to see. Whilst we waited for the school children to return we entertained the young residents: tennis balls seem to mean a lot in Africa, so we got a few out and played some catching games. An instant bond was formed between the team and the youngsters who loved playing with any form of ball – as the photos will show.
Once the older ones arrived ‘real cricket’ coaching could take place. Some of the team were shown around the orphanage to see how the kids lived. We used the video camera in order to capture the experience – which will be uploaded to the blog once we get back to the UK. Needless to say, the experience was a humbling one, again causing us all to reflect on how we all live in the UK and despite having very little, how cheerful and hard working the kids were.
Out on the practice area we ran through a series of catching drills, ground fielding exercises, batting drills and some batting games. A really thought provoking morning for all of us. We left Pefa having distributed some of the CWB t-shirts and signed up two of the volunteers for the coached education session on Thursday.
In the afternoon, we moved on to Lycee de Kigali where we were due to coach between 30 and 40 beginners followed by the school team. In the event, the kids just kept coming! It was good that we had a large grassed-ish football pitch to play on as 70 kids turned up. Flexible as ever, we ran a 5-station carousel comprising catching, batting (pull shot & front foot drive) bowling and ground fielding. Once we got going it all worked really well and the session for the beginners ended with a variety of games. For the final hour the school team (squad of 28) turned up. Here we planned 3 stations – all hard ball batting, bowling (on a flicx pitch) and catching. Unfortunately, half way through the session, the heavens opened and didn’t close! Very wet, the students dashed for the buildings, we dashed for the bus and, for the first time on this trip, RAIN STOPPED PLAY!
Cricket Without Boundaries