{"id":310,"date":"2011-03-19T12:08:23","date_gmt":"2011-03-19T12:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/rwanda2011\/?p=310"},"modified":"2014-01-09T20:28:32","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T20:28:32","slug":"day-14-the-return-leg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cwbblogs.com\/rwanda2011\/2011\/03\/19\/day-14-the-return-leg\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 14 \u2013 The Return Leg."},"content":{"rendered":"

With the coaching, the festival and a great final night in Kigali well behind us it was time for the long journey home.\u00a0 The team were asked to come up with one word that summed up their time in Rwanda.\u00a0 The usual clutch of superlatives \u2013 amazing, fantastic, awesome, inspiring were trotted out but the one all of us came up with was HUMBLING; despite the relatively recent troubles, a great place with great people.<\/p>\n

Never again will we say in UK that we can\u2019t play cricket because of the conditions.\u00a0 In spite of the challenging conditions, the kids were energetic, enthusiastic, keen to learn the game and take on board the ABC messages.\u00a0 All of the schools we visited wanted us to go back and leave them kit so that they could continue to include cricket in their school sports programmes.\u00a0 Especially moving days were the visit to Pefa Orphanage and coaching disability cricket at Gatagara where despite all the hardships thrown at the kids, the ability to participate in sport provided huge enjoyment and a the promise of something new \u2013 we trained coaches for both locations so the kids can continue to enjoy the game.<\/p>\n

A huge thanks must go to Derek and his team of Rwandan coaches who accompanied us throughout the trip.\u00a0 Aside from helping with the language barrier, they all proved to be outstanding role models for the kids we coached and happy to engage in banter on the long bus journeys!<\/p>\n

On reflection, as a team we think, a job well done.\u00a0 Just over 1100 kids introduced to cricket, some new talent spotted for the RCA and 23 coaches trained.\u00a0 The memories and friendships forged will last a lifetime and perhaps, we\u2019ll all return one day, either as part of a CWB project or when Rwanda play their first test match!<\/p>\n