The accounts of Day 2 from Adam and Clare…
So today was the first day the group split up and myself (Adam), Kevin, Holly and Mary made our way to Excella High School. For me, it was good to revisit a school that first came on board with CWB on my first trip 18 months ago and has received coaching since so to see the development was great! We set up our stations and were sent approximately 80 kids to start with. A very manageable number and their understanding of the ABCs was excellent. We were sent another 75 kids and again understanding was brilliant! After a quick lunch, the team set about dealing with the hoards of children that had joined us on their lunch breaks. Some we hadn’t seen that day, some were meant to be there and some were back for more after this morning’s sessions. Organised chaos then ensued and we set about coaching as best we could. This session was more about having fun and getting what ABCs we could in to the sessions. A challenging day to say the least but great to be back…
The second half of the team headed off for a morning session with Gahanga 2 primary. And our greeting off the bus set the tone for the rest of our day: buddles of excitement and enthusiasm. It was particularly overwhelming for the first-timers in our team, Dan and Steve. There followed 2 cricket sessions with a total of 225 kids coached. While their English was limited, Eric, our Rwandan coach ably translated our intro and the ABCs while the coaching sessions were more reliant on demos than words. Lunch saw saw us visit the site for the proposed cricket stadium to be built. While most of the stadium is currently left to the imagination, there was a chance to inspect the 3 different grasses they are testing for the square…clearly a thorough project! I’m excited to see photos when it is completed next July.
The afternoon session took us to Gahanga 1, with both primary and secondary kids queuing up to play. About 300 in total! . However my highlight of the day came while the kids were being organised and equipment set up. I took the time to try out the local pastime, stick powered tyre rolling. Proud with my attempt to get some speed and a straight roll going in one direction, I tried and mostly failed to get it round a corner. In a matter of seconds I was shown how, as a local kid set off with tyre at a pace and then managed to weave the rolling tyre through 3 sets of stumps ready for a fielding drill. Unbelievable handling skills!
For the final sessions of the day, both teams were reunited to head to FAWE Girls School. Here we ran 2 groups to cope with mix of abilities we faced: one for anyone who was keen and the second a skills session for the school team. Impressed with the school teams skills we moved onto a game. However time got the better of us, so we look forward to the 2nd innings when we return to the school on Wednesday.
An epic day all round, with almost 800 kids coached, we’re excited about what tomorrow brings!