It has been yet another emotional rollercoaster day for the team! We started the day with a visit to the Kigali genocide memorial, where some 250,000 Rwandans are buried, in order to learn more about the history, the events and the impact. It was heartbreaking and very difficult to process, but important to try and understand and face Rwanda’s past to be able to support its future.
However, after a harrowing early morning the team moved onto the MEG foundation and if anywhere could lift ones spirits, it was this place…
Every child had bright smiling faces, sang us songs on arrival and more importantly they knew they’re ABCT’s inside out. This was where we got to see tall Eric work his magic with the younger children and saw first hand just how good he is with them. The kids were hanging on his every word, as were the team, as he tricked us all with his version of ‘Simon says’! Having seen a few of these it’s probably not surprising that the (very competitive) teacher won the warm up game!
We were forced into a longer than anticipated lunch stop due to some rather torrential rain that never seemed to stop. Once it relented we moved onto St Agnes where, again, their English and their ABCTs were phenomenal. Their level of cricket was also quite advanced and they particularly enjoyed the shout off of ‘CONDOM’ between the 3 skills stations before we wrapped up with a few games of rapid fire.
We rounded the day off at the ‘end of project’ RCA dinner, kindly hosted by the British High Commission and the team we’re out in force in their new ‘tour shirts’. The evening was an emotional one for me seeing Dad speak so fondly in front of the people that have made him a better adult, him telling them that he is stepping down as country manager. Knowing how much this country and his past involvement with CWB means to him, I knew it was going to be hard for both of us, and it was….
A lot of people have asked how it’s been going with your Dad or ‘Mr Thom’ and I would just like to take this opportunity to thank him for the experience and to say that me and Rwanda are not finished just yet…
Thanks for reading
Sam
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