ALL ROADS LEAD TO RWANDA

Training weekend blog – 14-15th September 

A few early alarms and a lot of miles put into peoples cars, 9 strangers all make the journey to Coventry to partake in the Cricket Without Boundaries training weekend. 4 first time volunteers, 4 second time volunteers and one CWB legend Ali McCreedy gather round the Team Rwanda table to meet face to face for the first time and prepare for the weekend ahead. 

Along with the other volunteers going to Kenya, Nepal and Uganda we all undertook, led by the fantastic CWB leaders, practical sessions involving warm up games, skill sessions, and different versions of games to be able to teach the children out in each respective country and theory sessions preparing us for the stigmas and myths we are trying to help beat and the health warnings we are recommended to help spread out in east Africa and Nepal!

After a fantastic weekend of learning the new skills we will need for our upcoming trip and getting to briefly meet the incredible team that we will be working with for 2 weeks, here’s your chance to meet the Rwandan team of Autumn 2024 

Our project leader – Nick – front right

Favourite pizza topping? Chicken and sweetcorn 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Swiss German 

Best book you’ve ever read? The Hobbit 

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? Strawberry cake because when I was younger I was ‘strawberry blonde’ and go bright red like a strawberry when I see the sun!

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A train driver 

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I enjoy cricket and being apart of a team that supports others to reach their potential 

Best part of the training weekend? Day 1 on arrival when meeting the team for the first time!

CWB legend/apart of the delivery group – Ali – back left

Favourite pizza topping? Funghi 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Kinyarwanda 

Best book you’ve ever read? My family & other animals by Gerald Durrell

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? A layer cake, lots of different things going on.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I didn’t want to be anything in particular- maybe that’s been my problem!

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I volunteered for CWB to challenge myself and to try to give something back to others

Best part of the training weekend? The best part of the training weekend was getting to know my new CWB family!!

Returning volunteer – Matt – front, second from the right

Favourite pizza topping? Pepperoni 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Mandarin (tried previously, very hard)

Best book you’ve ever read? When breath becomes air by Paul Kalanithi

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? Coffee cake because I’m fairly energetic 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A professional footballer (obvs) (editor note – what boy millennial boy didn’t want to be a professional footballer…)

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I love cricket and helping people, this seemed like a really fun opportunity to combine the two!

Best part of the training weekend? Meeting the team and trying to stop Ali and Michelle from colliding again!

Returning volunteer – Amy – front centre

Favourite pizza topping? Pepperoni – but garlic dip essential 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Spanish 

Best book you’ve ever read? Find her by Lisa Gardner 

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? I’m not a massive cake lover myself.. maybe some kind of ice cream cake

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Not a very entertaining answer here but I always thought id be a lawyer, so I could buy my brother his dream car, that dream quickly faded out when I realised how much reading i’d have to do!  

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I have always enjoyed playing and coaching cricket, and when I was 21 and was looking for something different (covid for me was 18-20ish, I never had the chance to travel) I decided to look into volunteering with cricket and came across CWB! 2 trips in 8 months, fair to say its addictive! 

Best part of the training weekend? Meeting the incredible team and other volunteers! Lots of team bonding and laughter all weekend! 

Returning volunteer – Beth – front, second from the left

Favourite pizza topping? Pineapple (editor note – bold statement to put on the internet..)

If you could speak another language what would it be? Spanish 

Best book you’ve ever read? To kill a mockingbird 

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? Carrot cake

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A chef 

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? The opportunity to do try and do some good while coaching a sport I love

Best part of the training weekend? The buffet 

First time volunteer – Michelle – back, second from the right

Favourite pizza topping? Artichokes 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Italian 

Best book you’ve ever read? The happy prince by Oscar Wilde

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? “ I have no idea about which cakes” (editor note – I’m picking Michele as a French fancy… will see if I’m correct) 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to work with horses 

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I volunteered with CWB as I have volunteered at a local club for a number of years and wanted to try a new challenge!

Best part of the training weekend? Meeting my new team mates and learning a bit about what to expect out in Rwanda! 

First time volunteer – Paul – back right

Favourite pizza topping? Spicy + Meaty 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Italian 

Best book you’ve ever read? Criconomics by Ankur Choudhary and Surjit S. Bhalla

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? A brownie (I don’t know why but they are my weakness) 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Not quite what I wanted to be, but I wanted to play golf on the moon!

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? Volunteered as Ali came back from Nepal absolutely buzzing and it sounded brilliant so thought I’d sign up!

Best part of the training weekend? Chatting to people, getting to know the team and laughing lots!

First time volunteer – Rob – back, second from the left

Favourite pizza topping? Pepperoni 

If you could speak another language what would it be? Japanese 

Best book you’ve ever read? Stig of the Dump by Clive King

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? Victoria sponge – I can’t think of anything clever, but I do like a slice of Vicky sponge 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Apart from being a footballer, I can’t remember what I wanted to be when I grew up – still don’t 

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? I signed up to CWB when I left my last job and wanted something to look forward to! Using the cricket coaching stuff i’d already done for a wider impact. 

Best part of the training weekend? Enjoyed the training itself and getting to meet the wide range of people in our group which should make this an amazing trip. 

First time volunteer – Andrew (aka Beth 2.0 – story to follow I’m sure!) – front left

Favourite pizza topping? Cheese (editor note – this might seem boring but he is a veggie so will let him off!)

If you could speak another language what would it be? Dari (another editor note – for those who don’t know, like the editor, this is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan) 

Best book you’ve ever read? Watership Down by Richard Adams 

If you would describe yourself as a cake, what would you be and why? Hummingbird Cake – “complicated”. Andrew went away and thought about his answer for a day and decided to change his answer to ALL CAKE due to his love for all cake and not wanting to put any cake above the other.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a vet…

Why did you choose to volunteer for CWB? A player I know got two teams to do a dance shed learnt while away in Rwanda with CWB… made me go away and do some research – I had also sponsored a couple of players from Hampshire Indatwa 

Best part of the training weekend? Getting to know the team 

We are all very excited to be heading out as a team in less than 2 weeks (when originally already wrote – now only 48 hours!) and to be able to share this experience with you! And to be able to tell you after the trip, if we all agree with the cakes the team have described themselves as…