Abi: So Daniel, you are our Tour leader, chief volunteer and this was your first time being in charge while running a schools festival. Can you tell us what it felt like from your perspective?
Daniel: Absolutely wild! The local coaches Eric and Joseph were fantastic in doing all the build up & preparation work, organising snacks, food, drinks & logistics to coordinate the 8 schools bringing primary and secondary teams to compete. My job was to make sure that the CWB volunteers were prepared and happy. Special thanks to Ned for single handedly organising the impressive tournament playing schedule & keeping track of all the scores!
The day itself was incredibly noisy-we were working in pairs, and I was keeping track of the batters scores with Coach Sarah, but the support from the players and teachers got so loud that we ceased to be able to communicate apart from by hand signs. When the results were announced, the volume of celebrations was particularly memorable, as the winning team led a procession of hundreds around the school grounds!
Some crazy celebrations!
Abi: How has it been translating the social messages of CWB to the different schools we’ve visited?
Daniel: Overall, on this trip, the messaging has been very successful, largely due to the mixture of experienced and new volunteers in the group, some with coaching experience and some passionate about cricket. CWB used to ingrain HIV awareness messaging into every single drill, but nowadays the messaging is a bit more subtle, depending on local context and needs- on this trip we have focussed on cricket values, of equality, empowerment, teamwork, inclusivity and having fun.
I saw an example today, where the school children quickly figured out that if they worked together better, they would each get more turns at batting- instead of the norm, which can be for each player to seek to grab the bat for themselves. Similarly, during the festival, the CWB volunteers ask each team to line up and shake hands after each game, to demonstrate respect, inclusivity and equality between players.
Abi: What are you most looking forward to before we go back to the UK?
Daniel: Exploring a new part of the country- Nyagatare is a different place that I have not visited before. Also catching up with old friends- I’m looking forward to seeing a coach from my previous Rwanda trip, and hopefully I will see a few more familiar faces at Gahanga Stadium in Kigali on the final day before we leave.
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