CWB – Uganda 2011

Good morning, Richard Davies, co-tutor, blogger for the day. The junior pro’s room of Jack and Chris were the first to fall foul of twit of the day as they believed we were leaving at 9am as per plan therefore breakfasting at 8.30. This is Africa, plans change, so a hastily arranged meeting with the Municipal Sports Officer, Moses, in the Town Hall at 8.30 saw the junior pro’s having a bleary eyed very quick breakfast.
Veronika soon took the lead in the twit of the day by being asleep within minutes of getting on the bus thereby disturbing our mental preparation plans by noisy snoring.
Jeremy leapt into contention by being nominated ‘banana monitor’ and disappearing into the local market for 20 minutes to return with only 6 bananas.
Starting time 10am, no schools. 10.30 two schools, 10.45 three schools, 11.15 four schools and at 11.45 two more making a total of 140 children with their teachers from the day before. First experience for some of loads of children descending from all directions and having to adapt our coaching plans accordingly. Well done everybody!
Hot hot hot. Quiet lunch then the senior children pm. 2pm start, no children, 2.30 first school arrives and the intermittently till 3.30. Chris running the session now understands the need for adaptability Africa style. A really hot, long day.
Back to the pool Chris winning the belly flop dive competition and he says he doesn’t practice!! Dinner at 2 Friends, darts and pool which reinforced our belief to stick with cricket. Chelsea-Man U on TV, kick off 11pm, I think we were all asleep by kick-off time except for Jack who manfully watched the whole game.
Twit of the day was close but went to the junior pro’s room for blocking their toilet I know not how, leaving a fairly desperate Chris knocking at the senior pro’s room with his legs crossed. And it can only get better!!

We woke for breakfast after a good meal and few beers from the evening before.  Mike and Veronika were up early breakfast following a disturbed night involving dogs and washing up…Myself and Jack made our way down to meet them, and Rich and Jeremy followed…the 10 staff on duty made sure that breakfast went smoothly and took less time than the meal last night

We then set off for our 1^st day’s work! Joseph the driver took us for lunch rations at the 3^rd supermarket we came across – then onto Jinja secondary school for a 10am start. We met the cricket master and head mistress then made our way to the field. Kit was unloaded and we were ready to rock and roll.

At 10am we had 1 teacher but the others were only 5 minutes away so we hung on for them to arrive…We began at 11am with 4 teachers still missing after an hour of international kwik cricket in the shade for the most part until Jeremys sweep shot came out!

The group was very mixed with some teachers who had attended last year and some experienced players along with some novice teachers who had never seen cricket played. We decided to split the groups with myself and Jeremy working with the more experienced and Rich, Mike and Jack working with the inexperienced group – Veronika was our camera woman in the morning then joined the inexperienced group for coaching in the afternoon. The important aspect for us is that the teachers leave with the tools to be able to deliver cricket when we leave to ensure the project is sustainable – the energy and enthusiasm that surrounded today suggested that if that proves to be the case Ugandan cricket in Jinja is going to go from strength to strength.

The day finished with the group being presented with the very dashing CWB certificates and either a t-shirt or a wrist band. All those present were extremely receptive and very grateful for the work CWB complete in Uganda and the progress was evident from the experienced group showing a huge amount of knowledge.

We arrived back the hotel and quickly got changed for a dip in the pool with a cool beer! A quick change and we were out to dinner at the Reflection Restaurant…

An hour later and via 8 or so restaurants we arrived….at Gateley on the Nile having come no where near Reflection at any stage! A very enjoyable meal was had then we felt it necessary to ensure we sampled the Uganda culture which led us to only 1 place…the Casino! A good hour was spent and everyone came out happy – then back to bed in preparation for 2 coaching sessions tomorrow….

Czech
Prvni den koucovani v Jinja. Melo se zacinat v deset, ale v jedenact na jeste 4 ucitele chybeli. Nakonec se z toho vyklubal docela dobry den a vsichni novi koucove dostali certifikaty a tricka. Horko jako v Africe!!!

Sunday, our first morning in Africa. The buzz from the street below kept some of us awake for quite a few hours during the night. The streets are busy and the boda-bodas (taxi motorbikes) are revving up under our windows. But there is sun and heat and the orange African dust. All is well.

The day started with a good breakfast with peculiar African tea and with a change of plan. Yesterday our plan changed slightly already, by swapping our activities from the last day for the activities of the first day. That meant that some of the guys were playing cricket at Lugogo Oval. After they left, we received a phone call saying that there had been change – they were, in fact, somewhere completely else and we would meet up at Lugogo later after the game.

So the non-players set off to the oval to sort out our luggage and make sure that we knew which of the many bags held hard ball kit and which had the t-shirts. Shortly after our arrival the ‘players’ turned up. They were not allowed to play due to lack of team colours and Ugandan passports… We swiftly turned our attention to the kit and the game that was being played on the pitch.

While Richard kept being ambushed by his friends (he has a long history in this beautiful country), Chris invaded the nets and Joseph (our driver) had a nap, the team relaxed and started planning our work for the following day. Then we had a quick lunch and set off to Jinja, a town on the Lake Victoria.

Our mighty Team Leader didn’t disappoint and some of us experienced a hot shower in our new humble abode called Paradise on the Nile, where we will spend the next four nights. Dinner was spent talking tactics for tomorrow. We can’t wait to meet our first lot of teachers.

PS: a fine should go to Jack, who, despite his status as the youngest and therefore believed to have the best memory, spent some time looking for his room key while holding it in his hand…
Czech:
Rano jsme stravili v Kampale na kriketovem hristi Lugogo. Pote, co jsme roztridili vybavu, jsme se vydali na cestu do Jinja, kde jsme k nasemu udivu nasli pohodlny hotel s malym bazenem! Nas mocny lidr se zase prekonal.

Veronika

Having all arrived on time at LHR at 7am we checked in 3 tons of kit. After a sumptuous breakfast of toast and coffee and some duty free shopping for Liquoriice Allsorts, we boarded SS Galaxy and headed for Uranus. For an intergalactic starship it looked more like a regular 767 with BA crew! I guess that’s why it was only half and the films were in English without subtitles!

By some twist of fate instead we arrived at Entebbe with all 14 bags of kit! That was a miracle and so was the drive to Kampala – a miracle we survived the traffic and the potholes (worse than Sussex’s!).

We left behind a cold damp grey England and the humidity and 25C hit us as we walked across the tarmac. Driving along the northern shores of Lake Victoria we headed for paradise and sure enough we arrived at the Pacific Hotel – a little oasis in the middle of some dodgy back street. (I’ve had a word with the Project Leader and he’s promised us Paradise on the Nile tomorrow!)

So we settled down for a few beers and decided tactics for tomorrow. Three of us have been invited to play a 20/20 game at Lugogo tomorrow so an early night at 2ish.

Update for the Czech readers:

Po pekne pohodlnem letu jsme konecne dorazili do Entebbe a odtud autobusem do Kampaly. V nedeli nas ceka cesta do mesta Jinja, kde stravime 5 dni s uciteli a detmi.

Welcome to our blog! For us, the Uganda team, the project started at the training weekend in Birmingham. We all met on the 29th January for two days of warm-ups, games, HIV/AIDS messages and endless cups of tea and coffee. It was sunny but so freezing, that when the trustees suggested a warm-up outside, we didn’t react, assuming that they were joking.

Saying that we worked hard at the weekend, is an understatement. The practical sessions, including the suggested HIV/AIDS drills and demos, were energetic and some of us certainly felt the novelty of movement in our muscles later. The classroom sessions were used for the preparation of the teams and itineraries. As we had only five weeks between the training and the actual trip, we felt incredibly excited. Some of the team are seasoned coaches but others are either newly qualified or just cricket enthusiasts. Everybody had a chance to coach the rest of the team as well as deliver the all important HIV/AIDS messages.

Amongs other things we made sure that the vital positions in the team were covered. Here they are:

Mike Reeves – team leader and generally responsible for everything that might go wrong

Chris Guest and Richard Davies – tutors, making sure that all the coaching is delivered in the right way

Jack Bennett – the youngest member of the team, responsible for everybody’s water consumption

Jeremy Knott – in charge of the kitty

Veronika Reeves – photography and blog admin

Mike Stratford and Hellen Whitehill – these two have only just joined us, so we will have to give them a job soon

We hope that you will enjoy our blog that all volunteers will contribute to and are looking forward to your comments!

Veronika