Oluma Obil Patrick

I guess today’s blog should be full of stories about the incredible coach education for 31 local teachers run as expertly as ever by our tutor Sara or at the very least how the rest of the team worked tirelessly short handed to visit 2 schools and continue to entertain and educate the local students in cricket and HIV awareness but I have written a lot of those types of blog in the past that document the amazing work that CWB does.

Also it would be to miss what is an amazingly personal story for me for today I once again met with one of my heroes Patrick.

Recent CWB volunteers should know of Patrick as his video is one we always show at our training weekends. His is the story of how cricket has helped break down the stigma that former child soldiers were facing in his school. It finishes with one of the most powerful lines ever “these children took killing as a game, but now cricket is their game”. It usually reduces the room to silence and I always find it difficult to speak to the group after as I am invariably choking back a few tears.

To be greeted so warmly with a huge hug today by him was incredible it also created the same problem as at training weekend as it came in the middle of a coaching demonstration.

While my many trips to Africa with the charity have provided me with some of the most joyous of experiences it would be a lie not to admit that there are also many things that have left a negative feeling, occasionally the shear scale of the problems of poverty, HIV and a myriad of other issues can become overwhelming and to simply be out here having a good time playing cricket and delivering messages seems an almost pointless gesture in the face of such odds.

Ten minutes of talking to Patrick in the shade of a tree while the rest of the teachers continued working however was enough to banish any negative thoughts as he told me first how his wife still has the CWB T-shirt I gifted her back in 2013 and still offers occasional prayers of thanks to me and all that we do.

More importantly though we talked about how cricket is still being played in his school and that the affected children are still loving the game and progressing well in the rest of their rehabilitation.

I could listen to him talk all day, he has such passion and empathy for the job he does and yet constantly seems in awe of the fact that we keep coming over from the UK to help support him and his school.

I will be once again out at Otim Tom Primary school coaching side by side with him in the morning and if I’m honest I can’t wait.