Cricketers, especially from the UK, are familiar with the dreaded phrase “rain stopped play.” We spend a significant part of our playing lives scouring the skies, looking for slight changes in the size of raindrops or breaks in the cloud. Uganda sits on the equator where it gets a lot of rain so intense you can’t actually see the clouds….but despite this we hadn’t missed a single planned session over the project’s full two weeks. So it was with some anxiety we woke to the sounds of a thunder storm and continuous rain which threatened our final appointment, at the Entebbe Children’s Welfare Primary School.
Two years ago I stumbled across this residential centre for children with special educational needs nestled amongst the malls and hotels of central Entebbe and had been astounded with the enthusiasm and warmth the residents had shown towards one stranger armed only with a bat and ball. Would the rain deprive the rest of the team of this fascinating and rewarding experience? Well, a five minute wait in the bus and plenty of positive thought meant the rain relented just as we arrived to be greeted by scores of children who hurriedly finished their relaxed Saturday morning breakfast to enthusiastically welcome us to their home.
With the welcome addition of two new dormitories to accommodate the 150 or so residents there is little space on site so we moved to the field next door where, in keeping with the weekend vibe, we opted for a range of unstructured cricket related activities, starting, of course, with a sixty person Okey Cokey. What followed was as eye opening as it was rewarding.
The children knew exactly what to do when guided through batting, catching and throwing exercises. Whatever disability or special need they had was incidental to the pursuit of fun and enjoyment. The determination to swing a bat at a small target whilst controlling limbs affected by cerebral palsy was awesome; the willingness to overcome autism-related anxieties to wait in line for a turn was remarkable; the patience to teach us sign language humbling.
Particularly touching was the way in which the children helped each other, whether demonstrating what to do, or wheeling chairs into position or making sure their friends all got an equal turn. All activity was interspersed with cries of joy, excitement and plenty of hugs. There was no shortage of skill either. One little boy decided he could hit a tennis ball with a single stump further than he could throw it when returning a tennis ball to his coach. Others showed their catching skills by intercepting rockets thrown at head height to each other. Wow! This really was cricket for all.
Finally it was time to leave and to draw a close to our cricket activities in Uganda by donating the few bats, stumps and balls we had not sent to the north of Uganda with our local colleagues who were in the midst of an epic all day bus journey home. Having spent time with this amazing group of children we are confident it will all be used creatively for whatever version of cricket they choose to pursue. We wish them luck and thank them for the gift of their time.
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