The day started overcast and with a change from the norm the team split into two. Team Brian was dropped off at Mugwa School and Team Samuel went to Kiiya school. Batting, bowling, fielding and a lot of laughter later the team joined up again and headed to Main Street Primary. The skies got greyer, the air got heavier and there were spatters of rain. It felt like home! After thunder and the starting of a heavy downpour we ushered the children undercover and Mark took the opportunity to talk about cricket and discussing with the children ways of being safe and inclusive in the community. The children were enthusiastic in their responses and fun was had by all (except the volunteers clearing up the mud-caked slimy cones and tennis balls!)
Children at Kiira, excited when told they are going outside to play cricket for an hour
Rain continued throughout lunch and then the team (minus newly-titled Media Manager Ellen – more later) headed off to the afternoon school. The teachers decided that they did not want us to hand back several mud-caked and soggy children and so an indoor quick round of “over and under” followed by “head, shoulders, knees, ball” created a lot of laughter instead.
Finally we went to the army school and had simultaneous games of rapid-fire with them. The children gave a new meaning to sliders footwear as the ground had not drained the rain and the mud was thick. The headmistress, stunning in her plastic bag hat to protect her hair, gamely watched on and then took her turn with the bat.
Headmistress Batting
More merriment ensued when driver Simon tried to get the mini-bus back up the long slope he had driven down. It took the combined effort of several coaches and volunteers, in particular the mighty Jo, to push the bus up the slope, caking themselves in mud.
A final visit to Jinja Senior Secondary School, where we caught up with Media Manager Ellen who had given a 40-minute live radio interview on Cricket Without Boundaries and what we are doing here, assisted by Uganda U19 men’s coach Manny and the awesome Coach Oxy (who translated Ellen’s words to local dialect).
At Jinja SSS we had the opportunity to meet the vice captain of Uganda men’s cricket team, who is looking forward to his trip the Caribbean for the Men’s World Cup, as well as girls and boys from the school cricket teams. A game followed between Uganda and CWB, result not relevant.
The team is staring to work well together and energy levels remain high, and I think we are all looking forward to the next school and more fun and laughter..
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