There’s no rest for the wicked or CWB volunteers, so Saturday was a full day of coaching schools in Kumi. Our usual session is a warm up series of relays, then we divide the students into three groups for batting, bowling and fielding. Each group session lasts 20 minutes then they rotate to the next. If there’s time we finish with a game of Quick Fire Cricket which is what they enjoy most and which we use for the festivals. This was our procedure for both Saturday morning and afternoon, another day at the office.
What made the day most memorable were the encounters we had at lunchtime. We had enough time to detour to the shore of Lake Bisina where the featured photo comes from. The local youngsters were intrigued enough by the CWB uniforms to overcome their initial shyness and join in an impromptu game of catch with Ken and a local lad named Maxie chatted to Tembo in the bow of his fishing boat.
Tembo’s easy manner soon had Maxie giving his life story. He’s an orphan, living with one of two aunts on a rotating basis neither of whom are able to afford his primary school fees. As a result this highly intelligent lad is unable to get to sec0ndary school, just spending his time helping local fishermen and worrying about his future. Drawing on the CWB ethos of change through cricket, three members of the team immediately offered to meet Maxie’s fees to the end of primary school. Tembo will pay these directly to his school at next Tuesday’s festival. We’ll also contribute to his books and uniform.
Without cricket we’d not have joined CWB. Through this chance encounter with CWB we hope that Maxie’s life could be better.
Jim
What a fantastic gesture in helping Maxie with his school fees. A heart warming story.