Project Umubano Cricket coaching in Rwanda

I have just returned from a week coaching cricket in Rwanda as part of Project Umubano, the Social Action project organised by the Conservative party. Project Umubano involves over 100 people who work in a variety of projects including teaching English, helping in the development of small businesses, Community projects, building schools and a Parliamentary project in the Senate. I was part of the sport project, which included two groups, on coaching cricket and another coaching football.

We coached cricket to hundreds of youngsters who have never seen the game before and using Kwik cricket sets very kindly donated by Asda, we quickly had games of non stop cricket up and running.

We also coached members of the Rwandan national cricket team. They have virtually no facilities, no access to coaches and no cricket pitch capable of hosting an international cricket match. But despite this they managed to win the ICC Africa division 3 world cup qualifier.

Coaching cricket in Rwanda is naturally very different from anything I have experienced back home, but despite the cronic lack of access to facilities, educational, medical or sporting, and the lack of access to drinking water for children out playing cricket in the middle of the day under a tropical sun, there was no lack of enthusiasm for cricket, or for having fun. The game is growing there and despite the horrendous recent history of the country, the country as a whole is slowly moving forward. It is haunted by its history, and is constrained by its geography, being situated at the heart of Africa, many, many hundreds of miles away from the sea and the trade routes they open up. But I returned from Rwanda with a sense of hope and a heightened awareness of just what international development and international aid is all about.