THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CRICKET WITHOUT BOUNDARIES UGANDA SPRING 2012 BLOG

If there is one over-riding impression of Uganda – it is the commitment of school children to their education. They literally walk miles to and from school – and during the Cricket Without Boundaries project we have witnessed their thirst for learning.

Before one of our afternoon sessions at Kilembe, I took the opportunity to walk up one of the mountains above the playing field. My first stop was about 100 feet above the field – which gave an excellent view. I sat for a while waiting for the next batch of children to arrive – and met a young lad called Baluku Bright (who had attended the impromptu Sunday training).

He had spotted me from down on the field – and had run up to find me. He wanted to show me his home, which he said was “just above where I was sitting”.

His idea of “just above” and mine differ slightly. I registered the climb on my iPhone’s altimeter – and we climbed a further 500 feet. He went up like a mountain goat – and I was rather out of breathe (he carried my bag for the last 200 feet!). Please watch the video of Baluku showing me the spectacular views from his family’s home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et44V5CoB-0

You can see where his home is in relation to our cricket training on the picture below. It was an experience….

…. and just to prove the height – this is the view of the ground as I was halfway down the mountain!

We also had a small primary school group from Pride Academy Kisinga. They had travelled 35 kilometres from their school – and hired a vehicle to fit 10 people – 4 teachers and 6 pupils. The distance and transport difficulties meant that they each had to find accommodation in local homes of teachers and family, so that they could attend the second day of coaching.

I was really pleased to be able to present to them for their efforts the cricket kit donated by the girls of Lincoln House at Oakham School. This was complemented by balls and t-shirts from Cricket Without Boundaries. The school were delighted – and are ready to take the game of cricket to all the other pupils and teachers.

Highlight of the day was our journey back from Kilembe to Kasese. We couldn’t let the children from the Pride Academy walk all the way back to Kisinga – so we packed them in to our bus! The thanked us by singing a beautiful song “I am a teacher/driver/cricketer because of education”. Listen to the lovely voices in the video below….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8AzfqOFBrQ