Would you like to use cricket to help stop the spread
of HIV/AIDS in Africa?
Last year Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) coached
50,000 children and trained over 500 adults as coaches in Africa.
Now we are looking for enthusiastic volunteers help
them continue developing cricket and raising HIV/AIDS awareness on
projects in Autumn 2015 and Spring 2016.
CWB is returning to Cameroon, Botswana, Kenya,
Rwanda, Uganda and we want to hear from people from all backgrounds,
whether you are a qualified cricket coach or not.
Projects are typically two weeks long and include
coaching in schools, training local teachers and running cricket
festivals. They are all led by an ECB qualified tutor and contain a
mix of experienced coaches and people who are new to cricket.
One person who took up the challenge in 2014 was
Katie Hanley, a marketing executive from Sussex. And the 25-year-old
-who visited Rwanda - said she couldn’t recommend it enough.
She said: “Wow, what can I say? It was one of the
best experiences of my life!
“The feeling you get when a child grabs your hand and
looks at you with an enormous beaming smile, is enough to let you know
that what you’ve done has definitely had an impact.”
Katie’s previous cricket experience was limited to
playing in the garden as a child and supporting her local club but she
says it didn’t hold her back in Africa.
She said: “It’s all about making sure the kids have
fun and getting the HIV/AIDS awareness message across, so don’t let a
lack of experience stop you from applying.”
With an estimated 23.5 million people (69% of the
global AIDS burden) living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, CWB is
committed to using cricket as a tool to deliver vital HIV/AIDS
awareness messages. Previous projects have also seen the charity help
communities in Rwanda continue their recovery from civil war and use
cricket to rehabilitate former child soldiers in northern Uganda.
On the field CWB – which celebrates its 10th
anniversary in 2015 – as seen a number of players they have introduced
to the game go on to play international cricket. It has also helped
develop people as coaches – both in Africa and in the UK.
One person to benefit from the CWB experience is
23-year-old Olly Ralph, a county and district youth coach with
Gloucestershire. He visited Uganda in spring 2014 and is the current
ECB Young Coach of the Year for the South West.
Olly said: “The experience of coaching in Africa with
CWB has definitely improved me as a coach. Having to deal with large
numbers, often in limited space, has helped me learn to think on my
feet and has given me the confidence that I can deal with anything
that is thrown at me.”
CWB is also looking for ECB qualified tutors to lead
the cricket delivery in schools and run coach education courses on
each project.
The ECB’s Regional Head of Performance (South) Steve
Williams – who was team tutor for last autumn’s Uganda trip said:
“Being a tutor on a CWB project really gets you out of your comfort
zone, sharpens up your decision making and encourages innovation.
“For experienced tutors it gets you thinking outside
the box and is a great way of refreshing your skills. For younger
tutors it will challenge you to find different ways of applying your
knowledge and getting the key messages across.”
“It was a great experience, a really great charity
and something I would be keen to do again."
To apply for an upcoming CWB project
visit their web site (see below)
Interviews for upcoming projects will take place in
London on February 28 and Birmingham on March 7.
Web Site:
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