Day 6 - Gaborone/Tlokweng

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What a day!

Fresh from our Friday night curry (again) and although Ravi tried to ply us with copious amount of drink, this was declined to ensure we were in tip top condition for Saturday morning.

After an initial delay in getting to the Gaba cricket ground due to transport issues, we were greeted by 148 kids ready for some cricket coaching. The kids included total beginners to Botswana under 11’s & 13’s and a very competent girls section. The coaches split the kids into 5 areas and used all parts of the ground to undertake the coaching. Myself and Veronique had 33 beginners and took the kids through various cricket skills including the caterpiller which amazingly we managed to do twice and the ball was only dropped 2 times. A great time was had by all the kids and the coaches and it was encouraging to see so many turn up for the session. The BCA are making great strides in bringing the game of cricket to Botswana.

Saturday Afternoon was an altogether different experience but one that brings both tragedy and real hope. We visited an orphanage - the SOS village in Tlokweng. We set-up some stumps and slowly but surely some of the children started walking towards the field and a game of cricket then commenced with some of the children showing real flair with both batting and catching. The coaches then spread out and got more and more children involved in various cricket skills. I had one particular child I played with for most of the time and we both had some great fun together. His smile was brilliant when he was catching the ball and it was so good to see. I was told that he (Delma) was 13 although he looked much younger had full-blown Aids and had only months to live.
Derek James who runs the SOS village gave us a tour of the area with children holding our hands throughout and told us many stories of the success of the orphanage. He is a very proud man and passionate about each and every child within the orphanage - making sure they can reach their true potential. It was time to go and very emotional for all of us. We left some cricket equipment for the children. The journey back to the lodge was slightly quiet but it was a great experience for all of us and just to spend 2 hours in the orphanage will live with me for a long time. It really does put everything into perspective.

This has been a great experience for me and I am very much looking forward to the second week

**STOP PRESS**

The MG joke factory is still in production. However, there have been some quality control issues experienced recently. This has now been rectified and normal service has been resumed. MG apologises for any inconvenience caused. No people were harmed in the telling of the jokes, not even the vicar one.

Take care.

Tony

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Photos

The assembled throng on Saturday Morning
150 of children that attended coaching at the BCA Oval on Saturday Morning

BCA coaching in Progress
5 group training sessions were conducted

Elite Squad warmdown
Mike G leads the warmdown after the elite squad seesion in the nets.

Games at the SOS village
After a slow start, kids of all ages joined in with the various games being played.

Cool dudes
Shades maketh the man..