Stephen Green
Stephen's page
Fundraising for Cricket Without Boundaries
Story
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I feel I have a real passion for the game of Cricket. However, I also feel that within myself a main driving ambition is to help others while using my skills. This project with Cricket Without Boundaries gives me that chance and also provides an opportunity to move on further into something I saw first hand just under 3 years ago. I was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Zambia and Botswana. This entailed the spectacular parts of being able to go on Safari, seeing the Victoria Falls, etc but the one other key area that stuck with me was when we visited a local village. My Company had provided 400 packs of paper, pens, etc for the school at a local village and we all went to the village to meet the village elders and have a tour of the village. We also had a game of football against the local children who were wearing a whole series of different garments for the game. It is hard to put into words what I saw and took from my visit but I saw children who basically had nothing, but were the happiest and lively children I have ever seen. They were over the moon to get a new T-shirt or for us to share pictures on our camera’s with them and the packs for the school were the best present they had ever received. The village was described as being “well off” as it had its own stand pipe for water but the images I had when I left that village will stay with me forever and made me vow to see if I could ever help again. This project has suddenly opened up an opportunity again and I am really looking forward to be able to go and give something once again, particularly when it also allows me to use my passion in cricket. I will spend 2 weeks in Kenya working with local adults and children both teaching and coaching cricket while also providing HIV/AIDS awareness. Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) is a UK based charity dedicated to helping, educating and developing local communities around the World through the spread and growth of cricket. It is also about personal empowerment, both for adults and for children. The Charity uses the sport to help develop personal skills ranging from basic teamwork to self-discipline and leadershipCWB has three main goals:
- To spread cricket through coaching children and teaching adults how to coach; and
- To link the sport to HIV/AIDS awareness and incorporate these messages into coaching sessions.
- To bring together and empower local communities through cricket.
The link between Sport (particularly cricket) and HIV/AIDS is not an obvious one to everyone. However, CWB found that sports coaches are in a unique position to impart a message of staying healthy and doing so within a fun and trusting environment. They often have the respect of those that they coach, and are not perceived in the same negative way that sometimes children perceive their teachers or a health worker. They are ideally placed to talk about the importance of staying healthy to fulfil someone's true potential, both on the field and in life generally.