Cricket Without Boundaries does a fantastic job in East Africa,  delivering HIV/AIDS awareness messages to a young audience in a fun and effective way.

Since my first project in March 2012, I have been so impressed and enthused by the work of the charity, that I took on the role of AIDS/HIV Lead for CWB, with a principal focus on Botswana. 

With an infection rate of 24% in Botswana and a population of just over 2 million, it doesn't take much to understand how devasting this could be to an entire country's population.

My role involves building relationships with key stakeholders in country, from government officials, to village chiefs, drugs abuse counsellors, HIV testing centres etc... so that I can advise our development team back home with regards to future strategy.  

I also thoroughly enjoy creating and facilitating HIV/AIDS workshops at our training weekends for all the volunteers, enabling them to feel confident in delivering the important messages when they are out on their project.

Rest assured  - we do make a difference - a teacher told me that taking part in the cricket programme we ran the previous year gave the youngsters an opportunity to talk to their parents in a way they hadn't before - they could show them on TV that this was the game cricket that they had played, and that they had learned more about HIV and how to protect themselves and their friends, whether they were HIV+ or -ve. This then opened up a conversation with their parents that they would never had had ordinarily, and these little steps are so important in addressing the ignorance that is at the heart of the HIV/AIDS problem.

One young girl said that playing cricket with the boys (the girls of the same age are often better and stronger!) gave them confidence. She said that there is a lot of peer pressure to have sex at an early age, but that if one girl is seen to say no, then it gives the other girls the confidence to say no too - it becomes cool not to give in!

In Rwanda, one teacher told of us of the huge impact that our cricket project had had on children who had seen their parents slaughtered in front of them, and were then kidnapped to become soldiers. Returned to the village 2 1/2 years later, these traumatised children saw killing as play, and were stigmatised by the other children. A game of cricket allowed all the children to play together again in a non-violent way, and helped to heal a village.

Its these stories from the people we speak to that really make the trips for all of us  - we really are doing something useful at grass roots level, and if we can have a positive impact on just one child every time we go, then it has all been worthwhile.

Last time I went to Botswana, I found this little guy sitting all alone under a tree. He might be an orphan, he might have been beaten, or maybe he was excluded because he or someone in his family has AIDS. I don't know his story, but he looked sad and he wasn't playing, so I went over to him and asked did he want to play. He said no. So I asked if he liked cricket - he said no. Then I asked if he could catch a ball - he said no.

My next in-country project will be in April 2015 when I am looking forward to building on the strong links I have forged already, to deliver our activities further out into the rural communities.

By donating my time and fundraising to this amazing charity and the fabulous country and people of Botswana, maybe I can make a tiny difference.  If you could spare just a little cash, then maybe you can too.  Lots of tiny efforts add up to one big change...

The money I raise will help enable the growth of this amazing charity, which now funds 10 projects a year!

My cricket skills STILL leave much to be desired, but I hope to be able contribute to the HIV/AIDS strategy moving forwards, and to at least deliver some fun!

Thank you in advance if you feel you're able to help.  Even if you can't contribute financially, I'd be really grateful if you could spread the word as far and wide as possible through twitter and facebook.

You can also help just by shopping with Easyfundrasing - all the major retailers are on there - http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/cricketwithoutboundariessamstevenson

The main website is www.cricketwithoutboundaries.com, Facebook page is www.facebook.com/cwbafrica and twitter @CWBafrica.

I have also set up a specific twitter page for Botswana @CWB_Botswana

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thank you so much!

Gratefully, Sam

Updated on Nov 29th 2012 at 11:24 AM from the JustGiving API

Thank you so much, Mum & Dad! Xxx

Thanks to Darren of Twenty 20 Cricket, and Nick Payne of Swordfighting International for their donations

Thanks to Neil 'Bunty' Bunting - that was really generous, thanks very much!

Thanks so much Haidee, that's really kind of you!! X

Thanks v much to my first 2 sponsors- v v grateful! Xx

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page!

Updated on Mar 10th 2012 at 5:53 PM from the JustGiving API

Thank you my lovely BabyBoo xxx

3rd March - thanks so much, Mum, for your donation, and to lovely Mrs Lafferty who has to be the best science teacher in the whol wide world!

Updated on Feb 26th 2012 at 3:36 PM from the JustGiving API

I'm there! Last £10 from my lovely son and my target is hit. Thanks to everyone who has so generously supported me. Amazingly, I still have more pledges coming in, which is fantastic! Every £ counts, and everything above my target will go towards funding further projects.

Updated on Feb 15th 2012 at 11:33 PM from the JustGiving API

Thanks so much Agnieszka - really appreciate it!

Updated on Jan 7th 2013 at 7:59 PM from the JustGiving API

Thanks so much, Amardeep - look forward to seeing you at training!

Updated on Jan 7th 2013 at 6:08 PM from the JustGiving API

Huge thank you to the lovely and extremely talented Adam Green Art - Diamond Geezer! xx