Day two in Lugazi and my first thoughts of Uganda (that I love the pace) haven’t diminished any.

Having settled in the factory town of Lugazi, where the Metah sugar corporation of Uganda supports the community of fifty thousand, the CWB team rose after a great nights sleep raring to go.

Our hotel provided a hugely hearty breakfast, with Richard needing two omelettes before he could decide that they were excellent. Coaching education was the order of the day, and a first meeting with the Metah Corporation’s Health Angels, responsible for undertaking outreach work in the community. Most of them had never played cricket before, but a gentle introduction to the game soon meant that smiles were evident in all directions. The ‘ABC HIV’ messages were already well entrenched within the group, which meant that cricket could take priority. We soon pressed on to playing a game of continuous cricket, with the Angels surprised at how capable they were and me surprised at playing a decent cover drive in March.
Though we weren’t expecting ay children to turn up, but 71 did anyway. We quickly got on with the business of coaching them, with Tom dropped in at the deep end while Graham and Beth concentrated on carrying on the coach education. I was told by 13 year old Rachel “you are a great teacher, Liam,” something I’ve never heard in the UK. SJ and Ross led the sprinkler dancing before Mark delivered an excellent farewell to the children.
Running drills for the Angels I the afternoon was followed by a sojourn into town via banter with the security guards at the compound gates. Beth managed to persuade one of them to pose for a picture with her with his gun on display, while the female guard asked me for my shirt. I suggested that it might be arranged at a later date.
A brief visit to the source of the Nile relaxed everyone before some bat and ball horseplay with our young Ugandan colleagues Emmanuel and Johnson. More excellent food followed before a well-deserved rest all round.

Liam