As I am sure you realised from our last blog, we were SO excited about sending the team of under 14’s to London for a week to play in the TOURAID Nations Cup. It had been a very long and arduous time organsing all the paperwork and training the boys who had very little experience of rugby. We really put the majority of our time and energy in getting the boys on the plane. Therefore, when we heard that 1 player and 1 coach legged it and did not return to Rwanda, we were devastated. Their incredibly selfish act has destroyed all chances for any future tours. To make matters worse we have been informed that it was common knowledge that the player was planning to run. NO ONE thought to mention it to us though. In addition we had given the coach, who we have known for 6 years our camera to take photos of the tour for mementoes for the boys. Needless to say no camera returned.
This was a week ago now but we are still recovering from the impact this has had on our morale. We completely trusted the coach, Vedaste and did so much for him in the run-up to the tour. We had even planned to work with him long-term as a rugby coach. I am quite concerned for his future in the UK, he cannot speak much English and has no passport or visa.
He has also left 4 rugby teams in Kamonyi (very rural Rwanda) coach less. These teams will be hard to maintain as their knowledge and experience of rugby is limited, and their area is hard for us to access.
In addition we have been without electricity for one week. Therefore the choking kerosene fumes have become, yet again a familiar presence in our humble home. We hope that it will come back on come today, but no important people live in our street so it doesn’t seem to be a priority of Electrogaz!
On a more positive note, we have managed to enjoy some of the Rugby World Cup Games thanks to our friendship with the Fijian family, Luc and Elenoa. They have welcomed us into their home on a weekly basis to enjoy their satellite TV and even provided Deena with a soothing cup of tea following the Aussies outing from the tournament. Also, the Red Cross Street Kids and Christ for the Nations have played a couple of games over the last few weeks. Red Cross have so far managed to win both but the skills and enjoyment of both teams is very pleasing to see!
