When we play rugby everyone smiles..
Friends of Rwandan Rugby’s six full-time rugby development officers met in Ruhango this weekend to participate in a coaching workshop. The group developed their skill specific coaching strategies and evolved their planning and timing skills for training sessions.
A personal account of the volunteer coaching trip to Rwanda in February 2014 by Matthew Beddow
On a humid Friday morning on the western edge of Rwanda huddled in a tight circle at the end of a pitch of dust, stones and grass surrounded by banana trees, fields of sugar cane and maize the Rubengera Angels prepare to face their arch rivals the Rubengera Jaguars in the Friends of Rwandan Rugby (FoRR) Karongi District Tag Rugby Final.
Eight days earlier at Heathrow Airport for the first time Matt, Lewis, Helena, Pete, Nick, Tim and Matt (That’s me), all met for the first time. All excited about the trip we had been looking forward to but also all a little apprehensive about the unknown. We sorted through 200 rugby jerseys, 206 balls, 360 tag belts in the departure hall to make sure we carried as much rugby kit as possible out to Rwanda. A kind of team building exercise as it turned out!
Within an hour we had been christened with new “tour names” and Saucy, Pampers, Sharky, Pistol, Dick, “Just Tim” and Big Bad boarded the brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner Plus (Turns out Saucy likes his planes) to Addis Ababa on the first leg of our overnight trip to Kigali.
After a short stop off at Addis Ababa, a couple of laps of the terminal and a warm fruit salad it was back on the plane and out onto the tarmac of Kigali Airport. We were met by the leader of the FoRR programme in Rwanda, the aptly named Kamanda, and loaded the mini bus with our 14 bags of rugby kit before heading into the city.
Like the rest of Rwanda, Kigali is a city of hills and valleys. It’s said Rwanda is a country of a thousand hills but to me it seems far more like 10,000! We stay for two nights at a hostel just a short walk from the commercial centre and its hectic market as well as the Hôtel des Mille Collines (THE Hotel Rwanda). On Saturday morning we head to the school behind the hostel and get involved in our first rugby session. And it was great. When we arrived the footballers jokingly jeered at our funny shaped ball but the team Kamanda coaches every Saturday were fantastic and clearly loved the game. I haven’t played for a long time so was consigned to the role of red-faced white guy hanging around on the wing calling in vain for the ball but it was a lot of fun.
We left the school for a very sobering visit to the genocide memorial where the history of the terrible months in 1994 are recorded for all. The sight of toddlers’ shoes, the same as worn by my own children, in a display case of infant bones was devastating. I left with a sense of what the people we were to meet throughout the trip had gone through but also with an understanding that the old Rwanda was no more and a very new one was emerging every day. One family.
From there we were privileged to visit the Rwandan Orphan Project (ROP) and meet the people who care for those children who for a wide range of complicated and saddening reasons have been left with no family. Some for a period, some permanently and some found living on the streets at far too young an age. We will always remember an afternoon on the red earth of Kigali teaching a sport we love to kids who show such positivity and joy while recovering from situations no child should ever have to endure.
On Sunday we headed out to Karongi to meet the teachers and the children we would be spending the rest of the week with. On a twisting winding road with spectacular views on left and right (that would be at home in any episode of Top Gear) we headed out to the western border of Rwanda to the village of Rubengera. A short bus ride from the 60 mile long Lake Kivu.
We also met the FoRR Rugby Development Officers who were to be our guides and mentors and who all became our good friends during the week. Mathieu, JP, Alex, Laurien, Felix, Claude and Regis worked with us every day in the schools as well has sharing a couple of beers every evening after the days coaching was over.
We stayed at a church retreat, on the outskirts of the village and were again made to feel very welcome. Any group of people walking around a small village in BRIGHT YELLOW t-shirts and caps is going to attract attention not to mention a group of white faces in a rural Rwandan community. The beauty of being based in a village like this for a week is that people get to know you and want to know what we are doing.
We coached in pairs at our three schools and helped the Rwandan RDO’s to select and coach a new generation of rugby players. Each of our schools were different and we all faced challenges the RDO’s are all to familiar with when introducing a new sport to schools in Rwanda.
The kids embraced us and our game completely and ran out to greet us every day in droves. Always enthusiastic, always keen to learn, often running out of lessons before being given permission to and always pleased to be part of a new experience. Our message to have fun and be part of a team while learning was not lost on them.
Rwanda threw a surprise at us every single day. In fact there were usually two or three incidents a day that stopped you in your tracks!
– The man who stopped two of the team in the street to thank them for coming to Rwanda and telling them about his families experience of the genocide;
– The 1,000 strong town meeting complete with choirs and voting officials dressed as Greek gods that turned up during one coaching session;
– The evening at the secondary school coaching rugby while 4 choirs in class rooms surrounding the pitch sang their hearts out;
– The impromptu visit to a church that ended in us staying for an hour and being asked to give a speech to the 400 strong congregation who were keen to know what we were doing;
– The whole of one school being led out to the pitch we were playing on to serve a mass detention in silence for laughing at the head mistress while we were asked to play on.
I could go on . . . and on . . . and on.
The way that the kids learnt the game so quickly was amazing and there was some real talent on show. In my group alone there was a 7 year old girls who took running lines like Jeremy Guscott (And was just as elusive), Alex squeezed out impossible passes like Richie McCall (And got away with as many infringements) and Vincent had the instincts for finishing like Jason Robinson (With a side step as good as any)! Brilliant to watch and to teach.
So after 4 days of coaching the teams of boys and girls under 8 were selected and the tournament kicked off! To see all of our kids play the game with such heart and enthusiasm was fantastic. As we all watched on and gave instructions all I can say is that the dust must have been getting into lots of our eyes!
As the teams line up for the pre-final photograph our In the middle of the teams of kids aging from 6 to 9 stand red faced, heavily perspiring white people (“Myzungu”) in bright yellow hats and t-shirts giving their charges last minute tips on running lines, passing technique and game management (Perhaps not the last one).
Its impossible to imagine that just 20 years ago this very town, and probably this very pitch, witnessed some of the most ferocious attacks that took place in the Rwandan genocide. It is estimated that 90% of the town’s Tutsi population were killed in the 100 days that saw between 500,000 and 800,000 people killed in Rwanda.
Standing in this innocuous field on the edge of a friendly and welcoming community myself and 6 other volunteers have during this week all been deeply moved by this country, its men, women and children and have been first hand witnesses to the continuing story of reconciliation and transformation that is Rwanda.
Whatever preconceptions I may have had about Rwanda were dispelled as soon as I stepped off the plane. Rwanda provides surprises around every corner and every time you think you know what to expect the unexpected of course happens. As I write this it is 20 years since the genocide in Rwanda and many many people are working very very hard to make sure it never happens again and Friends of Rwandan Rugby are certainly playing their part. One family.
16th-21st March 2014,
Bhubesi Pride assembles highly qualified teams of coaching staff to drive through Africa on annual six-month expeditions, supporting rugby and community development in schools and community centres in ten African countries.
The latest batch of 9 Bhubesi Pride Coaches did their third Rugby coaching tour in Rulindo District in Rwanda with our programme leader Kamanda. The organization and daily training sessions were successful at Murambi Public School , Nyirabirori and Tumba Public Primary Schools. As always our Friends of Rwandan Rugby staff supported the visiting coaches through out the trip.
Another fantastic week ending in a brilliant tournament. FoRR now award teachers with Achievement Certificates for their participation with kids during the whole week.
Big thanks to DHL Rwanda provided water to students during sessions and Tournament day.
By John Claude
Great work this Wednesday! During the morning I have trained the selected players from P4 & P5,they are so good. Afternoon,after training EAV KABUTARE(secondary school) I have gone to support GRIZZLIES RFC.
On Tuesday,I visited Ecole Internatinale(french private school) to introduce Tag Rugby,I am lucky because headmaster agreed with me that he is going to inform parents so that I start. This requires the basic equipement to start our game in new school. The Headmaster was very impressed!
Last Sunday on 19th Jan 2014, GS NYUNDO and ES KARUGANDA played a friendly rugby game at RYAKIRORO Pitch in Gakenke District. This game ended with the victory of GS NYUNDO 7-0.
It is unbelievable to announce that FoRR is sending our 66th rugby coach to Rwanda as part of our coaching trip this February. For the first time the coaching group will visit Kibuye in Rwanda’s west to introduce rugby to the schools in this region. We will be looking at a prospective new rugby development officers to continue the development of the game in the region after the UK coaches depart and there is a great hope that the Kibuye area will quickly come on-line to contibute teams to all of the tournaments planned for both school boys and girls throughout 2014.
Friends of Rwandan Rugby staff have pledged to further develop their coaching skills at a 2 day workshop in Kigali. The event will involve classroom law discussions coupled with practical on-field sessions. The collaborative event will provide the RDO’s with an opportunity to share skills and develop a coherent nationwide strategy to up-skill a huge range of players.
ISETAR Celebrated winning the national schools trophy after beating ETM Mukingi 36-0 in final. Although the pitch was full of water from the heavy rain the game went well and ISETAR dominated the match in front of 400 spectators. The tournament was held at RUYENZI Ground. A great thanks must go to the Rwandan National team captain CAMBARA KOKO MARCEL and Rwandan National team player KAMALI VICENT who assisted in presenting the medals to the winning teams. Finally congratulations to all FORR RDO’s for organising and officiated the games throughout the entire series and on finals day.
Regional teams announced:
To all of those people who have donated money directly or through our awesome fundraising folks lately. This is what your money went towards:
WE TAKE CARE of the transport for all of the teams listed below to travel to Kigali so they can compete in the Rwandan schools’ national final. The players, teachers and coaches’ transport plus resources for the day of rugby all get taken care of by FoRR. You can see exactly where your money is in action and creating chances for these guys to play. We should also mention that we took care of the 7 regional tournaments in the lead up and selection series as well. More than 40 school teams got the chance to vie for the national title. Can’t wait to see who comes out on top of the whole competition….
Thank you so much!!
| DESIGNATION |
| 1.Transport (ET MUKINGI-Ruhango) |
| 2.Transport (ACEJ KARAMA- Muhanga) |
| 3.Transport (E.S MULINDI-Gicumbi) |
| 4. Transport (E.S APEMU RULI-Gakenke) |
| 5.Transport (EAV KABUTARE-Huye) |
| 6.Transport (Lycee APICUR-Musanze |
| 7.Transport(ISETAR –RUNDA-Kamonyi) |
Follow face book to watch the lead up and tournament unfold.
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofRwandanRugby
FoRR has been lucky enough to be selected as one of three charities by the Accenture Operations Community in their annual OPSCAR vote. Last year Accenture employees helped the Operations Community raise almost £15k for very worthwhile causes. They actively seek to recognise outstanding charities that represent great causes and then seek to support them with a financial contribution. FoRR hopes to continue delivering practical assistance to the rural and youth communities in Rwanda and is delighted to have been recognised through this inspiring program.
On my 39th birthday my wife gave me a list of 40 things to do during the year before the dreaded 4 – 0! Number 27: Complete a physical challenge; Number 28: Go away for the weekend with the lads; Number 29: Raise some money for charity. The Three Peaks was the perfect challenge. I was brought up in Zambia where my father was a missionary and played rugby twice a week so FoRR was the perfect charity. I sent an email to FoRR then had a call from Deena, which was great, and made a pledge to raise funds to cover all activities for a 12 month period! I assembled 7 good friends and family to do the challenge with me plus a dedicated driver to ferry us between the peaks in a hired minibus.
We started at 5pm on a blustery Friday night in Fort William and finished in the sunshine at the foot of Snowdon at 4.10pm on Saturday afternoon. Exhausted but elated we had completed the challenge in the time. A real team effort from the moral of the group getting us through the dark times on ScarFel Pike at 3am in the fog to my wife who prepared all the food and drink for the 9 of us! A small army! Most importantly we could not have done it without our friends, family, colleagues, clients, contractors, suppliers etc who responded to our emails and sponsored us. Facebook and Twitter were invaluable tools for raising money.
When we started the walk at 5pm we had just over half of the funds collected but as soon as we all started posting photos on Facebook of blistered heals, toiling walkers with head torches and peak top group photos the sponsorship money started coming in again. We raised the final half in 24 hours!! We directed people to a website we had set up www.bb3pc.co.uk which gave the names of all the people on the walk, information on the aims of the charity and links to the sponsorship page. After visiting the website so many people said it was such a good charity to support and it was so nice to know the money given would go directly to helping the programme in Rwanda. It was a real privilege to be part of the group and it is an experience we will all remember. We hope the funds we have raised will help FoRR continue the excellent work.
18 year olds, Nick and Mike contacted FoRR back in September last year when they were searching for a rugby coaching and personal development experience for their university summer break. Both are good rugby players representing their county at Under 18s level and have limited coaching experience. Set the task of fundraising the budget to deliver four tournaments during their stay, the boys met and exceeded expectations and received huge support from friends and family. Nick and Mike spent their first two weeks in two Southern regions, Ruhango and Muhanga with RDOs, Mathieu and Laurien before heading to Gikenke in the North to assist RDO Felix. They finished their trip in Kigali where they coached the Rwanda Orphans Project kids and worked with Under 14s teams. All together they ran a regional sevens tournaments in each location and an under 14s tournament in Kigali. Their contribution greatly supports FoRR’s operation to develop rural school and youth rugby by working closely with our Rugby Development Officers and exposing youngsters to the game. They returned home full of feedback and described their trip as an incredibly fulfilling and rewarding experience.
Saturday July 20th saw the first Savannah 7s tournament run by African Exiles Rugby at Egham. The tournament was followed by a fun evening of live music. The Savannah 7s is the UK’s biggest African rugby tournament and festival celebrating sub-Saharan culture and they kindly adopted FoRR as their official charity. Invited to enter a team, Friends of Rwandan Rugby fielded eleven willing volunteers who kindly brushed off their boots to have a run around and promote the charity. Although most players had never met each other prior to the event it was inspiring how quickly a team ethos developed. Remarkably the team reached the semi-final of the plate. The fundraising and awareness raising aspects of the event capped off a tremendous day and huge thanks must go to all of the additional volunteers that manned the stall and contributed to the atmosphere on the day.
Nick and Mike Brook are currently in Rwanda on a month long stay assisting our Rugby Development Officers organise and complete the July schools tournaments. Reports suggest that the experience is going extremely well with only a few minor challenges for the boys in the refereeing department. They assure all that their Kinyarwandan will improve !!
The sixth annual coaching tour has delivered tournament day in Gicumbi in Northern Rwanda. A group of 20 British and Rwandan coaches have been working in the area for the past 6 days, delivering materials, training teachers, up-skilling RDO’s. A wonderful day was had by all and rugby continues to grow throughout regional schools in Rwanda
The team from Bhubesi Pride recently visited Rulindo District in Nothern Africa to work with 216 primary school children from three different schools. Programme Manager, Kamanda Tharcisse and RDO Alex Sibomana were on hand to offer coaching support and assisted with organisation of the visit. The visit culminated in a tournament with Nyirabirori playing Tumba in the final game. See http://www.rugbyinafrica.org/about/project-work/rugby-in-africa-2013/ to learn more about the Bhubesi project
10 Teams from 9 primary schools met at the Ruhango playing field to participate in a Tag Rugby tournament organized by FoRR Rugby Development Officer Muvunyi Mathieu.
Participating Primary Schools included; Ruhango Catholic, Ruhango Adventist, Amizero,Gitisi, Nyamagana, Munini, Musamo, Kageyo and KiziberiI.
Amizero fielded two teams and all teams were divided into two pools. The final saw Amizero A against Ruhango Catholic. It was a close game but Amizero A dominated the second half leading to a final score of 30 to 20.
President of the Rwanda Rugby Federation, Dr Otto Vianney MUHINDA presenting the trophy to the winning captain Jean Marie Vianney UMUTONI
This tournament consisted of the victors of the regional 7s tournaments which were held in four regions. The 8 teams were divided into the following two pools; Pool A:, Ikirezi, ACEJ Karama, G.S St Famille A, ISETAR Runda. Pool B: E.S Mulindi, E.S Apemu Ruli, G.S Rwankuba, G.S St Famille B
The results were as follows;
Pool A
Lycee De Ruhango 12 vs ACEJ Karama 5
G.S St Famille A 0 vs ISETAR 33
Lycee De Ruhango 12 vs G.S St Famille A 0
ACEJ Karama 0 vs ISETAR 29
Lycee De Ruhango 0 vs ISETAR 29
G.S St Famille A 0 vs ACEJ Karama 12
Pool B
E.S Apemu Ruli 15 vs G.S Rwankuba 0
G.S St Famille B 0 vs E.S Mulindi 17
E.S Apemu Ruli 19 vs G.S St Famille B 0
E.S Apemu Ruli 12 vs E.S Mulindi 7
E.S Mulindi 21vs G.S Rwankuba 0
G.S Rwankuba 5 vs G.S St Famille B 0
SEMI-FINALS:
1. Lycee De Ruhango 0 vs E.S Apemu Ruli 22
2.ISETAR 14 vs E.S Mulindi 0
FINAL:
ES Apemu Ruli 5 vs ISETAR Runda 27
The Player of the tournament was NKURUNZIZA Emmanuel of ISETAR RUNDA
The event was attended by the President of the Rwanda Rugby Federation, Dr Otto Vianney MUHINDA who presented the trophies to the winning teams. The final game saw ISETAR dominate E.S Apemu Ruli and the final score was 27 to 5 in favour of ISETAR. Refereeing support was provided by FoRR Rugby Development Officers, all players and officials had a terrific day. This has been a great year for ISETAR who represented Rwanda in the Federation of East Africa Schools Championship in Bujumbura at the end of August.
The fourth round in a series of regional tournaments across Rwanda organised by by FoRR Program Manager, Kamanda Tharcisse took place this week.
Two pools of six teams competed at the playing fields of Lycee de Nyanza including:
Pool A: Lycee de Ruhango , E.S Gitisi and ETO Gitarama
Pool B: E.T Mukingi, G.S Indagaburezi and Emeru Intwari
The match results were as follows;
Pool A
Lycee de Ruhango 19 vs ETO Gitarama 10
ETO Gitarama 25 vs E.S Gitisi 7
E.S Gitisi 0 vs Lycee de Ruhango 34
Pool B:
E.T Mukingi 10 vs Emeru Intwari 12
Emeru Intwari 25 vs G.S Indagaburezi 7
G.S Indagaburezi 10 vs E.T Mukingi 22
The final saw the winning team of Pool A, Lycee de Ruhango take on the Pool B winners, Emeru Intwari. Lycee de Ruhango were the victors which saw them win 15-0. The winning teams of each round will meet in a festival in Kigali in October, see here for the full details of the day!
Congratulations to Rwandan School team, ISETAR who participated in the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Championship (FEASSA) competed in Bujumbura, Burundi from 26/08/2012-01/09/2012. ISETAR had been selected to participate after winning the tournament organised in Rwanda as part of the Federation of Schools and Sports Association Inter-schools Games which were in June 2012. The FEASSA Championship included three Kenyan school teams (Kakamega, Mangu and Maseno) four Ugandan teams (Hana-who won in 2011, Namiryango, Kisubi and Ntare) and two teams from Burundi (LTP and Lycee Kayanza) The games went well For ISETAR who won games against Hana (6-3) and Ntare (26-6), but unfortunately lost to Kakamega (40-9) and LTP with a narrow score of 7-0. This final lost squandered their chance to make the semi-finals. Kakamega won the tournament in a dominant game against Hana which they won 39-0. Well done to FoRR Programme Manager, Kamanda who was invited to participate in this international school fixture as a referee. ISETAR is a school in Kamonyi, Rwanda who were first introduced to rugby by Kamanda who worked with their sports teacher to keep the game going with ongoing intermittent support from Kamanda and Rugby coach, Philip Gakarage.
