Today would be our last day in Mitumba. It was graduation for the students of the business workshop, this coincided with the pupils of the school finishing their exams. A day of presentations, singing and dancing had been planned by the pupils and students of the school, so we had to do some sort of performance too. Unfortunately, Lawsy couldn’t make it with us today, so he was left in bed to feel sorry for himself.
We then piled the gear in the car, picked up Maureen and made our final journey to Mitumba. In the car, we practised the song that we would be singing. The song that was suggested was, New Order – World In Motion, or more specifically – the John Barnes’ Rap, and it was agreed.
We arrived at the school and put the kit into the store cupboard and just mingled within the school, talking to people who we have met during the week. We then managed to find an empty classroom, and practised our performance.
The main sponsor towards the running costs of the school is a church which is run by someone called Pastor Doni – a black American woman who has been living in Kenya for the past two years. As the workshop was in the final stages, Pastor Doni went in to meet all of the students and give a very inspiring speech. She brought along with her a big bag of jewellery-making materials to give to the students, as a kick start to put what the students have learnt into practise and start a business.
After the speech, Pastor Doni met with the entire group and spoke to us. It was nice to meet the person who makes the children’s dreams come true. She said that what we were doing was very good. James is going to carry this bit on.
When Pastor Doni left, it was just about time for the presentation. At this point, Joe came back to the school, but with some special guests; Vicky and Tony. Mumbi also came.
Everyone is seated and Chacha makes a speech and starts the event off by introducing the first performance. There were many different songs, poems and dances performed by both the pupils of the school, and the students of the business workshop. A few people from the Masai tribe attended the workshop and they performed a tribal song and dance for us. Halfway through there performance we were invited up to dance with them which was great fun. After this, we were presented with some gifts from the Masai Tribe.
After all the performances from the pupils and students, it was our turn. We had organised to do a ‘play’ on togetherness, women’s football, fitness and education. After the performance, we had to sing. We had practised the song for about an hour altogether this morning, but John still couldn’t remember the opening line and had to ask me and James for it.
‘You’ve got to hold and give, but do it at the right time,
You can be slow or fast, but you must get to the line,
They’ll always hit you and hurt you,
Defend and attack,
There’s only one way to beat them,
Get round the back,
So catch me if you can,
‘Cos I’m the Samba man,
And what you’re looking at,
Is the master plan,
We aint no hooligan,
This is a football song,
With Samba on my chest,
You know you can’t go wrong.’
After this, there was a presentation from us. We had some certificates to give out, with the equipment Pastor Doni had donated to the students who had completed the business workshop.
After all the presentations were completed, it was lunch time. This is when Joe went with Vicky, Mumbi and Tony. Our group had lunch and then shortly after, we got the gear and made our way to the pitch, where we would be playing a game of netball and football. Yes, you read correctly, netball.
We arrive at the field to a scene of the netball team doing their equivalent of the haka – a song about netball. We were terrified. We had no idea of the rules of netball. We got kitted out for the match and then were introduced to the referee of the match. We were then briefly told about the rules.
The match began, they started off with the ball and due to some slack defending from Coxie and James, we were one nil down after a minute. Fantastic. It was our turn to ‘kick off’ and I thought to my self, this is the time to put my height advantage into some good use. The ball was thrown into my direction, I was just about to catch the ball and then, BOOM, the woman marking me came ploughing right through me and collected the ball. They mean business. As the match progressed, our team started to get to grips with the rules and we went into half time with the lead after some good play with me and Kenyan Dan getting the “goals”?
The second half was just as intense and competitive as the first half, but we were learning the rules. No thanks to James for breaking the rules which caused the other team to score a few goals like…
We won, to the delight of our support – the CHAMRECC school children. We had a talk with the team and they told us of their hope and goals. Now, it was the serious stuff – the football match. This was due to be played just by the netball pitch.
We managed to recruit some players from the CHAMRECC School and then organise the team. The other team was already sorted and was waiting patiently. The pitch wasn’t great – that is putting it nicely. In the first half, when we were defending, there was a building site with piles of rubble and sand dotted about. Not ideal when our opponents winger was running at you and you couldn’t turn due to the horrendousness of the pitch. After ten minutes we were two nil down. Kenyan Dan then decided it was time to change the keeper, after the first had let in two easy goals and was limping.
We battled on and went into half time two nil down. Not that bad. We had a half time team talk and Lawsy and Joe turned up! Lawsy at this point felt a lot better, but still not right enough to play football.
The second half started and we were much improved as the other side of the pitch was 100 times better than the first half. We attacked, attacked and attacked and still no luck. I took a free kick from a decent position and I hit the bar. Damn. We carried on attacking and got another free kick. This time John took it and shot at the goal. The keeper made a great save and tipped the shot onto the post; at this point I was running in on goal for the rebound. The ball then hit the bar and bounced away from goal and I was to tap the ball in. The referee blew his whistle before my shot and gave the goal to John’s effort, which never crossed the line. Bizarre, but I’m claiming it.
The match continued and they started to attack more, some of our players became a little tired. The referee then said there were three minutes left to play. We get a corner, I came up for it and left James at the back by himself. This was the last chance to score. Coxie took a poor corner but it was in poor conditions and the ball bounced to their winger, he was 1 on 1 with James and James tried his best to bring him down, I mean to win the ball, but failed miserably. The opponent was 1 on 1 with the keeper, and bizarrely the referee blew for offside, even though he started running from his own half! I thought this was full time and start shaking hands with the players, but then the referee said their was 11 minutes left!
The match then ebbed and flowed but no team managed to score. We were beaten 2-1, but our heads held high as we knew we had played well and had the chances to win the match. After the match we had a talk with the other team and Sean was given the man of the match award. Well done Sean. We had photos and then made our way back to CHAMRECC School to get the bus to Mama Judy’s restaurant.
We were treated to a hearty meal of delicious nyama choma – which is roasted meat, with some other local veg and chips. Mama Judy’s food had been excellent all week. The team, bar Lawsy went for a drink and dance at a local bar.
Today had been the best day of the trip so far.
Dan.
We then piled the gear in the car, picked up Maureen and made our final journey to Mitumba. In the car, we practised the song that we would be singing. The song that was suggested was, New Order – World In Motion, or more specifically – the John Barnes’ Rap, and it was agreed.
We arrived at the school and put the kit into the store cupboard and just mingled within the school, talking to people who we have met during the week. We then managed to find an empty classroom, and practised our performance.
The main sponsor towards the running costs of the school is a church which is run by someone called Pastor Doni – a black American woman who has been living in Kenya for the past two years. As the workshop was in the final stages, Pastor Doni went in to meet all of the students and give a very inspiring speech. She brought along with her a big bag of jewellery-making materials to give to the students, as a kick start to put what the students have learnt into practise and start a business.
After the speech, Pastor Doni met with the entire group and spoke to us. It was nice to meet the person who makes the children’s dreams come true. She said that what we were doing was very good. James is going to carry this bit on.
When Pastor Doni left, it was just about time for the presentation. At this point, Joe came back to the school, but with some special guests; Vicky and Tony. Mumbi also came.
Everyone is seated and Chacha makes a speech and starts the event off by introducing the first performance. There were many different songs, poems and dances performed by both the pupils of the school, and the students of the business workshop. A few people from the Masai tribe attended the workshop and they performed a tribal song and dance for us. Halfway through there performance we were invited up to dance with them which was great fun. After this, we were presented with some gifts from the Masai Tribe.
After all the performances from the pupils and students, it was our turn. We had organised to do a ‘play’ on togetherness, women’s football, fitness and education. After the performance, we had to sing. We had practised the song for about an hour altogether this morning, but John still couldn’t remember the opening line and had to ask me and James for it.
‘You’ve got to hold and give, but do it at the right time,
You can be slow or fast, but you must get to the line,
They’ll always hit you and hurt you,
Defend and attack,
There’s only one way to beat them,
Get round the back,
So catch me if you can,
‘Cos I’m the Samba man,
And what you’re looking at,
Is the master plan,
We aint no hooligan,
This is a football song,
With Samba on my chest,
You know you can’t go wrong.’
After this, there was a presentation from us. We had some certificates to give out, with the equipment Pastor Doni had donated to the students who had completed the business workshop.
After all the presentations were completed, it was lunch time. This is when Joe went with Vicky, Mumbi and Tony. Our group had lunch and then shortly after, we got the gear and made our way to the pitch, where we would be playing a game of netball and football. Yes, you read correctly, netball.
We arrive at the field to a scene of the netball team doing their equivalent of the haka – a song about netball. We were terrified. We had no idea of the rules of netball. We got kitted out for the match and then were introduced to the referee of the match. We were then briefly told about the rules.
The match began, they started off with the ball and due to some slack defending from Coxie and James, we were one nil down after a minute. Fantastic. It was our turn to ‘kick off’ and I thought to my self, this is the time to put my height advantage into some good use. The ball was thrown into my direction, I was just about to catch the ball and then, BOOM, the woman marking me came ploughing right through me and collected the ball. They mean business. As the match progressed, our team started to get to grips with the rules and we went into half time with the lead after some good play with me and Kenyan Dan getting the “goals”?
The second half was just as intense and competitive as the first half, but we were learning the rules. No thanks to James for breaking the rules which caused the other team to score a few goals like…
We won, to the delight of our support – the CHAMRECC school children. We had a talk with the team and they told us of their hope and goals. Now, it was the serious stuff – the football match. This was due to be played just by the netball pitch.
We managed to recruit some players from the CHAMRECC School and then organise the team. The other team was already sorted and was waiting patiently. The pitch wasn’t great – that is putting it nicely. In the first half, when we were defending, there was a building site with piles of rubble and sand dotted about. Not ideal when our opponents winger was running at you and you couldn’t turn due to the horrendousness of the pitch. After ten minutes we were two nil down. Kenyan Dan then decided it was time to change the keeper, after the first had let in two easy goals and was limping.
We battled on and went into half time two nil down. Not that bad. We had a half time team talk and Lawsy and Joe turned up! Lawsy at this point felt a lot better, but still not right enough to play football.
The second half started and we were much improved as the other side of the pitch was 100 times better than the first half. We attacked, attacked and attacked and still no luck. I took a free kick from a decent position and I hit the bar. Damn. We carried on attacking and got another free kick. This time John took it and shot at the goal. The keeper made a great save and tipped the shot onto the post; at this point I was running in on goal for the rebound. The ball then hit the bar and bounced away from goal and I was to tap the ball in. The referee blew his whistle before my shot and gave the goal to John’s effort, which never crossed the line. Bizarre, but I’m claiming it.
The match continued and they started to attack more, some of our players became a little tired. The referee then said there were three minutes left to play. We get a corner, I came up for it and left James at the back by himself. This was the last chance to score. Coxie took a poor corner but it was in poor conditions and the ball bounced to their winger, he was 1 on 1 with James and James tried his best to bring him down, I mean to win the ball, but failed miserably. The opponent was 1 on 1 with the keeper, and bizarrely the referee blew for offside, even though he started running from his own half! I thought this was full time and start shaking hands with the players, but then the referee said their was 11 minutes left!
The match then ebbed and flowed but no team managed to score. We were beaten 2-1, but our heads held high as we knew we had played well and had the chances to win the match. After the match we had a talk with the other team and Sean was given the man of the match award. Well done Sean. We had photos and then made our way back to CHAMRECC School to get the bus to Mama Judy’s restaurant.
We were treated to a hearty meal of delicious nyama choma – which is roasted meat, with some other local veg and chips. Mama Judy’s food had been excellent all week. The team, bar Lawsy went for a drink and dance at a local bar.
Today had been the best day of the trip so far.
Dan.
