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| Ready
to play! |
Basketball is HUGE in Rwanda. It is undoubtedly the most popular sport among the girls at Maranyundo. Every evening after classes end at 4:30 the students get free time until 6:00 for sport and most of them head to the basketball court.
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I think it would be extremely challenging to dribble on the Fawe School court, but the girls didn’t mention it
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There is a three week holiday every April and the week before the break begins the students are done with exams and have little academic work left to do for the rest of the term. Rwanda has such a young population that the government dictates staggered start and end dates for schools in each province so the all traffic is not at a gridlock as students travel to and from school.
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| Coaching |
Because the students had few obligations, the secretary of Maranyundo (and my roommate) called up a friend from Fawe Girls School just outside the capital and arranged for a friendly basketball game between the two schools.
The school has a team but there is no formal season or schedule, with all games being coordinated through informal contact such as this.
So the last Tuesday of the term, our team was excitedly heading to Fawe Girls School to play the game.
The
final score was 13-12. The girls from
both schools knew each other and were very excited to see their friends.
After the game they got about an hour to socialize and the
coaches from both schools agreed the next game would be at Maranyundo.
On our way back to school we stopped at a little shop for
some food and the girls tumbled out to buy cookies and chocolate to their
heart’s content. They were ecstatic.
I use to play basketball! How did you transport all the girls to the other school? I bet it was super fun to watch the game :-)
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you get to enjoy fun time with them as well as academic time! Do all the girls wear their hair short in Rwanda?
ReplyDeleteWe took the school van. So there was only enough room for the team itself and no supporting fans, but that was okay because it was all just for fun anyways.
ReplyDeleteIt is a Rwandan law that all boarding school students must have their hair shaved. I'm not sure if it is for hygiene or what. But since every student in the country has short hair they don't seem to care that much. However, almost all the students went to day schools for primary and much prefer having more flexibility with their hair. But it isn't a common source of complaint.
We took the school van. So there was only enough room for the team itself and no supporting fans, but that was okay because it was all just for fun anyways.
ReplyDeleteIt is a Rwandan law that all boarding school students must have their hair shaved. I'm not sure if it is for hygiene or what. But since every student in the country has short hair they don't seem to care that much. However, almost all the students went to day schools for primary and much prefer having more flexibility with their hair. But it isn't a common source of complaint.