Madrid Cricket Club recently had the opportunity to help refugees in Serbia. Madrid CC player Lewis Clark takes up the story….
“We were approached by a small Spanish NGO call Ruedas Creativas a few months back about obtaining cricket equipment for use in refugee camps. They had previously been working in Calais and found many refugees playing and wanting to play cricket. They had no previous knowledge of the game but saw how important it was for the refugees to play some sport and that cricket put a smile back on their faces. The NGO, led by Spaniard Eric Guinea, learnt how to play with the refugees and for this year’s project in Serbia, decided to extend the cricket initiative.”
“We managed to get people to donate old equipment and rounded up a decent number of old bats, stumps, balls etc. We also gave them one of the older sets of kids equipment. They are now in Serbia in Obrenovac, a refugee camp with over 1,000 people, and after working in the kitchens during the day, they spend a few hours organizing matches and joining in themselves. The initiative has been a huge success with 3 matches being played simultaneously for 3 hours. So as not to favour any particular group in the camp, they take back the equipment at the end of each day.”
“They would very much like to obtain more kit, particularly old tennis balls, bats and stumps”.
If any clubs have these things available please contact Lewis Clark at lclark@genasys.com for more information. A further article in Spanish is available by clicking on the link below.
https://lasruedascreativas.wordpress.com/2017/03/27/cricket-en-el-campo-de-obrenovac-serbia/
