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These are the Maasai Cricket Warriors - the
semi-nomadic cattle herders vowing to brighten up their sport.
Ditching traditional whites for their colourful clothing and body
decorations, the Kenyan tribesmen are in serious training.
Donning pads and armed with bats, the men from the Laikipia region this
week left their tiny village for the Mombasa Legends Cricket Nursery.
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They now hope to travel to the Last Man Standing 2012 World
Championships in Cape Town next month - the crowning event of the global
eight-a-side amateur Twenty20 cricket league.
The players say they want to be role models in their communities by
campaigning against traditional female circumcision and child marriages.
And through their cricket they also try to promote healthier lifestyles
and spread awareness about HIV/AIDS among tribal youth, they added.
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An online appeal for donations on the Maasai Cricket Warriors website
said: 'By developing cricket and sports amongst Maasai youth and
children the aim is to empower the youth in Maasai communities while
enhancing their participation in community development, allowing them to
become healthy, productive and well-adjusted members of society.'
Members of the Maasai Warriors cricket team take part in a practice
session on the beach in Mombasa.
The team captain is Nissan Jonathan Ole Meshami. Meshami was born in
1986 in a remote village in the Rift Valley area of Kenya, the youngest
in a family of nine children. Unable to attend school, he helped his
family tend their herds of goats and sheep. "I mastered the art of
throwing a spear at a very early age and I also became good at throwing
stones long distances. The aim of the spear was never to harm or hurt
any wildlife, but rather as a protection if ever I had found myself in a
one-on-one situation having to fight for my own life." |
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