THE Zimbabwe national cricket team yesterday diverted from their routine practice sessions for the upcoming white ball series against Ireland when they embarked on a trip west of Harare to inspire orphans and vulnerable children.
Head coach Dave Houghton and his charges spent the better part of the afternoon with children at the Centre for Total Transformation based in Snake Park, where Zimbabwe Cricket are assisting with the construction of a classroom block.
Houghton said the cricket stars should use their influence to transform lives among the communities, particularly by attending to the plight of the underprivileged.
The Centre for Total Transformation is a charity organisation that currently offers education opportunities and nutritional support for more than 600 disadvantaged children.
“I heard about the cause in church on Christmas and it really struck me; the transformation of life especially of young children. In fact, they are orphans in tough situations and I thought it was such a worthwhile cause.
“I wanted our players to come and experience it as well because we play in a big environment, we travel by aeroplanes, we live in nice hotels and we play in front of big crowds. Sometimes it’s easy to forget and have a bad perspective on life.
“So it was crucial coming back down here and seeing how much the guys here get involved in building and mixing cement.
“Obviously, anything we can do for this charity, this is not the end of it for me. It’s just the beginning of an association with this charity and hopefully we can help them.
“You know, it’s a completely voluntary society and they need funds to build classrooms and to get the teachers paid properly, we are going to try and help them.
“I think what the guys have realised in the last six months is that they now know the impact they have on society if they play good cricket.
“And it’s not just the impact of getting messages on social media from people telling you how good they think you are. We have an impact on peoples’ lives and I think it’s very good for our guys to know and it will help them get down to earth, ready to put on those big performances against Ireland,” said Houghton.
Tino Manase, the director of Centre for Total Transformation, said their organisation was founded in 1998 in Chiweshe before relocating to Snake Park in 2011.
It is a multi-purpose centre that provides social welfare services and life skills programmes to orphans, single mothers and widows in the community.
They also run a school that has an enrolment of 620 pupils, from Early Childhood Development up to grade seven. They currently conduct their classes in temporary wooden structures.
But they are now building their first classroom block with the assistance of Zimbabwe Cricket. The project is at foundation level.
“This visit is very significant and inspiring to the kids,” said Manase.
“They are used to watching them on television and having them, being so humble to come here, is very significant. We also hope that this won’t be the last visit.
“We were very desperate to build a decent classroom block that is safe and comfortable for the children after one of the structures had its roof blown away by winds in the middle of a lesson last year.
“Now we have laid our foundation for this block with the assistance of Zimbabwe Cricket. Hopefully this foundation also signifies the beginning of our friendship and partnership with Zimbabwe Cricket,” said Manase.
The Chevrons are set to play Ireland in six white ball games next week. They will open with a three-match T20I series on Thursday, before a double header on Saturday and Sunday.
The teams will then engage in ODI games set for January 18, 20 and 23. All the matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club. The children from the Centre for Total Transformation will get a special invitation to attend some of the games.
Houghton said they were hoping for long-term relations with the charity.
“I think some of them don’t even know what cricket is but that’s not a problem. Hopefully in the future they will find out because I would want to see if we can bring a number of the kids to watch our games so that they get to understand that the people that they dealt with are actually sportsmen.
“I think there is an opportunity to put a cricket field here (at CTT), stick a concrete wicket in the middle so that it doesn’t take a lot of maintenance and who knows we could get a national cricketer out of here in 20 years’ time.
“I think the big thing for me is to give people the best start in life that we can and that’s why I am hoping we can help here,” said Houghton.
The Chevrons captain Craig Ervine also said the visit was worth it.
“To come out here is a very humbling experience for us. I think it’s such inspiration for the kids to meet people that they probably look up to but don’t usually get the opportunity to meet.
“I guess it sheds some light in a different perspective on life. You know, we are used to being in town and sticking to the cricket field and the usual places we go.
“But I think the experience for the kids is what we came here for. It’s not for us. It’s more about inspiring these little guys and hopefully they will be able to come down to Harare Sports Club next week during our games and we can put on a good show for them,” said Ervine.
Zimbabwe T20I squad:
Craig Ervine (captain), Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams – The Herald
