Cricket and the Maasai warriors
Think of a Maasai warrior and the image that comes to mind is of a tall, strong man with a spear hunting lions in the African bush
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
Think of a Maasai warrior and the image that comes to mind is of a tall, strong man with a spear hunting lions in the African bush. But thanks to a South African woman named Aliya Bauer, the image of a Maasai warrior crunching a cricket ball through cover might soon accompany it. Seven years ago Bauer was posted to the village of Il Polei in Kenya to work on a research project about baboons. Without a TV, she was suffering from cricket withdrawal. Her solution - teach the local people how to play. Writing in the Guardian, Andy Bull describes the birth of the Maasai Cricket Warriors and its impact on the community.
Better yet, being the person she is, Bauer has been using the cricket programme to target social problems in the Maasai community, such as the spread of Aids. The Maasai are traditionally polygamous, which has contributed to the syndrome's growth. "The teachers also taught us how to incorporate HIV/Aids awareness into cricket and coaching," Nissan says. "I now integrate HIV awareness into cricket. I teach the ABC approach – Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condom Use. Abstaining from sex is like a batsman abstaining from hitting balls in the air so he is not caught. Being faithful to ones partner is like how batsmen must communicate to decide whether to make a run or not. And use of condoms is like how batsmen must protect their wickets.”
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo