A week in the life of a 15-year-old cricket player from Mauritius — Assembly

Last week, Celina competed for Team Mauritius at the Street Child Cricket World Cup in Cambridge, U.K. The tournament uses the power of cricket to tackle the stigma faced by street-connected children and to encourage countries, governments and communities to better support them. For her edition of Roll Call, Celina describes what it was like to play in the tournament.

Monday

I did painting activities on t-shirts and then my teammates and I went bowling today. We also watched the boats sail past in the River Cam [the main river in Cambridge, U.K.]. The first night was excellent and the food was good. I felt very welcome by the staff and volunteers!

Wednesday

I practiced cricket at a local school in Cambridge which was fun. It was also exciting to play against the other teams for the first time. I also took part in some art activities and congress, which I felt was good for me.

Thursday

Today was good! I met the former British Prime Minister Sir John Major and I also went to the Houses of Parliaments where members of other teams delivered speeches about the issues facing street-connected young people. My favourite part of today was watching Kent versus Surrey at The Oval [an international cricket stadium in London].

Friday

We had congress today where I learnt about the issues facing street-connected young people in other countries. In congress, Team Mauritius presented a banner which included unique things about Mauritius, such as there are several communities living in Mauritius, like people of Chinese and Indian descent. The banner also included the ocean surrounding Mauritius.

Saturday

Today was the group stages of the Street Child Cricket World Cup. We had an opening ceremony which was really fun and I also spoke to a reporter from the BBC. We had three matches today against Team Bangladesh, Team India North and Team Tanzania. Although we didn’t win any of the matches, it still went well for Team Mauritius because when we got into the game we played quite well. It was a very cold and rainy day today, which made it a little difficult to play.

In the evening, it was the first late show. We showed the audience a short YouTube video about Mauritius and then my teammates and I performed a traditional Mauritian dance which was very exciting. It was a pleasure to show people Mauritian culture.

Sunday

It was the last day of the group stages today. Team Mauritius played against Team Nepal, Team England and Team West Indies. We lost the first two matches and won our first match against Team West Indies which made me very happy.

Monday

I spent most of my day in congress. I learnt about problems in other countries and also the problems in Mauritius. I’m very happy that we have some resolutions to bring to the government in Mauritius.

Tuesday

Today was the finals of the Street Child Cricket World Cup, which took place at Lord’s Cricket Ground [a prestigious cricket stadium in London]. I played one match against Team West Indies. Even though we lost the match against Team West Indies, it was okay because we got to play at Lord’s.

After the matches finished, the General Assembly took place in the Thomas Lord Suite. During the General Assembly, I listened to the resolutions from each country about issues facing street-connected young people. My most memorable moment of the Street Child Cricket World Cup was listening to the rights of each person taking part in the tournament.

Read more from the Street Child World Cup: 18-year-old Jasmin from Team England, 16-year-old Lusi from Team India North and 16-year-old Nisha from Team Nepal.