Daniel's Challenge - Spirit of Cricket Initiative

03 March 2005 (Venezuela) by Daniel from Km46

Photo: "Cricket in the Jungle" during its heyday in the 1980's

Greetings boys and continued success. How was the weather in the Bolivian Andes?

Now for a little story.

After the Rupununi uprising on the 1st Jan 69 many Amerindian were forced to flee for their lives. Then in the late 70s and early 80s the Burnham regime made us flee our beloved home once more, this time as economic refugees and not as rebels. It started like:  loss of job, followed by loss of property and for some loss of lives. Many of us chose Venezuela, because they are our neighbour and also knowing that Indians are treated as the equal of any man. We tracked in the jungle to here and for the first time we feel proud as Indians.

After uniting under one group we receive ID cards as Venezuelans. We live on borrowed land for a few years. We kept the English language alive by talking and listening to English music. But most of all we brought cricket to this jungle, we made cricket bat out of corkwood tree (see photo to the left), pads out of cardboard boxes and we used baseballs. Huge crowds came to see us play and once in the 80's an English tourist came to us, he was so impressed that he sent a complete set of cricket gear a month later. We really played cricket then, spectators used coconut leaves to score. We now have our own land 8000hectares of virgin forest but we lack our beloved cricket we just hear it on radio. Many of the boys have left for different parts of Venezuela but should we have cricket gear here again they will come.

Hence our request for help in this field, let us be your ambassadors, I know we can muster an exhibition Venezuelan cricket team for the 2007 World Cup and I am sure the ‘liberator’ boys will make a good impression of themselves. Thank you in anticipation and looking forward to playing hard ball cricket again. Maybe the British or the Guanase embassy will be our middleman  - we can go and receive. Now friends keep up the good work.

Love, respect and admiration,

Daniel, Dawn and Dexter.

Photo: Some of the San Flaviano Km46 Community. Daniel is in the top row in the middle.

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