KENYA-CRICKET WARRIORS Maasai Cricket Warriors batting to save last male northern white rhino

Record ID: 151149

  • Title: KENYA-CRICKET WARRIORS Maasai Cricket Warriors batting to save last male northern white rhino
  • Date: 15th June 2015
  • Summary: KENYA (JUNE 14, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS PLAYERS VARIOUS OF MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS IN A HUDDLE VARIOUS OF MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS BOWLING AGAINST THE BRITISH ARMY TEAM MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS CHEERING ON THEIR TEAMMATES VARIOUS OF THE MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS CAPTAIN SONYANGA OLENGAIS ON PITCH MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS TEAM MEMBERS TAKING PICTURES W
  • Embargoed: 30th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA44PVQOWNBDPRSWC0WUG6YZYUJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Maasai Cricket Warriors are first on the crease and are getting ready to bat. The T20 tournament will see them challenge four teams including a team from the British Army Training Unit based in Kenya.
    But the "Warriors" are no ordinary cricket team. Dressed in traditional Maasai regalia, these young men have become role models in their communities.
    They actively campaign against retrogressive and harmful cultural practices, such as female genital mutilation and early childhood marriages, while fighting to eradicate discrimination against women in Maasai land.
    Through cricket, they promote healthier lifestyles and also spread awareness about HIV/AIDS amongst youth.
    Sonyanga Olengais is the captain of the team.
    "We are showing the people that, even if we play cricket and even if we are in the modern world, then actually that should not be a thing to stop us from like practicing our culture because what we are trying to do is, we are trying to battle out the negatives of our culture like FGM," said Soyanga Ole Ngais, Captain Maasai Cricket Warriors.
    Dubbed, "Last Male Standing", the charity cricket tournament was hosted at the home of the last surviving male northern white rhino, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in Laikipia National Park, about 209 kilometres (130 miles) from Nairobi.
    Organisers hope to raise awareness of the impact of poaching and the need for community involvement in conservation.
    "This the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa so for us for people to come here into a black rhino to highlight the plight that faces rhinos across the world as exhibited by what has happened to the northern white rhinos where we only have five left in the world, we think is a good idea and that's what it's all about," Richard Vigne, Chief Executive Officer of the Ol Pejeta Conservancy.
    As part of their community activism, the Maasai Cricket Warriors have also adopted issues around wildlife conservation. At Ol Pejeta, some of the team members spent time with 'Sudan,' one of only five remaining white rhinos in the world.
    "We play cricket and at the same time spread messages of conservation, like at the moment what we are doing we are trying to spread the messages on the white rhino and protecting the only male white rhino left in the whole world, it's here in Ol Pejeta," added Olengais.
    Though the Maasai Cricket Warriors didn't win, for the team, bringing global attention to the plight of endangered animals is a far more rewarding victory.
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