Over the summer Cardiff Blues supporter, Rhys Beynon, spent five weeks living with the Masai Tribe in Kenya, East Africa
Speaking of his experience, Rhys, said,
“I travelled to Kenya as part of a voluntary team comprising of 20 volunteers and our main purpose was to help a local community called Olasiti to develop at the same rate as other places in Kenya. This involved community work such as making a garden so the locals could grow and sell their own vegetables, help fix water pipes which ensured the villages had access to clean water, build a school toilet and teach in the local primary school.
“All the volunteers got assigned a host family to stay with for the duration of the trip, which meant the luxuries of electricity, running water, hot water, a proper toilet and my favourite foods were all non existent. The house was made out of corrugated steel where all 6 members of the family stayed in only two rooms.
“I have worked at the Arms Park as a barman since 2008 and supported Cardiff and Cardiff Blues ever since I was a little kid, so I always intended to take Cardiff Blues merchandise with me to Kenya. When explaining about the trip to my boss, bar manager, Karl Kruger Williams, he very kindly gave me a bag of six old Blues jerseys to take over to Kenya and give to children or adults. So on the last night of my stay I presented the men of the village with these rugby tops and their appreciation on receiving these jerseys was incredible.
‘Clothes are something these Masai people are short of so to receive these tops meant the world to them. I also think because they now all have the same jersey they now feel more like a team and are more united. The joy in their faces when receiving these tops is something I will never forget and as a massive Blues fan I felt incredibly proud and humble to present the Cardiff Blues jerseys to these men and to see them wearing them. I’d like to thank Karl for donating these jerseys and wish he was able to see their reaction.
“My Kenya trip was life changing and the best five weeks of my life and it makes me smile to think that as you read this there are six men in a small community in Africa who are currently walking around in Cardiff Blues jerseys.”