Priority is given to those who have no parents, but there are some who have one parent or who have families who are so poor that they are unable to look after them. They range in age from seven to eighteen years old. Our accommodation was simple, but we did have beds, chairs and a table which is more than the boys had. At night the boys roll out mats to sleep on in a large hall. They usually sit on the ground outside to eat and do their school homework.
Food is cooked over a wood fire in large cauldrons.
There is a special area outside where water is available for the boys to wash themselves and their clothes - this usually starts at about six o'clock in the morning. They always seem to be very neat, clean and tidy. There is a wall five foot high around the compound and it keeps most of the snakes and scorpions out. In some ways this seems like paradise - a hot sunny climate with no significant rain for nine months of the year, plenty of level sandy ground within the perimeter wall, happy, smiling, polite and well behaved boys who are ready in any spare moment to play cricket with great skill and grace. No moaning or wingeing when a player is out.