14 Community & Events
By Cheryl Rounsaville
mojatu .com
NTU’S GLOBAL LOUNGE WELCOMES
THE MAASAI CRICKET WARRIORS
On Thursday, 24 August, NTU’s Global Lounge was
delighted to host the Maasai Cricket Warriors. The Global
Lounges at NTU are multifunctional spaces for students
and staff that host a variety of cultural events, workshops,
and social gatherings, sometimes in conjunction with
valued local partners like the Mojatu Foundation, to
provide numerous opportunities for students to share
their cultures and meet people from around the world.
Our day with the Warriors started at 9:00 am with a full
English breakfast in NTU’s Dine Arkwright café to which the
Warriors were escorted by three NTU students working as
Global Lounge Assistants (GLAs). The traditional breakfast
was a big hit with the Warriors! The GLAs then took the
Warriors on a tour of Nottingham City Centre showing
them sights like Nottingham Castle, Market Square and
City Hall. From 12 – 2pm, the Global Lounge hosted a
welcome lunch for the Warriors that was open to all NTU students and staff. Over 100 people attended to meet and
take pictures with the Warriors. Also, in attendance was Nottingham’s very own local hero, Robin Hood! NTU Catering
provided a delicious Kenyan-style lunch which the Warriors – and the other guests - greatly enjoyed.
During the lunch Stephen Williams, Director of NTU
Global, welcomed the Warriors to the Global Lounge
and explained the importance of the Lounge in
spreading cross-cultural awareness and understanding.
He then introduced Valentine Nkoyo, Director of the
Mojatu Foundation, who said a few words about the
Warriors visit to Nottingham and her own experience
growing up as a Maasai. Next Valentine introduced
the Captain of the Cricket Warriors team who made a
wonderful speech about how much the team had been
enjoying their visit to Nottingham and thanked the
University for helping to sponsor their visit. The final
speaker was Robin Hood who warmly welcomed the
Warriors to Nottingham and even showed them how to
use a medieval bow and arrow! The lunch finished with
the Warriors treating the guests to a performance of a
traditional Maasai dance.
After lunch the Warriors accompanied Robin Hood to
the Castle to visit the statue dedicated to Nottingham’s
legendary outlaw. The day ended with Robin taking
the Warriors for a visit to the oldest pub in England, Ye
Olde Trip to Jerusalem, for some more cross-cultural
exchange – this time over a traditional pint or two!