South Africa: Coaching for Hope

The week commencing the 12th September 2011, was again one of the best, most awe inspiring weeks of my life. It began by us taking a trip through cape town city centre, and the more suburban parts of cape town, just getting a feel for the country and area we were about to spend the next 3 months of our lives, living and working in. After The welcome meetings and rule giving's were out of the way, coach training commenced! It was held in one of South Africa's largest Townships, Khayelitsha (Kai-lit-cha).

To see this from a plane is one thing, to be there, is another. The group weren't even permitted to venture outside the field, as it would have been far too dangerous, 'foreigners in the wrong part of town'. But enough with negativity, yes Cape Town is one of the most dangerous cities on the planet, and yes the residents of the townships, have to travel to get water, and only receive electricity for a few hours a day. But the way they cope, leaves you speechless.

We were trained at a school in the Township, completing drills on the Chris Cambell Memorial Field, a 3g pitch, which was funded for by Amandla EDUfootball, another sports development NGO (Non Governmental Organisation). We completed theory, the kids had playtime, they completed theory, we had our playtime.

Look at the time too, some honourable people right there. This is what the first week went like, designing drills, debating about ethics in life and in sport. Then doing practical work outside on the pitch, adding a little bit of mucking around with the kids into the mix, and you've got yourself a great week.

When the kids had playtime, something i noticed really struck me. what I saw, you would never in a million years, get a child  who lived in the UK, having the intellect and imagination to do this. The kids, had collected rubbish from the floor, found a bag or string to tie it all together, a homemade footy! Genius! Re-use and Recycle!

And if you ever wondered how its done....

The New Blog: Cape Town, Round One

OK, fairly obvious one, this is my new Blog. Iv decided to do a Blog to detail my experiences of the past and future months. This includes, what has happened to me (if anyone's interested), and what I plan to do to prepare for my return journey to Cape Town, Volunteering with Coaching for Hope, and my experiences of training and fundraising for The Hull Marathon on behalf of Skillshare International.

To cut a long story short, I was accepted with along with a group of 18 individuals onto a Sports Development Programme run by Skillshare, facilitated by the Coaching For Hope programme. Their aim is to use Football, and physical education to create better futures for young people in Western and Southern Africa. The programme uses the age old notion of 'children learn by playing' to their advantage, integrating information on HIV/Aids, with football and sporting activity. The empowerment this gives the youth South Africa, is unparalleled, the happiness it gives them is immeasurable.  The volunteer placement was for 3 months, beginning 12th September 2011, in the Western Cape area of South Africa. However I was a little different.

The Cathartic experience began when I dipped below the clouds, early morning on September 13th, 2011, what I saw, literally began to change my life. As the Boeing 747 began to near Cape Town from the air,  there is something incredible that catches the eye, Townships (you may know them by the slightly politically incorrect name of 'Shanty Towns').
The seemingly Internationally 'famous' city of Cape Town, has some of its residents, living, eating and working, from inside corrugated Iron. This is my first experience of a place where there is such an indescribable gap between Rich and Poor. At one point during the landing, I looked left out of the plane, and saw tranquillity, when I looked right, I saw desperation. Truly the most diverse city I have ever encountered. The city centre of Cape Town, is dotted with glistening sky scrapers, sprinkled with 5 Star hotels, and home to the world famous World Cup Stadium. To quote the 'Celebrity Cape Town' article featured in a Cape Town Travel website.

'Film executives from around the world are turning to Cape Town as a premier filming location. The city and her surrounds offer countless diverse locations. The Cape boasts dramatic mountain vistas, a sprawling coastline and lush vineyards, as well as historic buildings, vibrant townships and the skyscraper-studded City Bowl.'
I cannot argue with one word of this, look at every area of cape town through Google Maps, and you see something new. I mean, the city has even got a 'World Wonder' on the doorstep, a status achieved this year by Table Mountain. But this interestingly steers away, and does almost a 'good job' at hiding the harrowing experiences some residents go through on a day to day basis.

Cape Town is for many differing reasons an inspiring place