The Power To Unite
Sports has always had the great power to unite people no matter what race, religion, nationality, gender or social background they belong to. South Africa being one of the most diverse countries on the planet in terms of ethnicity, culture and geography has used the power of sports to unite its people together under one umbrella more than other countries. When it comes to The Proteas, Springboks or Bafana Bafana all South Africans unite to support their country against their opposition regardless of their race, religion or background. We fondly remember how passionate South Africans were when supporting Bafana Bafana in the 2010 football world cup. How can one forget the impact Nelson Mandela had on the Springboks Rugby World Cup win in 1995. The iconic moment when Francois Pienaar received the trophy from Nelson Mandela will live on in the memories for generations.
Through the British government programme International Citizen Service (ICS) via the charity Skillshare International, all of us UK volunteers are undergoing our 10 week placements in different townships in and around Cape Town, South Africa. Our placements are in partnership with local partner organisations that are already established and works toward community development, social inclusion and crime prevention. Partner organisations and volunteers from UK and South Africa work hand in hand with sporting activities used as a way of educating and helping youths in Cape Town.
Volunteers work through programmes like Coaching for Hope and organisations such as Oasis, ABC for life and MITS in places such as Langa, Mitchells Plain, Atlantis and Hout Bay. With inputs from all the volunteers, team leaders and local coaches coaching sessions are prepared to coach football and netball at schools, clubs and NGO’s. In my particular area Atlantis, we work at the local organisation Orion and provide football sessions through Coaching for hope at lunch times and further football and netball practices in the evening. Sports has that incredible power to unite and bring together people no matter where you come from or what you look like, once you are on the field of play it’s all about the enthusiasm for the sport and togetherness as a team.
In Atlantis with our local partner organisation Orion, we are under the process of doing a door-to-door survey in one of the poorest areas of Atlantis called Witsand. Witsand is an informal settlement with mainly shacks and some formal houses built by the authorities. The purpose of the survey is to find out the number of people living in Witsand with any disabilities or illnesses so that Orion can help them with the allotted government funds and funds of their own. Another benefit of this survey is that information gathered from the survey could be used by the social development department of the government to keep an official record of the number of people living in the area and number of people living with disabilities who can then be helped with disabilities grant and care grants.
As I mentioned Witsand is one of the poorest areas and this was clearly evident as we arrived for the first day of surveying. With images that maybe similar to aid advertisements that are shown in the UK. In Witsand we were helped with our research project greatly by a local lady Mama Lina, who is a very well respected community member and has many contacts in the community and is well aware of what can and cannot be done in Witsand for safety reasons. It is incredible fun working with Mama Lina, she takes incredible care of our affairs in Witsand and she is also very affectionate towards us volunteers. Orion has helped us greatly with safety arrangements while we are in Witsand conducting the survey, they have arranged for police patrol in and around Witsand while we are surveying and provide us with necessary equipments and recourses. The presence of the police has given us that extra confidence and belief that our safety is being treated seriously.
By the end of the survey we hope to achieve all the tasks and targets that we set to begin with and as volunteers Witsand gives us more of an insight into how it is to live under the line of poverty, with a lack of sanitation or proper shelter. Witnessing living conditions and circumstances of people living here puts the problems and issues raised with housing and the welfare system in the UK into perspective. The issue of the difference between absolute and relative poverty also comes into mind. That very issue was also the topic of a study session organised here for the volunteers by the ICS team.
The programme supervisor Nina and the UK and South African team leaders organised a very helpful International Development study session for all the UK and South African volunteers. The aim of the session was to clarify and reiterate the differences in poverty around the world and the difference between absolute and relative poverty if anybody had any doubts. There were presentations from our team leaders Gediminas and Lucy on the difference between poverty in London and here in Cape Town.
It was good to see how poverty is viewed differently around the world and what means poverty to people of different background. Our South African volunteer friends had a complete different view to poverty compared to the volunteers from the UK. In the study session there was also presentation on different aspects of human nature and how humans can make a difference in this world and in regards to poverty. We looked at how difference can be made from an individual, group, community and state level. Though it might have dragged a little in length, I thought the whole idea and initiative to teach us about the differences in poverty was a good idea and a worthwhile experience.
In our spare time at the weekends after long hard weeks of working in communities and schools we manage to find some time to visit a few attractions around Cape Town, such as the Two Oceans Aquarium, Camps Bay beach and company gardens. At Camps Bay we managed to attend a promotional red bull event organised on the beach by the company where there was music, dancing, international models and lots and lots of free red bull. Camps Bay is a very picturesque location with Table Mountain to one side and Lionshead mountain to the other.
Being on the Atlantic side of the ocean at camps bay meant that we had to deal with the freezing temperatures to the water while swimming in the sea, water cold enough to make a penguin freeze some of us found it quite difficult to start with adjusting to that sort of temperature. Company garden is a very popular spot in the centre of Cape Town for both locals and tourists alike to come and relax in-between busy days.
We also managed to hike Table Mountain one of Cape Town’s main attractions and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Most of us UK volunteers took the opportunity to hike this iconic mountain that provides the opportunity to view Cape Town from an incredible bird’s eye view. Started the hike at around 6am with a view to beat the heat, which could potentially make the hike a gruelling experience. We had information that the hike would be approximately two hours long and could be tough and the cable car might be a better easier option, but it was decided that for an authentic experience hike would be a better option.
A small group of five of us out of twenty managed to hike the Table Mountain quickest of all of the UK volunteers in a time of an hour and twenty minutes. Though we were beaten by two of our Norwegian volunteer friends, we were quite satisfied by the effort and once we reached the summit, tiredness was soon replaced by joy of having such stunning views. From Table Mountain there are several great views, Lion’s Head to one direction, Camps Bay and Hout Bay to other ways. After having breakfast in a cafe on top of Table Mountain, we started the descent which is significantly shorter in time but very taxing on the knees and calf muscles. Many of us suffered cramps to leg muscles at the bottom of Table Mountain after the descent. Table Mountain completes my second of the seven wonders after having visited the Taj Mahal previously.
So far my placement in South Africa has been a fabulous experience in terms of realisation of how such a diverse nation works and how people from all different backgrounds manage to live together and what problems arise in such situations.
In the next column I will write about our midpoint review session that was conducted to mark the halfway point of our placements here in Cape Town. There will also be extracts of my experience in Witsand at the end of my time their completing surveys. In the coming weekends we are also planning to hike the lionshead, so there will more on that experience and our planned visit to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail to fight for the rights of many South Africans. 21st of march is Human Rights day and us volunteers are planning several events and activities in and around Cape Town in our townships, so there will also be reflections on our events and experiences on Human Rights day in my next column.
