Casimir de Groot – 10 Unforgettable Weeks in South Africa

For my school I was looking for a place to do my international internship when I stumbled upon United Through Sport, and I thought, “Hey, that looks like a good, well-organised company.”
Then I saw that they also work in South Africa, which has always been a bucket list place for me to go, and I was immediately sold. My trip was truly unforgettable.

When I first arrived, I was a bit nervous. I’d been away from home before, but always with people I knew, and never for as long as three months. This time, I was in a completely new place, with no one I knew, and it would be my home for the next 12 weeks.
But after the first few days, I got to know the group I was volunteering with and I thought, yeah, this is going to work—and it’s going to be awesome.

Coaching and Daily Life

I wanted to coach as many different sports as I could, so I did football (soccer), tennis, basketball, swimming, and childcare at the local crèche.

For the coaching programme, we would leave around 8:45 to the first school. There, we started with a “learn to move” session where we coached grade 3 or 4 (sometimes these sessions are with as young as Grade R (reception)) and taught them the basics of movement. After that, we got to coach our chosen sport for grade 6 or 7 (again this is sometimes younger kids Grade 4+).
Then we went to two more schools to do a one hour session of our sport at each.

The kids always loved it when we came to coach. Usually they don’t get any sports lessons or sessions, so they really appreciated when we came to teach them something. They got to choose the sport they wanted to play, and the best thing was that when they had fun, they would come back the next week to do the same sport again. That way, you really got to see them grow and create a bond with them.

The Fun Outside the Programme

We did a lot outside of the programme too. When we got home we had free time until dinner, and after dinner there was a group activity almost every night. Throughout the week we’d go somewhere to play football, go to the karaoke bar, have a game night, and do all kinds of other stuff in our free time.

On weekends, there was always an organised activity you could sign up for and I did almost all of them. We went on safari, skydiving, bungee jumping, shark cage diving, and surfing. Sometimes we even did an overnight stay with the whole group in another town or city nearby to explore more of the country.

These moments really topped off my experience. Coaching was fun to do, but getting to do these activities really brought the group together. That’s when we made friends for life.
I also really got on with the local people. I became friends with some of the staff, like the coordinator and the bus driver, but also made some friends at the bars we went to every week, some of whom I still talk to today.

What I Took Away From It

Usually, I’m very quiet and focused on myself, but during my time in South Africa I got really social with a lot of people, and I’m really proud of myself for doing that. So yeah, I’d say I really got out of my comfort zone.

The one thing I know I’m really going to miss is how kind, loving, enthusiastic, relaxed, and open people are in South Africa, especially the local people, but also the other volunteers. I think people in more advanced areas of the world can really learn something from that.

When you ask me to sum up my journey in South Africa… I can’t.

If you want to do volunteering somewhere while also experiencing the country and culture, UTS is the place to do so.