Daniël in South Africa

My story

My time began in February. I arrived on the arrival weekend of 7 February, and I’d recommend everyone to arrive on an arrival weekend. On these weekends they have things planned, so you get to know the culture and the city straight away. The first few days take some getting used to, but your fellow volunteers really help you settle in.

At the weekend I passed on my preferences for how I wanted to shape my internship. There are lots of different sports you can teach, but there’s also teaching and childcare. I shaped my internship with 3 coaching sessions (2x football and 1x swimming lessons) and 1 teaching session. Personally I liked the variety, and if I wanted to change something, that was easily sorted.
Besides the opportunities you get through the organisation, I ended up at a football academy where I gave extra training sessions. The football academy is called Stars Unite. There I could challenge myself even more as a coach, because the level of these players is really high.

Back home in Holland I regularly teach PE classes myself, but the biggest difference I experienced in the lessons was the appreciation you get back from the children. The children always look forward to you coming and often come to greet you in big numbers and with loads of enthusiasm. What also makes it great is that it doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever given a lesson before; as long as you keep those children happily busy, you naturally grow into teaching. There’s a lot of talk about the impact you have on the children as a coach, and people sometimes forget that those children, through their enthusiasm and gratitude, also have a huge impact on you.

With teaching, you mainly support the teacher. There are always classes where you can help, and the nice thing is that you don’t have to stay with 1 class all day. There’s a lot to do on a day like that. You can play outside with the youngest groups, help them learn the language in a playful way, help with reading, or even teach an English lesson to the older groups.

Besides the internship part, you also have free time. There’s an incredible amount to do in and around the city. We did so many things, like a safari, going out together, surfing in Jeffreys Bay, bungee jumping, skydiving, sports matches, playing sport together, the Garden Route + Cape Town and much more. You won’t be bored for a second, that’s one thing that’s for sure.
You’ll have the time of your life, make lots of new friends and experience moments you’ll never forget!

What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?

Enjoy, learn and make the most of your time on the internship, because before you know it you’ll be back on the plane home.