Anne in South Africa

My story

For my Social Work course at college I was allowed to do an internship abroad, and I jumped at the chance. I chose South Africa. I signed up through The Power of Sports, sorted everything out and left for Port Elizabeth in August 2022. Once there, I was picked up from the airport by one of the coordinators.

Everything was brilliantly organised and everyone was lovely. For 12 weeks I enjoyed all the lessons I taught, such as tennis and hockey. I didn’t have much sports experience, but I did have experience of being a leader and playing games with children, so it all went fine. The organisation arranged all sorts of cool activities for the weekends, from bungee jumping to a trip to Cape Town.

You had lots of free time, so plenty of time to explore the city and go and do fun things. There were 2 lovely mamas who cooked delicious food for everyone every evening and looked after us, and a friendly bus driver who takes everyone to all the schools and activities.

The 12 weeks flew by. I have so many wonderful memories, I’ve seen so many places and met loads of lovely people from all over the world who I’m still regularly in touch with.

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

If you fancy a new adventure and you’re sociable and enthusiastic, you should definitely do this.

Enjoy every moment you experience and the rest will happen by itself.