Binc in South Africa

My story

After the summer holidays I had a period with nothing planned yet. I was looking for something fun and educational. Through a TikTok I came across ‘The Power of Sports’ and looked into the different countries where you could volunteer.

Then the time came and I left for South Africa for a month. I arrived on the arrival weekend in October. I’d really recommend this, because lots of people arrive at the same time and you’re not completely on your own. It’s great fun getting to know new people. They came from all over the world! I shared a room with 2 German lads and we had such a great time. We played some ‘icebreaker’ games to get to know everyone and watched the rugby semi-final with everyone in a bar, the Springboks against England.

Then the coaching began. In the mornings we often did ‘learn to move’, which was for little kids between 5 and 8 years old, where you played games with them so the children could move around and have fun. After that we coached the slightly older children, who were between 9 and 14. In the first week I mainly started with coaching hockey and football. In the second week I wanted to try something different too, and the staff there were very easy-going and flexible about that, so they were really helpful. So later on I also coached basketball, rugby and cricket! In the 3rd week there was a ‘swimming gala’ and they needed a hand, so I offered to help. Kids came to the UTS complex and we all played games in our pool (Yes, we had a lovely pool for after a hot day of coaching 😉 ) The gala finished with a braai (a kind of barbecue) for all the kids.

After coaching we always had a free afternoon, which was great fun. We went to the shopping centres and also did fun little activities. Every Wednesday we had a football tournament, and on Tuesdays we had karaoke night! We also went to the beach a few times, to the market and went go-karting (really cheap)! Yes, everything there was so cheap; a beer in the bar cost me the equivalent of €0.90, crazy. We also watched the Rugby World Cup final with the local people here! It was amazing when they won, everyone was over the moon and it was one big party!

At the weekends we were free and I joined in with the activities on offer. The first weekend we went on safari, so incredibly cool! We also went to Jeffreys Bay, a really nice surf town! We went surfing there and I went skydiving!!! I also had the chance to join the SA experience. On this we did the Garden Route from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and did all sorts of activities! Such as quad biking, ziplining, climbing through caves, a lovely wine tasting and climbing Table Mountain in Cape Town.

All in all, a fantastic experience where I met so many lovely people! An unforgettable adventure!

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

I only went for 4 weeks myself, which was still amazing! But if you have the option to go for longer, I’d really do it. Other than that, really enjoy it, time goes so fast. Step out of your comfort zone. Be open to new things and take on the adventure! (Oh yes, do the skydive!!! )