Merlin in South Africa

My story

In January 2022 I dropped out of my university course because I felt I wasn’t in the right place. I had no plan at all about what I would do instead. More than anything I wanted to go abroad for a while. There are 2 things I really love, and they’re sport and working with children. After a bit of googling I came across this organisation, where you can combine sport, working with kids and South Africa. So for me the choice was quickly made: off to South Africa!

Of course it’s exciting the moment you arrive, but I actually felt at home straight away. You’re welcomed with open arms and treated like family. I shared my room with an English lad and an American lad. In the end there were 20 of us living in one building. You really live together, so you get to know everyone well and form great bonds with people from all over the world.

From Monday to Friday you went to 4 schools a day. The first school of the day was always an hour of “learn to move”. You’d get a group of children aged about 5 and play games with them for an hour (Grandmother’s Footsteps, Drop the Handkerchief, relay races). The last 20 minutes are “free play” and the kids can do whatever they want. They all want something from you then: one wants to play football with you, others want you to join in skipping and others just want to sit on your shoulders.

At the next 3 schools you get children aged between 10 and 13 and coach a sport for an hour. You can choose between hockey, football, tennis, netball, rugby and cricket. The great thing is that you visit the same schools every week and so see the same kids. You meet so many different and inspiring children and build amazing bonds with them.

Besides the sports sessions with the kids you also do other fun things; for example, we had games night with all the volunteers twice a week. Think of a quiz or a volleyball match. During games night we’d have a few nice drinks at the bar and afterwards go out to, for example, the karaoke bar Barneys or the club Bru bar. Where in Holland I’d pay 9 euros for a Red Bull vodka, at Bru bar or Barneys I could get 3 Red Bull vodkas for the same price. You can imagine these made for great nights in South Africa. On Thursday evenings we always played in the local 5-a-side football league. Those are great memories too. I also played with a local hockey team twice a week. An amazing experience.

I also went to Cape Town for 10 days. An amazing city you can’t skip when you’re in South Africa.

My plan was to stay with UTS for 7 weeks, but in the end it became 12. They’ve been the best 3 months of my life and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Every day I think about the amazing children there, the new friends I made, the mamas who cooked for you every day and made you feel at home, and the local young people who joined in with the coaching.

The only negative thing about this adventure was that it came to an end after 3 months…

How long did you volunteer?
3 months

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

I had the best time of my life in SA, and that’s because I got everything out of it that there was to get. So I’d advise you to grab every opportunity you get there with both hands.

If you have any questions about the organisation, the country or anything else, you can always get in touch with me!!