Newa in South Africa

My story

For my gap year I was looking for an organisation that really appealed to me and where, as a volunteer, you genuinely add something to the lives of these children, and not just for your own experience and enjoyment. And I’m really happy with my choice of The Power of Sports!

When I arrived at the house it was immediately a lively, cosy atmosphere. At that point there were 17 of us volunteers living there: 10 Dutch, 4 British, 2 French and one Scottish. A really lovely, close-knit group. Everyone who already lived there was very welcoming and I quickly found my place. The house is also very spacious, so it was easy to have some time to yourself if you wanted. Even though I didn’t actually need that as much as I’d first thought. I really loved the fun atmosphere and the fact that there was always someone in the wifi room. The group thins out a bit over the month, but it’s topped up again with new volunteers every arrival weekend (every month).

When it came to coaching, I barely knew what I wanted beforehand either. I’ve always played football and it’s always been my favourite sport, but that was a long time ago and I was never a huge star at it hahaha. Once I was there I found out that you don’t need to be a massive talent in the sport you coach at all. You need to be creative and enthusiastic in your sessions so the children have a great time and learn something about the rules and skills of the sport. In the end I coached football, netball, basketball and hockey. Every so often you can tell the coordinators you’d like a change to your timetable, but with enough people on each sport it’s very flexible anyway and you can almost always swap among yourselves.

Alongside coaching sport (to roughly 11 to 14-year-olds), there’s also a programme where you get younger children in your group for an hour. It’s called Learn To Move, and it basically means playing fun, sporty games with the little ones so they can burn off some energy while also picking up rules and motor skills. They’re often a bit more enthusiastic, and so also livelier and less focused than the older children. I learnt a lot from this too, as you also need to be able to be strict with those sweet little faces. I always had loads of fun doing Learn To Move, despite the chaos:)

The most special thing of all for me was the warmth of the people. I’ve never experienced anything like it in any country. The staff within the organisation, the hugely grateful children and even the supermarket staff really have a place in my heart. Outside of coaching I met so many fun, kind people who made my experience even more unforgettable.

After saying goodbye in Port Elizabeth, I did the Garden Route (South-Africa Experience) with 7 other girls and a guide. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world either! We saw beautiful places, some of the girls did the bungee jump, and it was full of fun activities (e.g. quad biking, ziplining, canoeing). It was also really great that everything had already been arranged.

In short, for me this was a very special trip and experience that I’ll never forget <3

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

I’d definitely highly recommend the Overnight Safari and the Garden Route if you get the chance, they were both really special. And beyond that, just enjoy it to the full and go in with an open mind!