Sam in South Africa

Participant

Sam

Programme

Volunteering

Country

🇿🇦 South Africa

Duration

20 weeks

Short bio

I’m 21 and I study Sport, Management and Entrepreneurship at the HvA. I really wanted to do my third-year internship abroad, and then United Through Sport came my way! I love the gym, handball, travelling, spending time with my friends and festivals.

How satisfied were you with the support from Holland?

Ruben supported me really well. We were a larger group of students who were all interested in going to different countries, and this was well organised. Meetings were scheduled straight away for the different countries and everything quickly became clear to me. During my internship too, I could go to him with questions and got an answer almost immediately. We also kept in touch now and then about how we were finding South Africa and how my internship was going. That was really nice!

My story

“I look back with a big smile on this amazing adventure, which I wouldn’t have missed for the world <3.”

Sam · volunteering in South Africa

I heard about United Through Sport and immediately got excited. I’d already volunteered in Kenya before and discovered my love for Africa there, so this was a great chance to go back, and for my internship too!

The first contact with the kids was really impressive and special. You’re everything to them! They’re so sweet, they hug you and always have a smile on their faces, despite the often awful circumstances they have to deal with. Something we Dutch could learn from!

At the weekends UTS organises outings you can join for a fee, and that’s how I went bungee jumping in my first week in South Africa, and wow… what an experience! I also did other really cool things, like safaris of course, and you also had the chance to go skydiving and swim with sharks.

After two weeks of mainly coaching, I started on my research into the difference between ‘Black Schools’ and ‘Coloured Schools’ in South Africa. While doing this research I learnt an enormous amount about South Africa as a country, its history and its government.

The ‘South Africa Experience’ fell in the middle of my internship. This is a week in which you travel from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and visit all the highlights along the coast. It was an amazing week full of activities such as quad biking, ziplining, canoeing, wine tasting and hiking. After this experience I completely fell in love with Cape Town, where my mum also came to visit me.

During my holiday I had actually missed UTS and was happy to be back. In this period after the holiday I met really lovely people who I’m still friends with. I’ve also picked up a new hobby: surfing. The last week was hard, because saying goodbye to the kids had begun… I enjoyed every moment with them so much!

In the end I finished my internship with a mark of 8.8, so I’m really happy with that. I look back with a big smile on this amazing adventure, which I wouldn’t have missed for the world <3.

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

My advice to new interns and volunteers would be to take a moment now and then to really take in everything they’re doing, because before you know it you’re back in Holland!