Thara in South Africa

My story

On 26 August 2022 my South Africa adventure began. I said goodbye to my parents, friends and boyfriend, and before I knew it I had landed in Johannesburg. From there I had a short flight to Port Elizabeth, where the coordinators from UTS (United Through Sport) were already waiting for me. With a few other volunteers/interns who arrived at the same time, we went to the accommodation by bus. I shared a room with 2 other girls, one Scottish and one German. I found the first few days quite hard: it was still winter in South Africa and so pretty cold, there were more people than I had expected, and suddenly you’re a really long way from home. Luckily that only lasted a few days, because after that I enjoyed every minute!
As an intern I had 3 coaching days, when I went to 4 different schools a day with the rest of the group. The other two days were office days. On those days I could work on my school assignments and prepare my sessions for the next day. As an intern I also had the opportunity to give swimming lessons. These swimming lessons ran from week 6 to week 12, 3 times a week. Because I didn’t want to miss the normal coaching days at the schools, I swapped my office days for coaching days. UTS is very flexible with the office days, as long as you make sure you’re on track with your school work in the end.

On the coaching days I taught hockey and netball. These sports are mainly played by girls. And the hockey sessions in particular were always really busy. I taught the hockey sessions together with another girl from Germany, and together we really enjoyed every single child. They’re all so sweet, full of energy, fun, funny and so enthusiastic. They’re also so grateful that we, as interns and volunteers, want to give them sports sessions. That’s really lovely to see, but it also made me think. There really is a big difference between the children in South Africa and those in Holland. And to be honest, the children in South Africa are much more fun. They’re far more grateful for anything and everything and they have so much energy. I learnt loads of dances and laughed so much with everyone.
Besides the coaching days, we also did loads of amazing activities as a group. We went bungee jumping, went on safari twice, went whale watching and dune boarding, and together with a really good Dutch friend I got a tattoo so I’ll never forget this adventure. LOVED IT!

During my internship I also became really good friends with a girl from London. In fact, it was already settled on the first day: we were going to do the Garden Route together. And we did. After 3 months of internship we travelled for a whole month. We did the Garden Route, went to Cape Town and also did a little road trip around Cape Town. Together with her I had such amazing adventures and saw such beautiful things, no one can ever take that away from us. And I really wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else!

After 4 months my South Africa adventure sadly came to an end…I enjoyed every moment and look back on a really amazing experience that I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to miss. I’ve seen inhumane things, but also really beautiful ones. I got the children and myself enthusiastic every day and made friends for life. The time really flew by and I’d really love to go back.

If you have any questions, you can always call me or send me a message. Either way, I had the time of my life in South Africa and it gave me experiences I would never have had otherwise, and I hope you get to experience it like that too. xx