Tom in South Africa

My story

I’m Tom, I’m 20, born and bred in Rosmalen and studying at NHTV in Breda (International Leisure Management, third year). The reason I chose to do an internship in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with The Power of Sports is that they could offer me the perfect internship and the communication with The Power of Sports was excellent.

I only got home from Port Elizabeth today and it hasn’t quite sunk in yet that the 24 weeks are over, partly because I don’t want it to sink in yet. It all went by so quickly, but I really did enjoy every minute of it!
For most people the first few weeks were really about acclimatising, but that went pretty well for me and I do think that South African culture (with its African time) suits me.

Actually, secretly I learnt the most from the moments outside the internship. Without realising it, I picked up a lot from the attitudes and behaviours of the staff at the organisation (United Through Sport), from experiencing the situation most of the children are in and how they deal with it, from seeing what an easy life I’ve actually had (like many other Dutch people) and from realising that I should appreciate that a bit more (especially the little moments too).

For my internship assignment I organised Holiday Camps and tournaments between the Primary Schools in the Townships. Seeing the smiles on those kids’ faces during those events is what you do it for, it’s the most satisfying feeling, especially when you also feel that you can make a contribution to their future.

Besides these main tasks, I was also able to pass on my passion (basketball) to the kids, and I may well have discovered a new passion in teaching the kids, both once or twice a week.

“it has been one of the best experiences in my life, if not the best!.”

On top of that, I had the coolest trips at weekends: we hired a car, went on our unexpected adventures, got to discover many beautiful parts of South Africa and stayed in the oh so cool (and cheap) backpackers’ hostels they have.

And then I’m forgetting the many local and international friendships I’ve made, and I’m definitely going to see some of those friends again in the near future!

So all in all (it takes a bit of getting used to speaking, and so typing, Dutch again), it has been one of the best experiences in my life, if not the best!

Tom de Haas