The sun rises early, and when it does, its rays tickle my nose, push me out of bed - the day starts in Gansbaai. My favorite way to start the day is with a run in De Kelders. I warm-up by going down to the rocks, take the path there which leads to Die Plaat, get amazed by the dunes, that appear all of a sudden in a golden glow, continue following the jeep track on Die Plaat, greet early fishermen and try to get back on time for work.
It`s been three months now, since I have arrived in South Africa and the morning routines described give me time for my thoughts. Looking back, reflecting the past time. I have always shaped the value of my experiences.
Four months ago, sitting in a sweaty and crowded library at the University of Bern, Switzerland, 30 degrees outside, busy finishing my thesis while still wondering about the next step in my near future. Searching for international jobs, out of curiosity, I found the Football Foundation, subsidiary of the Grootbos Foundation in Gansbaai, South Africa. Of course, I have already heard of South Africa, a far-away country, somewhere in the south. But honestly, I didn`t have an idea about where I have had decided to work.
Working as a Sports Management and Coaching Intern at the Football Foundation, most of the time, I am interacting with people. I love to coach the girl`s soccer team in Gansbaai as well as Stanford, Die Bron, on the other side trying to fit the programmes that are held by the foundation in an area that faces such a big cultural diversity. Sport is often said to conquer cultural barriers.
From what I have experienced in my work in the field of sport, it is wonderful to see how kids forget about with whom they are playing. As soon as they start a game, there is laughter, joy and bright eyes, wide hearts.
Another project is the administrational as well as coaching assistance for the Stanford Canoe Club. Every Wednesday and Saturday the Klein River in Stanford gets coloured dots due to over twenty river kayaks between the reeds. We prepare the paddlers for the Triple Series in Century City, Tyger Valley and Paarl, a weekly competition in the Western Cape. The participant`s excitement and joy while paddling as well as growing as a team while cheering and helping each other out of the water, make my days.
But whenever I go back to De Kelders, in the safe shelter, far away from the field, I see that even an institution such as physical activity has its hurdles overcoming cultural obstacles. The participants of the different sports programmes are a projection of the different communities in Gansbaai. In order to start another try to bring kids with different cultural perspectives together, still in a sport-related environment, I started a Newspaper workshop, where a group of 10 kids, 5 from Masakhane and 5 from Blompark, is thought to team up and report from the field, from competitions and create their own newspaper. They as a team should decide what is important and worth to read. A visit at the Gansbaai Courant should give them an idea, how the daily business at a local newspaper works. We will report "live" about their experience in the next print.
