Volunteering in Cape Town

Volunteering inCapeTown

By Kirsten Clunies-Ross (07-09)

After graduating from Edinburgh, I decided to take a year out to travel and develop my skills before starting my career. A couple of my friends had previously taken part in the International Citizen Service (ICS) in Honduras and India and encouraged me to apply. After a simple online questionnaire and selection day, I was informed that I was successful and would be placed in Cape Town, South Africa in April for 10 weeks.

ICS is a UK Government charity that works in partnership with local charities internationally, promoting international development, cross-cultural exchange and strengthening global ties. There are a number of UK charities that work under ICS and I was chosen by Skillshare International, Coaching For Hope. This particular charity facilitates international development by using sport as a tool to teach children life skills and combat drug abuse, gangsterism and various other ‘social evils’ prevalent within their communities.

Thirteen other UK volunteers, aged 18-23 joined me on the project. Within the first few days of arrival, we were separated into five different communities, each of us volunteering for a different local charity focusing on either sport, education or disability.

One other UK volunteer was placed with me in Mitchell’s Plain. We lived with a local family, which helped us to integrate into the community. During the apartheid, ‘whites, coloureds and blacks’ were separated into different areas and today, most of the poorer communities have remained apart. It was almost unheard of for ‘whiteys’ to be in Mitchell’s Plain and for this reason, we received a lot of local attention. I frequently took a taxi bus, the cheapest form of transport in Cape Town, a 12-seater minibus that packed up to 25 passengers and certainly would not pass its M.O.T. in England. When I asked the driver to drop me at Mitchell’s Plain, the answer was always, “Are you sure my sister?”

The local charity I worked for placed us in different primary schools during the day to teach P.E. and life orientation. We also ran some after school sports clubs at the centre we were based in. Although we were in a coloured Afrikaans community, I worked in a black Xhosa school. These children came from one of the poorest areas in Cape Town. The school in their neighbourhood had flooded, so they were being bussed to a school in my community everyday. They lived in a ‘Human Settlement’; what we would call shacks. Their houses were mostly one room, built out of tin or wood, fed by an illegal electricity supply, without toilets or running water. Most of the children’s school uniforms were torn and dirty. It was rare for any of them to own trainers, so when we took them for sport, they often went barefoot.

It was a huge struggle to teach the kids at first. The biggest barrier was that they spoke Xhosa and little or no English. This made giving instructions very difficult and I often had to visually demonstrate what I wanted the kids to do. The school was devastatingly poor, and as the South Africa Government does not finance sport within schools, we had very little equipment. In addition, the classes were overcrowded with a typical class size consisting of around 45 children. When a teacher was absent, which was almost every day, there were no substitute teachers to fill their place, so the children were divided into the remaining classes within their year. It was not uncommon, therefore, to have over 60 kids per session. With so many children and armed with only one flat ball, this was extremely daunting when I first began. You learned to think very quickly on your feet and use items around you such as empty chip packets, bricks, or bottles and implement them into your session as cones or posts.

In some of the classes there weren’t enough chairs so the smaller children had to make do with sitting on large water containers. I was shocked to see the little boys and even girls go to the toilet by the side of the concrete sport area. I was told that as they didn’t have toilets at home, some were not familiar with using them. Despite the obvious poverty,

Above: Kirsten on Safari, walking with lions Below: Kirsten enjoyed many braais during her 10 weeks volunteering in Cape Town

there was a lot of happiness in the school. They were always so excited to be taken out of class. Before our charity had come to the school, they had never had sports lessons as there was simply no money. It was an absolute joy to see them really enjoying themselves and learning new skills.

Aside from working Monday to Friday, we were able to relax and socialise with our new local friends, explore Cape Town and visit our other UK counterparts in their communities. In my free time I hiked up Table Mountain, took a boat trip to Robben Island to see Mandela’s cell, went on a safari where I walked with lions and rode an ostrich, took a wine tour along the Garden Route, visited the beaches and had many, many braais (BBQs).

I was very reluctant to leave. I had made some very good friends and felt welcomed by the community members and their families, so much so that I intend to go back and visit in early 2015. I would highly recommend this experience to anyone looking to do some volunteering work abroad. This particular programme is very affordable as you have to raise £800-£1,500 and the charity pays for your flights, accommodation, food and provides you with a weekly stipend.

I learnt a great deal and enhanced many of my personal and professional skills that I will be able to apply to my graduate scheme with PwC starting later this year. In the meantime I am off travelling in South East Asia and Australia with fellow Old Novos.