Changing the Perspective

When I was waiting for the driver to bring me to the Great Commision United, in short terms GCU, on the first day of my volunteer work, I thought about what could be waiting out there in the townships. I neither knew what kind of work I would have to do nor the name of the township I would be working. But I was really looking forward to see another aspect of South Africa than the Table Mountain or the Waterfront.

So we drove to a primary school in Heideveld, a township area on the Cape Flats, less than 20kms from Cape Town city centre. Swathes of families were resettled here in the 1960s after the apartheid government forcibly removed them from District Six, an area much nearer to the city and to public amenities. During the first days, Mario gave me an insight into various parts of his community development project. I assisted the coaches with the other volunteer, a nice French guy called Mohammed, to play soccer and other games with the kids. During the breaks we became a highlight of the kids, this thirty minutes were one of the more exhausting moments in Cape Town ;)

But GCU is not only busy with physical education during the mornings at diverse schools, there are also soccer teams training in the afternoons. For a wider education, they do not only train soccer during the whole week, they are also practicing boxing, rope skipping and chess on Mondays. With all these programs GCU wants to limit the dropouts from schools and gives the children a future with a new-gained hope.
I'm really looking forward to the three remaining weeks with GCU and I'll write soon about further experiences with these powerful kids! If you are interested in more detailed information about what exactly GCU is, please visit our homepage below the following link and like us on Facebook!

• Homepage of GCU
• GCU on Facebook