New volunteers in South Africa! Once again this year, motivated volunteers have started out on the weltwärts programme in Cape Town and the surrounding area. PLAY HANDBALL South Africa will be supported by five new faces as part of their development volunteer service. There will also be new volunteers in Kenya, although they will not arrive until mid-September. The new team members in South Africa are Zoe, Salome, Liv, Mathis and Laurids. They have already been able to gather some impressions during their first week in South Africa and are now about to start their exciting task. However, as you can’t start a programme like this completely unprepared, there was intensive preparation with a seminar week in Plön with our partner Kultur-Life, some online meetings and also a preparatory training session with PLAY HANDBALL after their arrival. But now it’s the turn of our new volunteers to tell us about themselves and their first exciting impressions:

Zoe DLRG Lette in Cape Town, South Africa: ‘After leaving school, I knew that I didn’t want to go straight to university, but rather spend some time abroad first to broaden my horizons. South Africa immediately appealed to me because the country is so unbelievably diverse. That’s why PLAY HANDBALL was the perfect organisation, because I love sport and at the same time you get to know the culture and people of South Africa, especially the children in the schools. I’m not actually a handball player, I’m a swimmer. But so that I don’t go into work completely unprepared, I prepared myself with a handball friend and was also introduced to the training by PLAY HANDBALL. For me, it’s a positive challenge to stand in front of the children every day, teach them handball and see how they learn with enthusiasm and joy. For me personally, it’s also a great opportunity to develop my sporting skills and learn more. I’m looking forward to the next few months, getting to know the country and the children better and passing on the joy of sport.’

Mathis from TG Biberach in Lotus River, South Africa: ‘I have been playing handball for about 10 years and have found my great passion in it. I would like to share this with others and perhaps awaken the same enthusiasm in young people. My motivation for living so far away from home is simply that I’m interested in other cultures and want to benefit from each other. What surprised me the most was that you realise the huge differences between rich and poor as soon as you arrive. Although apartheid is officially considered to have been overcome, the structures are still clearly recognisable.

Salome from TSV Handschuhsheim in Goedverwacht in cooperation with the Piketberg Sports Development Foundation (PSDF): ‘My handball career started in 2019, but didn’t really take off until 2022. I found my passion in sport and handball in particular, which I want to pass on to the children in South Africa. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the hospitality, helpfulness and relaxed attitude of the South Africans. I’ve really enjoyed the few days I’ve spent here so far and I’m very excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for me.’

Liv from TS Mühlburg in Piketberg, South Africa: ‘I have been playing handball for 11 years and am now looking forward to a year of playing and training handball with the children in Piketberg. I’m looking forward to gaining experience off the field and growing with challenges. It was clear to me that I didn’t want to go straight to university after leaving school. I already did a gap year last year. The fact that I now have the opportunity here in South Africa to learn a lot about myself and other cultures and gain experience before I go to university, and to do so in connection with handball, is really great. What I love about handball is the fun, the challenge and above all the teamwork. I’m happy when I can infect others with this 🙂 I’m looking forward to immersing myself in the country and the culture, exploring the beautiful region here and having lots of unique moments with my host family.’

Laurids from KMTV in Bo-Kaap (Cape Town), South Africa: ‘Since the eighth grade, I have dreamed of going abroad for a longer period of time. Not just to travel, but to get involved in social or ecological projects. The PLAY HANDBALL project fulfils exactly what I had in mind. I realise that the great good fortune of being born in the richest part of the world is anything but a given. That’s why I want to combine my handball experience with the energy of the kids to do something good and try to open up new perspectives. The first few days in Cape Town were full of exciting but also crazy impressions. What impressed me most was the joie de vivre and hospitality of many people who are not always financially well off themselves.’

‘About two months before we all travelled to the African continent, we met all the prospective volunteers for the first time. We got on really well straight away. The week was not only fun, but also full of important and exciting content. We dealt with topics such as critical whiteness and racism, but also with our own role as role models and our own identity.

The seminar weekend was also a sporting weekend. As PLAY HANDBALL volunteers, we had the chance to take part in the HVSH’s basic coach training programme. Niklas from the HVSH taught us important basics about training structure, but also about behaviour and appearance as a coach. And who would have thought it: we also met Niklas again at our seminar in Cape Town. Together with Nicola from PLAY HANDBALL, he gave us a few helpful tips for training planning. Many thanks for that! After landing in South Africa, we went straight into an intensive week with lots of initial practical experience of handball training, historical and cultural background information and impressions. Above all, the informative city tour about the history of Cape Town has stayed in our minds. Thanks to Craig from Beyond Expectations for sharing all his insides of the South African culture and history. We are all still overwhelmed and are slowly processing all the impressions as a team.’, Laurids talks about preparing for their year abroad with handball.

Interested in volunteering with PLAY HANDBALL? If you are interested in volunteering in South Africa or Kenya, whether for a year in the Weltwärts programme or just for 2 to 6 months, please get in touch with us:

• General enquiries: Simply send us an email to info@play-handball.org 
• For short-term voluntary service, take a look at our partner projects at www.coachabroad.de
• For the subsidised Weltwärts volunteer service, please contact our partner Kultur Life:
  • for South Africa: katharina@kultur-life.de
  • for Kenya: josephine@kultur-life.de