XL, l'house organ di OPES anno 1, n°4, aprile 2019 | Page 25

FIRST STEPS IN SOUTH AFRICA
It is March 11th when, after almost a day of travel, we
land at the airport of Cape Town. There, to reserve
us a warm welcome and to guide us to our residence,
there is the staff of the University of Western Cape
(UWC). For the next nine months we will collaborate
with the UWC, with the aim of bringing to complete
the activities foreseen by our Civil Service project,
“Un calcio al razzismo” (“A kick to racism”).
“One of the main objectives
of our project
is to promote
the sport activity
as a tool of encounter
between ethnic groups,
cultures and
different social classes”.
XL / Aprile 2019
The first days of service allowed us to settle in the
new reality; the impact with the South African cultural
context is as exciting and stimulating as it is complex.
Cape Town is the oldest city in South Africa and
coexists within it for centuries, ethnic groups from
Africa, Europe and Asia: Bantu, San, Khoekhoe,
Malay, Colored, Afrikaners, English and Jews, an
incredible melting pot that enriches the city, but it
also reveals the contradictions and inequalities that
the colonial past of this country still carries itself.
To accompany us, in our first days of orientation,
there is the Head of the Civil Service Department of
OPES, Milka Di Nunzio, and Hayward Barends, our
local manager. Together we discuss about the many
volunteering activities, accessible both within the
UWC sports department and through the support of
external associations, such as the JBC (Jointly Building
Communities) and the 9 Miles Project. Together with
these two NPOs we started our collaboration in Cape
Town, allowing us to participate as volunteers in their
event. The scenario is the incredible False Bay, where
on the beach of Strandfontain the two organizations
involved about fifty children in 3 main sport activities:
soccer, surf and kayak. Sport is the main vehicle of
the message that ours activities want to convey;
discipline, determination, health, sociability, a true
and own catalyst for good practices, especially
in poorer urban areas, where young people are
more easily vulnerable to the influence of crime.
The opportunity to spread the values promoted by
sport extends not only to the university students,
with whom we interact every day, but also on the
outskirts surrounding the metropolitan area of Cape
Town. Especially inside the Townships, the illegal
settlements where the greatest amount of poverty
and illiteracy of the city are concentrated. One of
the main objectives of our project is to promote the
sport activity as a tool of encounter between ethnic
groups, cultures and different social classes. For
reaching such an ambitious goal, we will strive to put
all our energy and skills on the fields, trying to make
sport more than just a game.
I Volontari del Servizio Civile
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