“I cannot believe what I am seeing,” said an astonished young Themba Stish as he witnessed hundreds of items of football gear being offloaded at the Mbekweni Community Sports Centre in Paarl recently.
Themba, a young man who has become a regular at the newly opened Mbekweni Community Sports Centre in Paarl, operated by sports development organisation Score, was present at the handover of sporting equipment by Play4Africa to the centre, for use by the local community.
The equipment, including soccer boots and balls, was donated to Score by Play4Africa, a privately funded Spanish sport and development initiative that, for the last four months, has benefited other African sport and development organisations on an epic journey across Africa.
The group of volunteers, recruited specifically for this mission, also enjoyed an earlier trip to Score programmes in Namibia where similar donations were made.
“It has been an amazing trip. Africa is a continent of contrasts. One minute you can be exposed to great wealth and the next you are confronted by abject poverty.
“We have seen in Africa how sport brings people together and is a universal language.
“We believe in the work that Score is doing in Southern Africa and have therefore chosen Score communities in South Africa and Namibia to receive the equipment,” said Ale Ramirez, Play4Africa humanitarian co-ordinator.
Children and youth from the Mbekweni community who were at the centre participating in Score’s holiday programmes, were ecstatic at the sight of the bags of goods being offloaded by the Play4Africa volunteers.
They could barely contain their delight as they excitedly rushed around in joyous expectation of having new equipment they could play with.
Kwezi Shumi, Score’s Mbekweni Community Sports Centre Manager, expressed his gratitude for the gift and said, “We see time and time again how sport can change lives and this donation will go a long way in improving the lives of hundreds of eager youths in this community hungry for recreation and sport.
“The equipment will be used to drive and implement Score programmes in Mbekweni and will play a vital role in building the community and promoting safe and healthy lifestyles for the community members.”
A lively five-a-side football match was played between the Score youth leaders and Play4Africa volunteers with the Spaniards ending their visit on a high with a hard fought 2-1 win.
The donation has special significance for the Play4Africa team as the donation marked the end of the journey and the official end of the project which saw them endure months of arduous trekking across the beautiful yet difficult terrain that is Africa.
