Along with our partners at African Impact’s Cape Town City Project and Over 30s Coastal Project, we were lucky enough to support Excellent Choice Girls Soccer Club with a Youth Development Camp at the end of September. The 3-day camp was based on making good life choices and the volunteers put a full programme together based on this theme.
The Excellent Choice Girls Soccer Club is based in Khayelitsha and was founded by African Impact Project Coordinator Sakhele, who also acts as their coach. They are a group of amazing girls aged 10-18 who all described their team as a family.
Increasingly, the international development community is recognizing that young girls are instrumental in development, both economic and social. We believe empowering girls and women is a great way to empower and enrich the lives of the families and communities in which we work, and we were excited for this new venture.
The camp was put together to empower these young girls and to help them work on life skills such as teamwork, respect, self-esteem building and honesty.
Volunteers from our partners at African Impact prepared activities that spanned the entire camp, from sports games to quizzes and activities. As the camp fell over the South African holiday ‘Heritage Day’ the volunteers even developed a heritage-themed game of jeopardy that pinned teams of girls against one another and tested their knowledge of culture in South Africa.
Activities such as a soccer game, blind obstacle course, jeopardy, and team building games on the beaches of Simon’s Town were just some of the many plans that encompassed those themes.
Volunteers participated in the games and got to know the girls well. It was a new and enriching experience for everyone involved.