Hey everyone!

Greetings from very hot South Africa, the last couple of days it always has been around 40 degrees and lots of sunshine. Our first football course started on Friday with school teachers from Swaziland. Sport is in Africa not part of the curriculum, it is an extramutual activity. Most teachers do not have a qualification in sports, that is why the YESS (Youth empowerment scheme through sport)- project educates teachers on how to do sports with children. For the course one German football coach was invited and one South African coach from SAFA (South African Football Association). The course took place at a lodge in White River, not far from the volunteer house. The course has a duration of 3 weekends and starts friday around noon till sunday afternoon. You wonder why these teachers are from Swaziland? As Nelspruit is a host city of the World Cup 2010, they are including Swaziland and Mozambique in the project. the course went pretty well, the participants arrived too late, but one thing I learned very quickly here is that you have to be patient as nothing never ever starts here on time. One saying I learnt in the first days is:We have the watches and they have the time....

But the rest of the course was fine, we all had a lot of fun, all teachers were very nice and I hope that they take the things they have learnt with them back home and many children will have great football lessons. I mean it is not all about football, but doing sports here means so much more for the children, it really gives them a sense in their life, because if they are not busy doing something, they hang around, are lazy, become criminals, but sports is not only good for their health, it rather teaches them a lesson about tolerance, respect and discipline. Furthermore many children want to start career in sports and that the teachers are now qualified to provide them with knowledge, can change the life of a child.

During the course a jounalist from WDR visited us and is going to do a documentary about the project and us volunteers. She was really nice, asked a lot of questions and the documentary will be published at the beginning of April, but i will let you know.

After the course on friday we went to a concert in Casterbridge where Prime Circle was playing, a band from Mpumalanga, the province where I live now. They are very famous and it was a amazing concert. I have never heard of them, but just loved the music, you have to check this band out, they are on facebook, youtube and have an own homepage. That night we all had a blast.The atmosphere during the concert was incredible, even though mostly white people were there, they were all dancing on the tables and had a great time.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Secunda, where the next footbal course is taking place. It is about 350 kilometers away from White River, closer to Johannesburg and I am really excited to see a different area. I will be back on Friday and in the afternoon the Swaziland course starts again. And next week again to Secunda, so lots of work...

I hope all of you back home are fine, think a lot about you and miss you!But, hey, the first month is already over on tuesday, only 4 more to come.