2010

2009

2008

Thanks for an unforgettable time

posted by Matthias Kaspar on April 9th, 2010

Things you enjoy always go by the fastest. I am pretty sure you are familiar with that perception. 6 months have passed since my first working day for WhizzKids United (WKU) on the 22th of October and it doesn’t feel like this. I regard it as a good sign. By looking back I can’t remember one day I would have wished to be back in Germany.
Throughout my whole stay I appreciated the most the comfortable working atmosphere at WKU. Everybody loves what he is doing and is convinced about the impact- to make a difference in the lives of Kids in SA. Eventually it leads to a great spirit amongst everyone who is involved. I am grateful that I could be part of the team for a period of time and that I could experience this spirit.
Irrespective of the wonderful impressions I got during my time travelling in SA there were a few moments with WKU I will always remember. One unforgettable experience I shared here already with you (see blog entry from the 4th of December 2009).
For instance I enjoyed the time running 2 weeks of our Life-Skills-Session at Greyville School. It was exciting for me to work with the kids and to see how they respond to the program. To watch the kids interacting on the pitch and paying attention to the Life-Skills lessons was quite impressive.
Today it is my last day at WKU. We will finish the day with a football game and a lovely braai at our office.
I wished I would be able to carry on working for WKU during the World Cup but I have to go back to Germany to finish my studies.
Thanks to everyone at WKU for an incredible time here in Durban.

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Celebrations in a different way

posted by Matthias Kaspar on December 4th, 2009

On Thursday (3rd December) I left Durban for a trip to Edendale very early at 5.30 am. I felt comfortable by changing my workplace for one day and getting out of the office. I joined Tom and Zanele who were supposed to give a speech at Henryville Primary School. The school organized a “World AIDS Day Celebration� and Tom and Zanele were among the guest speakers.
On our arrival we were brought in a room that was crowded with kids from Grade 1 till 7. Actually the event was planned to occur outside but due to the bad weather they had to gather in the small auditorium which had ‘Henryville Hotel’ written on the door in chalk. It was a nice picture to see such an amount of kids closed together in their school uniform looking curious about what was laying ahead.
The celebration started by singing a Zulu cultural song. I was impressed because everybody sang with great passion and enthusiasm- leading to an amazing sound. All together they created an impressive atmosphere.
The program of the celebration consisted of performances of kids each grades and speeches of guest speakers. The performances varied from telling poems, singing and acting to dancing to the music of Micheal Jackson “You are not alone.� All of them did very well, the result of likely a lot of practicing. The audience acknowledged their effort with loud applause.
After a while the speech of Tom and Zanele arrived. Tom was going to talk some parts of his speech in Zulu supported by Zanele. It was his first time speaking Zulu in front of such a big crowd. The performance became even more challenging for Tom when some kids started to laugh because they hadn´t listened to a Zulu-speaking Canadian guy yet. Tom remained confident and told the kids together with Zanele the meaning of belonging to teams in football as well as in life.
Along with WhizzKids United, representatives of Lifeline, Centre of Criminal Justice, Edendale Hospital as well as an HIV ambassador from Kenya were among the guest speakers. The performance of the woman of Edendale Hospital was most impressive. Instead of holding a speech she climbed on a chair so that everyone could see her. Then she started to sing and dance, I call it the “jika-jika-dance.� She engaged everybody to get up from their chairs and to get along moving. It was lovely to see everyone moving in the same way and having a lot of fun. She managed it to animate the crowd beyond comparison.
The celebration ends by singing the anthem of South Africa. I felt like I was getting a belated birthday song. Surprisingly a (birthday) present for me and all guests was still to come… a mug with the Henryville Primary School logo on it!

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