Continental Run 2 Stop: Day 5 – Christiana

Here’s another piece of magic from the Continental Run 2 Stop Challenge. After an awesome stay in Christiana, we headed to Laerskool Diamantrif in a township just outside of Wolmaranstad, for some soccer clinics and to hand over some equipment so that the school could field more teams and accommodate more kids in their sporting program. From there is was off to Klerksdorp in the blazing sun and on a busy road. Here are some highlights.

It’s amazing to go into schools like this and interact with the kids. They are shy, and confident at the same time. Get them alone and they’ll hardly stand still, but in a group it’s dancing, posing for photos and a lot of shouting. As soon as the soccer balls come out so do the smiles. The field is gravel, and their previous balls were giant balls of plastic. It sounds trivial, delivering a few boxes of balls to a school that needs so much more, but when you see the impact one ball has and what the kids were playing with before and how much more they will be able to do with just a few extra balls, it really highlights just how lucky we all are, and how even the smallest addition to schools like this can make a huge difference.

Some of you asked about the school after I posted this pic:

500 meals are made in there every day. It only cost R2.50 a day to feed a child, but still the school doesn’t have enough to feed the kids exactly what they need – fruit, veg, meat, etc. The government funds the food, which is awesome, but it’s a little short, so if you want to help (as many of you said yesterday) I’d suggest getting hold of the school and seeing if there is any way you can. Laerskool Diamantrif in Wolmaranstad, just outside of Christiana. I’ll try get the details of someone you can speak to. If you find them first please paste them in a comment below.

Today we leave Klerksdorp and head to Mafikeng. It’s going to be an absolute scorcher of a day for the athletes on the road, so good luck to them. See you in the next town.

Nash…
Out.