Info Booklet of the PASCH Event

To emphasise the educational aspect of the tournament, the teams had to answer questions before every match on historic, cultural, linguistic and geographical facts about Germany and South Africa. Every right answer equalled one goal for the match ahead. Furthermore the teams were able to score Fair Play points throughout the tournament based on their behaviour on and off the pitch. The winner awaited a remarkable prize: In the run-up to the Women’s World Cup 2011 they will be invited to an international football tournament in Berlin.

Before the start of the football tournament the youngsters participated in workshops which explored German language and culture, as well as important Life-Skills like teamwork and tolerance. The workshops were headed by qualified experts like Ilka Seltmann from the Goethe Institut Johannesburg (GI), Gisela Fasse from the German Central Agency For Schools Abroad (zfa), Matthias Eiles from the German Football Association (DFB) and Allan Da Silva from AMANDLA EduFootball.

The shared acitivities enabled the youth to explore their different cultural backgrounds, to overcome barriers and prejudices and to strengthen a mutual understanding in a playful way. The medium of football served as an ice-breaker and helped to overcome the initial reservation of the young players. For the observers of the event it was wonderful to see how the different teams started to mix up and make friends from other teams. Therefore the workshops very successfully served as a creative platform for interaction and exchange.

The workshop lead by Mattias Eiles revolved around important matters such as ‚Selfconfidence‘ and ‚Goal-Setting‘ in life. In a blind walk the participants had to learn how to trust their leading partner, most likely a total stranger from one of the other teams. The Team Building activities with Allan Da Silva highlighted how well a team and on a bigger scale a society can function if everybody works towards the same goal. The given obstacle course could only be mastered if everybody worked as a team and respected strenghts and weaknesses of their fellow companions. Gisela Fasse and Ilka Seltmann further explored the German language and culture in a playful way and taught the participants facts on the Federal Republic of Germany.

The day was accompanied by the visits of Mr. Günter Nooke, Special Advisor to the German Government on Africa and Mr. Hans-Werner Bussmann, German Consul General in Cape Town as well as several local politicians. Furthermore the event caught a countrywide media attention with Supersport and SABC broadcasting from the event throughout the day and the following week, as well as further interviews on radio and reports in local Newspapers.

Renate Reichardt, Head of the Cultural Department at the German Consulate in Cape Town concluded the successful event with honoring the winners of the tournament, Khayelitsha FC with a trip to Germany in 2011. The happy winning team was overwhelmed by this outstanding prize, given that it had only been released throughout the award ceremony. For the seven girls and boys from Khayelitsha, the biggest single township in Cape Town (South Africa?), the trip to Germany will enable them to leave Cape Town and their usual surroundings for the first time. Having been challenged with very difficult and sometimes seemingly hopeless living conditions, the trip to Germany will show the youth that there is room to aspire and reach out for more in this world.

Photo copyright: Micky Wiswedel