Rowing volunteer in Africa

Advertisements

Rowing in Africa Johannes Felsner from Osnabrück coaching rowing in Africa

In Germany, it is very common for young people do a year of voluntary service after their schooling. This is a service that many sports club members can afford to give as it’s as good as free. The whole thing is organised and coordinated by the government, the municipalities and the national associations.

One of these volunteer supporters is Johannes Felsner from Osnabrück. He applied for a job at a school affiliated with a Rowing Club in South Africa, the AW Barnes Primary School in East London, South Africa.

Why did Johannes volunteer for rowing in Africa?

“When I started high school, I discovered rowing, a sport that has already been taken up by several members of my family. So it was only a matter of time before I became a member of the rowing squad oat my school Ratsgymnasium and later also at the Osnabrück Rowing Club.

My experience of rowing meant I wanted to pass on my skills to the children and young people here in East London and the surrounding area. Rowing has taught me a great deal. I believe that sport has the biggest positive impact on disadvantaged children! And rowing in Africa sounded exciting “.

German Volunteer federation logos German Volunteer federation logo

How was the rowing project in Africa structured?

Johannes taught the children of the school alongside other project partners.

“In the afternoon, it is in our sole occupation, depending on which projects we offer. As a rower it was not hard for me to decide, because there was already a rowing squad. Although last year without the participation of a German volunteer, it was continued. On Tuesdays, Fridays and sometimes Saturdays the rowing project took place together with Leander Rowing Club “.

On those days students of the AW Barnes Primary School came to the shed after class, where I rowed and trained with them. They were driven down in the school bus and picked up after 3 hours and driven back to school. I had a boys crew and a girls crew. Since many children from the townships could not swim properly, I had to spend a few hours with these guys and girls in the Parkside pool before I could even put them in a boat. Training takes place in the beginner boats that Dave Hartwanger built for Leander RC and a double and quad already owned by the club.

Do you also know someone who does voluntary service for your rowing club? What do you think of voluntary work? Would that be something you would consider for yourself or your children? Tell us in the comments.

Volunteer rowing coaching overseas resources from Rowperfect

Advertisements

Subscribe to our Newsletter for more information:

Our Rowing Network

Did you like this post? Support this blog and our network by donating

Feel like Rowing again? Visit the Shop at coastal-boats.eu!

Shop
Accessories, equipment, boats, clothing

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts

Whether it’s sports, nutrition or equipment, you’ll find what you’re looking for in one of these categories

Categories

Everything about rowing – browse through our large archive or search for articles of your choice

Archive

Search Blog

Search

Rowing Network

Do you like our posts? Support this blog and our network by donating

Newsletter

Get all latest content and news!