Back to School

HQ Durban this morning arose to a very sombre atmosphere. The talk around camp was all about the how’s, the when’s, the where’s and the why’s. Whilst each individual realistically thought a draw would be a good result against the Germans, no one could have seen a 4 goal rout coming. Was Pim to blame for not playing a striker? Could he have changed the shape and players earlier in the game? Why were so many players playing out of position? Yep that’s right...it was time for the 1000 coaches to have their say.

But if 1200 aussies thought that their world had come to an end, it was all put in to perspective today with a visit to the township of Woza eNanda. Woza eNanda is approximately 20 mins outside of Durban up in the hills, and the view from there back to the city is breathtaking. The roads on the way in to the township were lined with signs portraying a warm welcome to the fanatics. There was a constant flow of waves from the locals who had entered the streets in the expectation of our visit.

But it’s not until you get on the ground that you realise how simple millions and millions of South Africans live their lives and how insignificant the rest of the world would become for some 5 hours of our of own. A procession of buses disembarked passengers at the main road leading in to the township. A few had gathered at the bottom of the hill to greet us and lead the walk up the hill to the local school. As you walked along the road, it was clear to see the poverty of which some of them live in.



On arrival to the gates of the school ground we were met by hundreds of students and locals. The Vevezula’s and drums were in fine form accompanied by singing and dancing by all. It was at this point that you could tell that the locals thought that all their wishes were granted at once. The smiles, the excitement and the warmth of the people was for many of us overwhelming and even I have to admit to the frog in the throat and possibly a slight tear in the eye.

The barrage of children was electric all wanting to have their photos taken with an Australian. The funny part about it was that it was with our own camera’s, however they just wanted to see what they looked like on the digital screen. Two of the school girls at one stage gave each other a high five and one of them of them commented to the other “you look hot!”

As we progressed our way through the school, we were given some history of the area, but it was very hard to listen when all you wanted to do was watch the euphoria in the children’s smiles and eyes. I think a few of us got to the point where we wanted to pack in our bags to bring home. I did however learn that this school was built to be a local police station. However Nelson Mandela overruled this decision to make way for the school in honour of one of the locals John Dube. John was the founder of the ANC or African National Congress.

From a guided tour of the school grounds, we were invited to attend the local football stadium for lunch, refreshments and an 11 v 11 game of the fanatics v a local team. On arrival it was hard to imagine that this venue was known as a stadium, but to them it was their place of pride where the community came together as one. At this point the masses had grown to some 3000 strong to watch the shirtless Aussie fanatics take on the seniors and school team. Little had the locals known of the expertise enlisted by the fanatics, as Mark Bosnich and Charlie Yankos took to the playing field....and believe you me, the old master Charlie has still got it! The game concluded after two halves with the visitors winning unimpressively 1-0. During the festivities at the stadium, the aussies provided the locals with gifts and mementos of Australia, and by the time we left to depart back to HQ, it was increasingly difficult to make out the real fanatics from the adopted ones.

As the day came to a close, and we drove from the eNanda, the thoughts of a 4-0 loss to Germany had all faded away. The hardest thing to digest was the fact that many of these kids will be exposed to HIV, abuse and even possibly lives of crime. But for us, the ability to give them that one day in the spotlight was all well worth it....this was truly the experience of a lifetime.