#Ubuntu10Year: 2017
The Dream To Have Our Own School
Words by Gerda Scheepers
Every year, Ubuntu’s dream to mentor and educate future leaders becomes bigger and bigger. Challenges (or opportunities) also become bigger and bigger. At this point in their story, these challenges revolved specifically around supporting the boys academically, maximizing their time on the football field and having a bigger impact in their daily lives. Mike and Casey embraced the challenge and formulated a plan: the Ubuntu Football Academy should have their own school… Within a record time of six months the school was registered, a great location was secured, and a team was recruited.
I will never forget that Sunday afternoon in the first week of December 2016, when our small team gathered with parents and their sons to discuss this school that they would be joining in a few weeks’ time. It took a lot of courage and determination from everybody involved, a lot of faith, a big vision and a wild imagination to believe that it was really going to happen.
Jody in Grade 7 (now in Gr 11) at the opening of the Ubuntu School.
And then on Wednesday, 11 January 2017, at the Chasmay Campus close to Masiphumelele, 34 boys showed up for their first day at the Ubuntu Football Academy school. There were twelve learners in Grade 6, twelve learners in Grade 7 and ten learners in Grade 8. From all over the Cape they came – Mitchell’s plain, Strandfontein, Khayelitsha, Steenberg, Lavender Hill, Masi and Ocean View. Every morning at six, Uncle Ronald would come get the van at the Ubuntu House and start his day of commuting boys between their homes and the school and the football fields. Every evening by seven he would bring the van back; everybody delivered home safely.
Ubuntu School Staff: Jean-Pierre, Linzelle, Hannah, and Gerda
The Ubuntu Football Academy school started with three grades, three teachers and one administrator. After the first week it was clear that we needed more hands on deck! Who would have thought that it would take that much energy and creativity to keep these youngsters learning?! We also realized that because of the diverse backgrounds and prior educational experiences, we needed to restructure the classes to provide extra help for learners struggling with English as the medium of education. Coach Mike’s mom stepped in and served alongside the team for the next three months to address this need.
Being in the Ubuntu school was unlike anything the boys had ever experienced before. They enjoyed the smaller classes, they enjoyed the extra interaction with their coaches during character curriculum and strength training, they enjoyed spending more time together every day, but they missed the presence of girls… As a team we did our best to fill their days with opportunities to grow and develop – we established a tradition of celebrating the student of the week (choosing one student from each class who demonstrated an Ubuntu value in class), took them on regular field trips and even had our first adventure camp during the last week of the second term. Lots of character building happened inside and outside of the classroom for boys and teachers alike.
In the middle of 2017 our English teacher, coach JP, was transferred to coach for Ubuntu Cape Town FC and we were launched into restructuring again…. Our original team of four had now grown to include four full-time teachers, two part-time teachers, Coach Jon who helped part-time with logistics and maintenance, and a cleaning lady.
Grades 6,7, and 8 at the opening of the Ubuntu School in 2017.
On 13 September 2017 we invited parents and friends to the official opening of the school. Our neighbours on the campus came and encouraged us with beautiful gifts and affirmations about our boys’ presence among them. The representative of the Department of Education shared her observations about the value the school was adding to the lives of the boys and their families, helping us believe that we were making the difference we were hoping to. Everybody enjoyed the boys’ musical performance and hospitality which made the day stand out as a highlight of that first year.
By the end of 2017 we were exhausted, but we were also proud and thankful for what we have achieved. For one, the school was still standing! Parents and learners alike were ready to commit to continue building and everybody felt positive that the focused environment would bear fruit on the football field, in the classroom and in the development of confident leaders. We had also been witnesses to the development of a unique brotherhood amongst the boys, a foundation on which future Ubuntu players will continue to build.
At some point during the year, while reflecting on our situation, our team realized that year one at the Ubuntu school can be compared to the clearing of a field on which will be sown by many, and which will one day produce a great harvest. It was backbreaking work that held great promise – a promise that is being fulfilled in the lives of the boys who attended the school over the five years of its existence. I know I am speaking for the team when I say it was an honour to serve the young men at the Ubuntu Football Academy for this chapter of their story.
