June 20, 2017 By Vanessa Ratcliffe,
Posted in: News

We recently hosted a group of students from the  International School of Brussels. Their Service Learning trip to Cape Town included a healthy dose of community outreach which was facilitated by our friends at Hoops 4 Hope. The programme we designed was a good balance of general sight seeing in the Mother City and surrounds with hands-on workshops facilitated  Hoops 4 Hope out in one of the more marginalised township communities, Phillipi.  

The highlights of the touristy part of their trip was visiting Robben Island, learning to surf at Muizenberg Beach and seeing the Big Five at Aquila Game Reserve.

The visiting kids played basket ball and participated in ball skills workshops with the kids out at Hoops for Hope in Phillipi.

Hoops4Hope is a global not-for-profit organisation that has supported youth development throughout southern Africa since 1995.  Their aim is to teach children life skills through sports and mentorship. 

Basketball provides a platform for  trained coaches and volunteers to build trusting relationships with children and delivery life skills lessons in a fun environment.
The benefits young people receive from H4H reach well beyond the playing field. H4H empowers children to become productive adults, engage in healthy lifestyles, manage life’s challenges, and become leaders within their communities and the world.
Playing ball -making social impact through sport
The ISB students participated in workshops and knuckled down to a range of volunteering tasks
When not on the basket ball court, we arranged fun activities for the ISB students, like learning to surf at Muizenberg Beach

Hoops 4 Hope’s (H4H) Skills 4 Life challenge young adults and children to make their own decisions and teach others to do the same. Their effective and innovate curriculum uses role plays, exercises, and circle discussion in a safe forum and includes 5 modules:

  1. The 7 Tools: Self Awareness, Sense of Humor, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility, Self Esteem, Focus, Ubuntu
The life skills they learn on the court clearly impact their futures; in fact, many of the children become H4H mentors and coaches themselves.

10,000 children are reached each year in H4H year round teams and outreach programs. These boys and girls often grow up to become MVP and All Star coaches within the program themselves, which helps build the community as a whole.

PACKED WITH A PURPOSE  – Secondhand balls & shoes, collected back in Brussles, ready for distribution to the community kids

H4H is sending a shipping container filled with up-cycled sporting goods to Africa and they need your help to support their projects for deserving kids and communities. Click on the link to Good Circle to see how.

Or PACK for a PURPOSE when you book your trip with us!