THE Bambisanani Partnership has gained international acclaim for its pioneering work in one of South Africa’s poorest regions, using sport as a catalyst to promote education, health, global citizenship and leadership. This summer has seen the multi-award winning charity take on its most ambitious volunteering project in its twelve year history. Students and staff from St. Mary’s School, Menston, the University of Leeds and Leeds Trinity University have recently returned from South Africa where both individually and collaboratively they extended and developed the work of the partnership.

Following 18 months of preparation, planning and fundraising, 16 students from St. Mary’s embarked on a mission to deliver a ‘Leadership Through Sport’ programme’ to students at Mnyakanya High School situated in the remote, rural Nkandla area. This year’s visit was led by Catherine Chattoe with support from Brad Dobson and Charlotte Wood.

The student team included Olivia Brady, Joe Gardner, Grace Darker, Orla Turnbull, Lily Humphreys, Libby Woffenden, Charlotte Walker, Rhiannon Boardman, Nicholas Brinkworth, Sylvia Cullen, Edward Fieldhouse, Aidan Joyce, Luke Barnes, Maeve Hendron, Lucy Hings and Lily Greenhalgh.

Throughout their visit St. Mary’s students were assisted by three students from Eshowe High School; Morgan Gray, Nokabongwa Mtembu and Sbongisiwe Ntuli who supported them with the delivery of the leadership programme and provided valuable assistance with English and Zulu language translation.

After four intense days of hockey, netball and rounders coaching, thirty Mnyakanya students were fully equipped and confident enough to organise and host a spectacular Sports and Reading Festival for over 120 children from Ntolwane Primary School. The success of the collaboration between the students from both countries was celebrated with a special presentation ceremony. South African students received leadership awards and annual awards as a way of recognising and celebrating their ability and potential as outstanding leaders.

Additionally as part of the visit, the St. Mary’s students delivered lessons in a wide range of curriculum areas. Enthusiastic staff and students from Mnyakanya High School experienced high quality lessons in English, Maths, Geography, Science, Music and Drama. In one lesson Mnyakanya students represented the components of the solar system and moved around the playground as a way of learning how the solar system works.

The final part of their visit saw the St. Mary’s students volunteering at uMlalazi Day Centre and Crèche, a centre for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children run by the Zulufadder Children’s Trust. This was a magical time for the St. Mary’s students where they loved bringing stories to life with the use of props and toys and, for the first time, helped with the centre’s gardening project by planting some vegetables.

Mrs Catherine Chattoe, Bambisanani Co-ordinator at St. Mary’s said: “The St. Mary’s students were outstanding ambassadors for the school and the charity. Their kind heartedness, emotional intelligence and energy were exemplary, I am incredibly proud of their work.”

Mr Dobson said: “I genuinely believe The Bambisanani Partnership has a truly positive impact on every single person involved. It was inspiring to see the determination, comradely and support on display, from both countries.”

David Geldart, Founder and Chairman of the Bambisanani Partnership praised all those involved in the recent visits: “My challenge to all those volunteering on this project is to ‘stand on the shoulders of those that have gone before and take the partnership to a new level’ – the students and staff involved this year’s visits to South Africa certainly achieved that developing and refining existing programmes and introducing new initiatives. Over 40 young people from three institutions in Leeds worked with almost 500 hundred Zulu youngsters over the course of two weeks in the most challenging of circumstances. For all those involved their lives will have been changed in some way. These young people are an inspiration. The innovative collaborative work between St. Mary’s School and the two universities is incredibly positive and is now a real strength of the partnership. All the staff involved have my utmost admiration for the opportunities that they are providing for their young people; they too are an inspiration. It is wonderful to be working so closely with three organisations who are willing to ‘live their vision and values’.”