German scouts clean up Auckland Park
The scouts are from Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg and they will spend a month in South Africa.
A few weeks ago a group of scouts from Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg flew all the way from Germany intent of being of aid to communities in our beautiful country.
One of their stops, had them visit the Melville-based Hotel Hope Ministries, a safe haven for abandoned children. Its CEO, Sihle Mooi, explained along with spending time with orphaned children the organisation is home to, the scouts also ventured out into the community of Auckland Park for a cleanup. Mooi said the invitation to clean up parts of the community was put forward by the Auckland Park Residents Association.
The scouts are part of an exchange programme that sees them alternate every year with their South African counterparts. Through this, they each get to experience what life and being of service is like in a different country.
He hoped the scouts would leave the country with a better sense of the vulnerability that the children’s organisation cares for, faces. In so doing they would be reminded not to take what they have for granted, “Not everyone has a home and not everyone has parents, so we hope they experience that are made grateful for their parents and homes and for all the things they have received and know they can make a difference in children’s lives.”
One such scout is Lucas Englert, he joined the scouts as a way to find a new hobby to get into, “The scouts came in very handy and I have loved since I joined about 10 years ago.” Though he has travelled to many parts of the world, this is his first time on the African continent and he has found it to be a wonderful experience. One of the few things he found intriguing was how we called traffic lights, ‘robots’, “I was told this before and I couldn’t believe it, but I was completely proven wrong. In general the South African life is just really different from Germany and it is a wonderful way to live.”
Before coming to Joburg the group spent some time in Rustenburg. There some were given new names, much like fellow scout, Timo Busch, who was given the name Thabo, which he really appreciated.
For Englert, the clean up was important as it was a way for them to be able to do something for the community they are visiting, “I think it is always important to help others because what you give to the world is always what you get back.”
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