Read about the experiences of Niki Lintmeijer and Dewi Spijkerman, two bachelor students from the Netherlands interning for Girls & Football SA, and what they’ve learned about working with our team in South Africa! This week they look back at their experience with Girls & Football SA and share a few of the results from their Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).
With our internship and this school year’s workshops coming to an end, it is time to evaluate our work at Girls & Football SA. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is an important part of every organization in order to receive feedback and make improvements for the following years. During our stay in South Africa, we were fortunate to conduct interviews with a significant amount of Girls & Football SA participantsFootball SA, girls age 10-12, and their teachers. These interviews, together with a self-evaluation, are the basis for our M&E and provided us with some very interesting outcomes (for further details on the M&E, please contact info@girlsandfootball.org).
We won’t forget the dedication and enthusiasm of the girls (which at times led to quite chaotic afternoons!) and the trainers at every workshop in both Lynedoch and Kayamandi. The participants looked forward to the workshops every week and were very excited about playing football and working together. For most of them, the football workshops on Wednesdays and Thursdays were the only after-school activity they participated in. As one of the girls mentioned: “I have something to do now, without it, it would be sad to go home.”
With life skill building as one of the main objectives of Girls & Football SA, our interviews showed some very positive results. The girls all indicated that they learned about respect, trust and discipline. For them, the most important aspect of the workshops is being part of a group and working together. One of the 11-year old participants said: “The [trainers] are friendly and sweet, like brothers and sisters. It’s more than just a team.” The girls showed great progression in listening to trainers and to each other, and realized the value in communicating with each other.
According to the staff at the schools, having access to play football has had a huge impact on the self-esteem of the girls, “They have something to brag about, their self-esteem grows. I’ve seen them changed. They are more positive. They are more disciplined now and they have much more confidence.”
We would like to say that we had an amazing time at Girls & Football SA. We praise the warmth and professionalism of the organization and hope to stay involved in the future. We are confident that the devotion of both the girls and the volunteers will lead to an even more successful following year. It was an absolute privilege to be part of Girls & Football SA and we want to thank all the inspiring and caring people that made our short stay so amazing.
