South Africans embrace the Scottish Highlands

Thanks to the impressive fundraising effort of my sister and her friends over a period of 3years, the final lump sum of money mounted to an incredible £10,000. This allowed nine ambitious South Africans to get a taste of Scottish culture and a glimpse into our everyday life which was a huge contrast to their humble upbringings.   

Staff and pupils at Charleston Academy hosted the senior students and three staff from J E Malete secondary school in Tsakane, a township outside Johannesburg which they visited a year ago.

Our family had the company of two wonderful young gentlemen living with us for a week- Kamogelo Aries Mtshali and Fanie Nhlapo. They blended into the family so perfectly, with infectious grins and a wicked sense of humor as well as intriguing us by sharing many hearty stories from their homeland.

The trips were part of the British Council’s Teams and Dreams scheme, which promotes leadership through sport and encourages schools to form lasting partnerships. After a fun packed week, the boys left with SFA certificates in football coaching, after a session at the Highland Football Academy, while the girls took in a dancing workshop at Eden Court Theatre. Throughout the week, they also visited Loch Ness, received numerous gifts of clothes from the generous Inverness community to take home to loved ones and enjoyed a good ‘knees up’ at an energetic ceilidh.

I am pleased to say I got the brothers that I have always wanted - we will be lifelong friends for sure and thanks to the wonders of facebook, keeping in contact is easy.