Players of the Qantas Wallabies go around on a PlayPump in South Africa
The Qantas Wallabies visited a PlayPump in action at the Mabopane Crèche in South Africa. The players who came along on the visit were: Nick Cummins, Ben Daley, Pat McCabe, Robert Simmons and Lachlan Turner.
They traveled to South Africa to play against the Springboks as part of the Tri Nations series, an international rugby union competition that is contested annually by Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. With the visit, the players showed their involvement with the One Difference cause by playing with the children on the PlayPump roundabout and teaching them some rugby techniques.
The district where the crèche is located is called Garankhula Mabopane close to Soshanguve which is a 45 minutes drive from Pretoria. There are about 40 children at the crèche but the children in the community play on it after school and the community is allowed free access to the water.
Pat who runs the crèche says that since the PlayPump was installed in 2001, cases of diarrhea amongst the children has greatly reduced and they are much healthier.
The players and the children had a great time playing rugby and going around on the PlayPump roundabout. A highlight of the visit was when the children sang nkosi sikelel' iafrika (God Bless Africa) for the players, who were visibly impressed by the quality of the ‘One Difference choir’.
Trevor Field, the founder of PlayPumps International accompanied the players during the visit on 27th August 2010 and was able to answer many of their questions. The players were particularly interested in hearing about the daily life of South African children and the benefits of PlayPumps for the local community.
Tony Harris, Ambassador at One Water Australia who was also in South Africa, commented: “the project of installing PlayPumps in Africa is received and acknowledged as a wonderful initiative by all South Africans and it’s such a worthwhile contribution. It’s moving to know that what we are doing is making a real difference”.
Most people in this community work in Pretoria or surrounding areas, but a good number are unemployed. The area is being upgraded but it is still very poor with no sewage system and a very basic infrastructure.
One Water partners with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and the Qantas Wallabies as their official water supplier for 2010. Join the Qantas Wallabies in drinking One, so the world can drink too!
See the pictures on Flickr.
