The opening of a new multi-purpose sports pitch was a momentous day for the Camphill School and Camphill Farm communities in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley.
The children were revved up, and so were the farm residents. Friends and supporters, some from the UK, Ireland and the Camphill Africa region, joined the fun. The pitch was laid out on the open grassland in front of the school.
Funded jointly by the Association of Camphill Communities UK and Ireland, and Camphill Families and Friends UK and Ireland, this project was 10 years in the making. However, Geoffrey Weir, chairman of Camphill School Hermanus, highlighted that it was in keeping with the vision of Karl König, who started the worldwide Camphill Movement in 1939. He believed all children had the right to an equal place in the sun, no matter what their circumstances.
This sports facility willl offer the children an opportunity to experience the joy of physical activity, learn the value of teamwork, and handle winning and losing. As the children developed new skills, their confidence would grow.
These sentiments were echoed by former Overstrand mayor and unofficial ‘patron’ of Camphill School, Nicolette Johnson, who officially opened the multi-purpose, all-weather, floodlit pitch, complete with artificial grass, which will be shared between the school and the adult residents of the Camphill Farm community next door.
“Physical activity has always mattered here,” she said, “not as an add-on, but as part of how we understand education and community life at Camphill.”
Paying tribute to the funders for their support, reaching across continents, she said, “That connection between friends of Camphill so far away, and this community, right here in Hermanus, is really the spirit of the whole Camphill movement, people choosing to stand behind other people, because they believe every individual deserves the chance to thrive.”
She thanked the construction companies that tackled the project with dedication and enthusiasm, and an anonymous local donor who had provided team bibs and balls.
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