Cup of Good Hope.

Everyone wants to be like Ronaldo: Since the football pitch in South Africa's Masakhane there, more and more young people to solve their conflicts on the lawn. A hotel operator with the project makes its contribution to the village of peace - while he heats the World Cup euphoria to.

 

Michael Lutzeyer opens the door of his limousine, Nzuzu Nkili, a dark-skinned Guide, rising one. Lutzeyer goes off quickly, concentrated in one of Armani jeans, a rimless spectacles on his nose. White sand dunes move at the open car window over, salty air penetrates from the Walker Bay in Hermanus to the inside, they come at a big football pitch to. Children run after a ball, the green lights of the artificial turf in the sun. Approximately two minutes away from here Nzuzus home - a wooden hut in
South African township of Masakhane.

90 minutes ride by car from Cape Town to here. As long as a football match, if there is no extension. A small road winds through the sleepy seaside Gaansbai. A few hundred meters away from the township in the sea with their calves Südkaper over. The majestic whales are perhaps in the coming year already there, when in June tens of thousands of football fans in the country.

But not just because of the huge mammals are worth a detour here. Behind the dunes in the crescent bay is one of the rarest landscapes on earth. In the African Fynbos 750 plant species thrive, including the long Calla, prickly Königsproteen and zartbunte Strelitzie.

Lutzeyer bought along with his brother about 1700 hectares of land around. It was the
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve. Six years ago, the two founded the Grootbos Foundation, a foundation, thanks to this unique ecosystem is maintained. At Grootbos operate Lutzeyer brothers two luxury lodges. Their activities range from Walbeobachtungstouren by boat or private plane, to guided horseback riding through the Fynbos.

Both the Garden as well as the higher-lying Forest Lodge offers spectacular views from the terraces of wood small private residential suites. They are surrounded by Milkwood trees on the hillside. The large windows extend up to the ceiling, from the XL-bathtub look out onto the Atlantic Ocean. The football field of Masakhane but you can see from here is not.

Dispute on the football pitch

Lutzeyer operates not only the Lodge, he also wants to be involved in the townships. It thus follows in the footsteps of his mother. Eva Lutzeyer supported in the fifties as a young woman, the Black Sash, an anti-apartheid movement of the whites. Suitable for the World Cup Lutzeyer Michael developed a research project through which the quality of life especially of the youngest on the ground to be improved. "Between the black with one another, there are serious problems," says the South Africans.

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Caused by rigid social hierarchies, from the time of apartheid come. In order to overcome them, it was symbolically a big football game between the townships created. "Particularly for children, under extremely difficult social conditions growing up, football is a useful distraction from everyday life - a life that is characterized by poverty, unemployment and crime," says Lutzeyer.

"Sport is the bait," said a much more prominent African recently in an interview. Auma Obama, the sister of American President Barack Obama, co-ordinates for two years for the relief organization Care International, the "Sports for Social Change."

About her experience with such aid projects for Africa's children Obama said: "There is no question that all good footballers, but they get involved and give something to their community." Similarly, the well Lutzeyer: "When the children play football, they are no longer in the streets of the townships around. You have a goal. And they learn what it means to have respect for each other."

Ronaldo as a model

The 14-year-old Melvin, who with his family in Masakhane and lives every day to come Kicken, recalls: "At the beginning there was much dispute between us." His former rival Michael from Plombark adds: "Now we are friends. Even my Mom found this Kicken now well." He grins and turns to lay down his earring. Later Twelve-year-old tells of his dream of football players, he wants to be like Ronaldo.

The huge football field, where every day up to 80 children einfinden to play, is like a bridge between the townships before Gaansbai. Also a large part of the 74 employees at Grootbos lives in Masakhane counted 12,000 inhabitants.

The square is Lutzeyer of Halbstarker with a respectful nod welcomed. Many girls are among the kickers. For the sports complex include toilets and a large communal house. Here the children can shower, which usually Township is not possible. The land, the city is available, a major bank involved in the financing.

And still be on the project. A referee is in the school building, and besides, the football field for hockey and rugby are used - sports, especially from the whites to be played. "It makes me sad that we do not all have the same opportunities," says Lutzeyer, who himself was born in South Africa.

Even more striking is formulated Auma Obama. " 'Yes We Can' is an attitude and a request: Find your vocation! Have no fear! If you believe you can do it! We use sport to these attitudes in children and young people to train," said the Kenyan. "What you can in the sport, you can in life."

Advertising for peace - and football

The German Society for Technical Cooperation in Frankfurt supported on behalf of the federal government is also a total of ten football projects for street children in South Africa and neighboring countries, inter alia, in Pretoria. Youth World Cup ambassadors from these projects, traveled through the neighboring countries Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. "They are South Africa's enthusiasm for football in the world and promote peace," says GTZ spokesman Hans Stehling. The peace caravan called Caravanamani ended on Sunday in Rwanda's capital Kigali.

"We used football as a catalyst. In addition, we supplement the projects in the townships with an additional education and awareness-raising job, especially on the topic of AIDS," says Strehling. Michael Lutzeyer also relies on education and training at the junior and supports a kindergarten and a school in the township. In addition, he Grootbos the Horticulture College & Life Skills, "in which a team of biologists has been six years unemployed young blacks to state-recognized gardeners and landscape designers developing.

That students learn incidentally, a cost estimate to prepare to use the Internet and to drive, is part of the curriculum. At the end of the loop is closed because the revenue from this nursery school was also the football project. "Every traveler to Grootbos supported our dream of football," says Lutzeyer.