"Sport teaches you about life. It allows young people to gain self- confidence. It is a crucial element to prepare for adult life." - James Burton, worker with a British NGO.
"Sport is a means to create a better citizen. Through sport you can pass on values and change society certainly in a country marked by such inequalities." - Luboubalo Mpongoshe, South African NGO Umzingisi.
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"Children can try things out and find ways to express themselves in sport. It keeps them away from petty crime, drugs and offers another option to hanging around in the townships." - Anna Clare, Umzigisi NGO.
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"Sport is probably the most powerful force for social change. Young people learn to believe in themselves and develop leadership qualities." - Pascal Holliger, Imbewu coordinator.
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"We only have three sports teachers for our 1,000 pupils. The support of the NGOs is crucial for us, as sport is key for the psychological development of children in a social environment." - Sume Nombulelo, primary school director in New Brighton.
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"I saw somewhere in Africa the eyes of these children and that through sport, these refugees could emerge from a traumatised world. Only sport can acheive such results. Every child from five to 15 years should be allowed to make mistakes without life-long consequences. Only sport allows this." - Adolf Ogi, former Swiss cabinet minister and UN special rapporteur for sport.
The spirit of the World Cup has reached the townships of Port Elizabeth.
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Journalist and deputy head of the swissinfo.ch editorial group for German, French and Italian. Earlier, worked for Teletext and Switzerland’s French-language national broadcaster.
Children in the poor townships of South Africa’s fifth’s biggest city enjoy their favourite sports thanks to joint efforts by several non-governmental organisations. (Samuel Jaberg, swissinfo.ch, translated from French)
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