With events ranging from athletics and six-a-side soccer to group Bible speaking and reciting poetry, 10 Uitenhage pupils intend making the most of their US tour to attend the International Student Convention next year.
Fountain of Life Christian School in Uitenhage will be showing off the garden town’s ability at the week-long event.
The convention will take place in Warrensburg, Missouri, where hundreds of pupils from around the world will compete in sporting, academic and cultural events.
The annual event was established in 1985 by the Accelerated Christian Entrepreneurs to bring together pupils from Christian schools from around the world to attend what Fountain of Life team coordinator Simba Mupinga referred to as the Christian School Olympics.
Mupinga said the team from Fountain of Life would spend half of the trip participating in a variety of events, while the rest of the trip would be spent sightseeing.
“After qualifying for the international event through the All Africa Student Convention in Bloemfontein earlier this month, all the kids can talk about is their upcoming trip to the US,” Mupinga said.
“The event is a highlight for our pupils, but in the past we have only been able to send one or two because the financing of the trip [about R71, 000 per child] is up to the school and students to raise.
“But the children are determined to compete and make new friends while exploring.”
Grade 11 pupil Zasakhe Hlela, 17, qualified in the categories of group Bible speaking and reciting the book of Proverbs.
“In regard to the group Bible speaking we need to memorise Bible verses, and also incorporate skits and actions to accommodate the reciting of the verses. And in regard to memorising Proverbs it took almost a year to get it done flawlessly,” Hlela said.
“We all had to work hard, give up our afternoons and weekends to train.
“We are all very excited to perform on an international stage.”
Grade 10 pupil Mihlali Titayi said while she also qualified in the category of group Bible speaking, the highlight of the US trip was not the convention itself but rather the experience of travelling.
“I have never been out of the country so travelling to the US and doing the sightseeing bit is definitely the highlight leg. We will give it our all at the competition but I’m certainly more excited to see the US.
“We realise that a lot of money needs to be raised in order to make this opportunity a reality.
“Hence we are being proactive with a fund-raising schedule comprising different events from soccer tournaments and raffles to lucky draws,” Titayi said.
National event coordinator for the student convention Sanri Botha said: “We understand the hard work that individuals have put in to making their events a success and commend them on their exceptional performance.”
The other pupils who qualified to participate in the international event include Sisipho April, 18, Siseko Hermanus, 18, Jaden-Welsh Jacobs, 17, Herschelle Kuster,14, Lolitha Mpondo, 15, Kimberly Takundwa, 15, Puseletso Tshika, 16 and Lufezo Tsotsa, 14.