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Sporty, adventurous, keen to learn and to be of service! Recently Michael Knodt travelled from Germany to volunteer at SCOUTS South Africa’s National Office for a year. During his time here he will be assisting the Scouting in Schools team as well as sharing some Scouting stories with us!

SCOUTS SA: Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
Michael: I come from a small town near Nuremberg and have 4 older siblings, three brothers and one sister. I recently turned 18, and in June I graduated from High School. I enjoy being outside and even sleep on my balcony in the summer! In April I started playing volleyball and it has become one of my favourite things to do.

SCOUTS SA: You have a passion for sports, particularly skateboarding. What makes it so special?
Michael: My best friend thought it was the coolest thing ever and convinced me to try it with him. It’s special to me because there is such a nice community at my local skatepark called the ‘Rollersraeuber’. I’ve got to know almost all my close friends at that skatepark and met all kinds of people. Being part of the skateboarding community allowed me to get to know different people and understand their perspectives

SCOUTS SA: What is your experience with Scouting?
Michael: I am not a Scout, but when I was younger my parents let me attend the annual Scouting camp three times! I was 13 when I was there the last time but have always perceived the Scout Movement as a way for young people to connect with nature, go on adventures, to socialise and to compete. An important goal seems to be giving teenagers a safe space to spend their time and develop their personality. It also keeps them away from drugs and crime.

SCOUTS SA: You decided to volunteer for a year in Cape Town. Tell us why?
Michael: The year as a volunteer gives me the opportunity to try out different occupations and gives me time to find out what I want to do for work when my gap year is over. This is important to me because I have no actual idea of which job I want to do. I also wanted to immerse myself in another culture and gain a new perspective on the society in Germany. Another reason was me wanting to grow as a person and I will have to handle all kinds of situations and experience so many different things on my own, so this seemed like the way to do it.
South Africa is great for me because people here speak English and it’s far away from where I used to live, which I like. I’m in Cape Town rather by coincidence because I applied for Scouting in South Africa and Misereor, the organisation sending us here, decided on where exactly I would be going.

SCOUTS SA: You said that you admire the way children and teens are shown how to lead their life through the Scout method and role models and that you are keen to be a part of it. Why is this important?
Michael: I admire particularly the Scout’s closeness to nature because for as long as I can remember I’ve always had a great time being outdoors. I also like that the Scouts learn about values and responsibility in a carefree setting. Also, Scouting has great role models who inspire with different values and motivate people to keep on striving to become the best version of themselves. They prove that it is possible to be a great person. People like my dad or my sister are role models for me and have influenced me a lot by being really nice and dedicated people. My sister did a similar volunteer gap year in Peru. After hearing about her experiences, the seed was planted and so I also wanted to do a service year oversees. She was influential in why I’m spending these 10 months in South Africa.

SCOUTS SA: Our motto is to “Be Prepared”… how did you prepare to come here?
Michael: I took part in 3 preparation seminars by the German government which covered the basics of what you need to know when going to another country for a volunteering service. I also read a book about the history of South Africa. I was also introduced to Jula and Madita who were here before, and they shared their experiences with me. It was nice to meet them.

Image by Roshaan Solomon-Jhilmeet – SIS

SCOUTS SA: What are you looking forward to?
Michael: I look forward to camping, being out in nature, experiencing new things, and speaking fluent English 😊! I’d love to go hiking or trail running. Playing beach volleyball would be nice but it’s definitely too cold for that right now. And my former P.E. teacher highly recommended surfing.

SCOUTS SA: What is the one thing people should know about you?
Michael: I want to get to know people here, so please feel free to come talk to me!!