The Header: Inspiration, Transformation, & Sweat Equity: The World Cup Boston 2010 Service Learning Day

**Article Courtesy of South Africa Partners

Saturday at Grove Hall and Harambee Field in Dorchester, a team of over 200 volunteers transformed two physical landscapes into amazing, multipurpose green spaces. Volunteers’ positive energy, hard work, and dedicated commitment to the community were all tremendous: The Boston Globe called the resulting park “a dream come true.”

At Harambee Field, volunteers laid sod at record speed, quickly covering the soccer field goal mouth to goal mouth. Next to this field activity, America Scores volunteers led soccer skills and drills and a small friendly tournament. Inside the Boys & Girls Club, OrigiNation led a dance workshop, children painted birdhouses and read South African children’s stories, and more.

At Grove Hall, some incredibly challenging physical work took place, with astounding results. First, volunteers cleaned the vacant lot of trash, glass, rocks, and more. Then, with shovels and pickaxes, it was time to break up the ground: boulders and broken-up concrete were under the dirt throughout the site. This was the hardest work of the day. Then volunteers carried and laid mulch, fine gravel, and fresh soil throughout the park, creating a seating area “The Circle of Love,” a playground area and more. Kids painted murals to attach to the fence, and put in plantings. The pictures below from Sunday’s Boston Globe give a real sense of what is was like at Grove Hall, where volunteers stayed long past the anticipated 3pm closing time, wrapping up the major work and leaving the site clean at around 6pm.

It was a truly transformational day of service, for which we are so grateful to our volunteers, sponsors and friends. On Saturday, a real difference was made in Boston’s neighborhoods.

- South Africa Partners Staff and The World Cup Boston 2010 Management Team