20 Jul Pocock’s Charity Work in South Africa
Pocock is about to finish his break away from Rugby as he and his partner Emma have been volunteering their time in Africa to learn about conservation and help with community projects, working with Wild Ark and other conservation agencies, and spending time working on his grandfather’s farm in Zimbabwe.
David Pocock and his partner Emma have been exploring Africa over the past few months and with conservation group Wild Ark.
This week Pocock has been working alongside the Classic Wallabies Indigenous Exchange volunteers and the Eco Kids team on a range of projects in the Hoedspruit area of South Africa. “To have a group of Indigenous young people as part of the Classic Wallaby Program for five weeks, that’s a life-changing experience I reckon,” he said.
One of the projects involved building a vegetable garden for the students at the Mphaku Primary School, so that the school can provide one meal a day for the children. Afterwards they were able to go through some rugby drills as well as participate in a game of soccer.
“The headmaster is just so passionate about this community and this school, so to have people coming all the way from Australia to show that they do care and that they want to be involved is a huge lift for her and the school,” said
Pocock is making the most of his year off from rugby and hopes he can come back ready and prepared as he looks ahead to the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The 29-year-old will travel to North America later this month to continue his studies in environmental sustainability then will head to Japan for a second season with the Panasonic Wild Knights in the Top League before returning to the Brumbies in 2018.