By Nangamso Mabindla
17 July 2006

A GROUP of youngsters from Buffalo City's twin city of Leiden, in the Netherlands, will be visiting King William's Town armed with paintbrushes and creative ideas, ready to redecorate a local care centre.

Their visit will form part of the celebrations of the cities' 10-year anniversary of their twinning arrangement.

Event organiser Muriel Bosman said the visit aims to show that Leiden people are committed to the partnership they have with Buffalo City. "This partnership is 10 years old now and I had a feeling that we needed to do something to involve more Dutch people. With the foundation city link Leiden – Buffalo City, I developed a plan for involving young people because they are the future," she explained.

Called the Leiden Youth Work Brigade, the 16 youngsters will arrive on 3 August to help redecorate the Phand'ulwazi Child and Youth Care Centre, which was in a bad state. "When we leave the city, we hope that at least a couple of their children can live in a nice, redecorated house."

The visit will also introduce some of these youngsters to other cultures outside Europe.

They will interact with youth from King William's Town, work with them in redecorating the house, take Xhosa lessons three times a week; and share the South African experience with local youths.

"Our youth will be able see some interesting places around Buffalo City. I want these youngsters to witness what happened in the last 12 years and also make them aware of the impact the apartheid regime had," said Bosman.

The group will also visit the Steve Biko Garden of Remembrance, the Nelson Mandela Museum in Mthatha and the Kaya Labantu Cultural Village in the Great Kei to learn about the Xhosa culture and other places.

"When they return to Leiden, they are going to be ambassadors tasked with drawing people's attention to the link with Buffalo City. Then next year we plan to come with another group and paint the next house."

"I myself am very excited about the youth brigade, but one of the youngsters summed it up when he said 'I can't wait for August 2," said Bosman.