Cape Town - Pupils at Eluxolweni Primary School in Khayelitsha received the visit of a lifetime when former Manchester United star Quinton Fortune gave a life skills lesson.
Fortune shared his knowledge and motivated the pupils to follow their dreams no matter their background.
Originally from the Cape Flats, Fortune is a Laureus sport for good ambassador and uses his status to promote gender equality and speak out against gender-based violence.
Fortune acknowledged the work done by grass-roots coaches who are part of the non-profit and health organisation that leverages the power of soccer to educate, inspire and mobilise youth in communities.
He noted that most of the pupils in the communities do not have a father figure to look up to.
“For me I believe in the future. My dream was to play in the World Cup and score."
"The future president could be one of the youth we see today."
"It was amazing to see the amount of work these guys are doing."
"It is an honour to be here. I do believe in this, just by speaking to the kids about their dreams and in the future there was some astronauts, there was some pilots and scientists, and it is amazing to have that imagination, and I said to them I was exactly the same as them.
"And for me it is basically to inspire them, and they should never limit themselves."
Grassroots Khayelitsha representative Tony Gubesa said: “Today was fantastic and I think that what stood out for me was for the kids to spend some time with Quinton.
"Most of the time the kids look up to a role model on TV, so to be close to him and touch Quinton, it was amazing.”
Quinton’s younger sister, Margo Fortune, who accompanied him during the visit, said: “Once upon a time, Quinton also had a dream."
"It is good to see him inspire the youth.”