Cape Town - A local non-profit organisation is making an invaluable contribution in empowering young people.
Play Sport4Life (PS4L) which works in Kensington, Athlone, Mitchells Plain and Atlantis has one of its initiatives a new programme called Game Changers.
It is aimed at young people who, through Covid 19 circumstances, have lost direction in life. The six-week programme, being run at SHAWCO in Kensington, has attracted full houses for its weekly sessions.
The programme came about through conversations with mothers at local community kitchens which served as a catalyst in talking about the community’s all-round needs.
One mother was concerned around her son who started hanging out on street corners and was worried there was not enough positive distraction to keep him occupied while she was out trying to find a job.
PS4L teamed up with Karen Burt from Luminosity Lab/Inspired Stages to run a six-week programme on self development, social interaction and leadership. Topics such as belief systems, owning one’s identity, masculinity and its meaning were explored. Also discussed was the importance of youth to look inward first before looking at how they fit into society.
PS4L said that the boys particularly enjoyed a session about judging people without knowing their story.
“They had great fun in being allowed to judge the facilitator and were shocked at how they had already made assumptions on who she was and how those assumptions showed up in their behaviour.
“This is one of the lessons these teenage boys noted was possibly the most powerful as they now viewed individuals from a different lens, and this allowed for empathy and understanding rather than judgement and critique,“ it said.
Each session was followed by two hours of sport and recreation and included a meal. By the end of the programme more than one boy remarked that he initially came for the food and the sport, but he realised more and more into the programme that his mental and emotional well-being was also important.
“The engagement was fantastic to watch and the first group of boys will now go through a mentorship and leadership programme. As mentors they will start assisting the sports coaches with mentoring younger boys who join the sport programmes.
“It was very clear early in the programme that these conversations were not happening in any safe spaces and that the boys were very keen to talk and learn about things adults take for granted,” the NPO said.
“It was lovely to watch the shy group of teenagers who started in the programme end it off as confident young men with visions.
“They exuded so much confidence that they were able to speak to a group of 120 men about the importance of engaging young teenage men and challenged them to be better role models, better communicators and, most importantly, to be present,“ PS4L said.
* This piece from part of the Cape Argus’ “Starfish Project“.
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