Cape Town - A promising young dancer from Hout Bay is using his skills in the kitchen to raise enough money to pay for transport to college – and hopefully enough to be able to pay for his exams.
Bulelani Bomeni, 19, is in his second year of studies at the Waterfront Theatre School. During the lockdown his household was left without any income, so he didn’t have enough money to cover his transport costs and exam fees.
Then Bomeni started selling home-baked cinnamon buns to the Hout Bay community through Facebook posts and within two days he had hit his fund-raising goal.
“I come from a low-income household, and since I’m in a private institution, I don’t meet the funds sometimes,” he said. “I won’t be able to do all of my exams this year. I was supposed to pay exam fees in August but I didn’t have the money, so I started to bake. At first I made a terrible batch but I kept on trying until it came out perfectly. I let my gran test it and she said, ‘these are the best cinnamon buns I’ve had.’”
His cinnamon buns have been a hit in Hout Bay and companies have also come on board to help cover his transport and study costs.
Bomeni was born in Nyanga but moved to Hout Bay as a child when his mom found a job in the area.
“As I grew up I used to watch dance competitions and shows; I would save money and go to theatres,” he said. “I always loved dance but was told that dancing is not for males.”
He longed to join dance classes at the Amoyo Performing Arts Foundation in Hout Bay, but resisted because of the social pressure. It was only in February of his matric year in 2018 that he finally stepped into the studio.
“One day I told myself, this is your future, just do it,” Bomeni said. “I love it with all of my heart.”
Kim Worrall, who runs Amoyo, said of Bomeni: “He had a really challenging upbringing. He’s been horrifically abused by peers, beaten up by people in the community because he didn’t want to be part of a negative group, and he just found his calling in dance.”
Bomeni signed up for an African dance class with Amoyo, and then a contemporary class, and then ballet. Without previous experience, his body was left stiff and battered after the rigorous training, but he persevered.
“A week or two later I happened to go watch, and I can’t explain what I felt when I watched him dance,” Worrall said. “He’s a super-talented young man.” After just 11 months of training, she sent him to audition for the Waterfront school, and he was immediately accepted by the directors. “They came out of the audition in tears; they said he is amazing,” she said.
It was Worrall who convinced him to try selling cinnamon buns to raise money when he wasn’t able to pay for transport to attend college. “I said, don’t ask for handouts. If you’re willing to help yourself, other people are going to help you, and that’s exactly what happened,” she said.
Bomeni said that even though he’d reached his funding target for now, he would continue baking, in the hope of being able to cover his college expenses in the future, until he graduated with a qualification to teach dance classes.
“I was so surprised at the response I got from people,” he said. “I was proud of myself. I won’t give up anytime soon.”
Weekend Argus