YOUTH DEVELOPMENT11 September 2009 Page 5
THEMBA KHUMALO
MORE than 3 000 rural andtownship children recentlyreceived
top-notch hockeyand cricket coaching from ateam from Leeds, one
ofeThekwini’s sister cities.
Lala Nzuza, a Sport Officerwith eThekwini’s Sport andRecreation
DevelopmentDepartment, said, “Thechildren have gained a lotthrough
from the clinics –and not only them, but theircoaches and teachers
too.
The clinics took place in theInanda, Ntuzuma and Kwa-Mashu area,
Clermont, Um-
lazi and Cato Manor. “Wechose these areas becausethey encompass
rural andtownships areas. Our aim isto teach kids sport skills at
anearly age so they can growwith it and make a career outof it,”
said Nzuza.
He said the initiative hadbeen well received. “What wefound in
these areas is thatcricket and hockey arepopular among kids –
theyjust lack equipment andproper facilities,” said Nzuza.
Leeds delegation leader AbiDean said, “We are herebecause we
want to contri-bute to the development of
sport in South Africa. Webelieve we can make a differ-ence. We
are loving out timehere. The reception we havereceived has been
amazing.”
Dean said her team was amixed bag of “professionalhockey payers
and studentswho have volunteered theirservices to encourage kids
toplay the sport”.
Bonisanani Primary SchoolPrincipal Nkosinathi Ngu-bane said,
“This has been alearning experience for us asteachers and coaches.
Mostof these kids lack basic skillsand that is what they havebeen
taught at these clinics.
“Not having enough blackpeople in cricket and hockeyto play for
South Africa couldbe a thing of the past if wecontinue with such
initia-tives,” said Ngubane.
But he said this would re-quire the support of parentsand for
high schools tocontinue with the progra-mmes that had been
startedat primary school level.
“We have realised that themoment they leave primaryschool that
they stop playing,so we urge high schools toallow these kids to
come andtrain with us,” he said.
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Coaching for rural, township kids
ON THE BALL: Children from the Inanda, Ntuzuman and KwaMashu
areas take part in a coaching clinic hostedby the the City’s Sports
and Recreation Development Department, with the help of a team of
volunteers fromLeeds Picture THEMBA KHUMALO
ZOLA HLENGWA
A SCHOOLS identity cardproject launched in Mere-went and
Wentworth lastweek holds promise forimproving the security ofpupils
and teachers.
The project is an initiativeby the Merewent CommunityPolicing
Forum, with thesupport of the Municipality,the Department of
Edu-cation, Wentworth SAPS andprivate companies.
More than 20 000 pupilsfrom schools in the area havebeen issued
with barcoded IDcards, which bear theirphotographs.
The cards will be used withan access control system atthe
participating schools.
It should make it harder forcriminals and drugs to enterschools.
As well as improvingthe monitoring of children,who go mising while
travell-ing to and from school.
The system is linked to adatabase at the Wentworthpolice
station.
Mxolisi Kaunda, Chairmanof the Transport portfoliocommittee in
the KZN Legi-slature, said he hoped theinitiative would endure
andthat other areas would followMerewent’s lead.
[email protected]
DERRICK DLAMINI
THE long-awaited PhoenixYouth Centre is set to opentomorrow with
hundreds ofyoung people from the areaand its surrounds,
includingInanda and Bhambayi, likelyto benefit from the
recrea-tional facilities and life skillsopportunities it will
offer.
The City, through its Masa-khane Grants-In-Aid, Non-Racism and
Non-Sexismcommittee, has contributedat least R2-million to
non-profit organisation, thePhoenix Community Centre,to develop a
youth centre.
Guests expected at theopening include KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Dr
ZweliMkhize, MEC for HumanSettlements and PublicWorks, Maggie
Govender andMayor Obed Mlaba.
Apart from recreationalfacilities, the centre will
offerguidance, motivational talks,educational workshops
andleadership programmes.
Councillor Zandile Gum-ede, Chairman of the City’sMasakhane,
Grants-in-Aid,Non-Racism and Non-Sexismcommittee, said the
facilitywas crucial to the develop-ment of the young in Phoenixand
neighbouring areas.
“Our societies are facedwith massive challenges,including
unemployment,domestic violence, health-related problems and
ageneral erosion of the moralprecepts. Our focus should beon youth
empowermentinitiatives, hence a need toprovide infrastructural
assis-tance for our communities.”
UniteThe centre, said officials,
could unite young peoplefrom different social andpolitical
backgrounds, whilehelping to shape their future.
Councillor Stanley Xulusaid, “As we strive for aregeneration of
moral fibre,with the main focus on theyounger generations,
thecentre couldn’t have come ata more appropriate time.”
He said the City was glad to“help our youths carve apositive
path for their future”.
According to a report by theHuman Sciences ResearchCouncil, at
least half of allSouth Africans aged 15 to 24are unemployed.
Officials arehoping the centre will helpaddressing this problem
byequipping young people withjob skills.
[email protected]
Centre to opentomorrow
NONDU NGCONGO andNOMPILO MSELEKU
A SURVEY has linked the highdrop-out rate at Mayvilleschools to
teen pregnancy.
The City Health Unit andHope2Educate, a non-governmental
organisation(NGO), last month did thesurvey after they had
beenapproached by a principalwho was concerned by themany girls at
his school whowere leaving to have babies.
In response to the findings,the unit and the NGO held a
teenage pregnancy and HIV/Aids awareness day at CatoCrest
recently.
Pupils from four schools inthe area attended.
Thulani Shusha, Youth andSports Facilitator with theHealth Unit,
said, “We did thesurvey with Hope2Educateand found that 36% of
girlsfell pregnant last year in oneschool – and it seems to
beincreasing.” Siyabonga Nzi-mande, Senior ProgrammeFacilitator in
Hope2Educate,said many teens think fallingpregnant is “cool and
they
don’t seems to consider theconsequences”.
“They can catch sexuallytransmitted illnesses andmay have to
raise a childalone,” said Siyabonga.
He said follow-up visitswere planned to see if theawareness day
was helping.
Nonhlanhla Mthembu, a15-year-old Grade 9 pupil atMayville
Secondary School,said she was proud she wasstill a virgin and
determinedto stay that way. “Today Igained important infor-mation:
if you say yes to sex,
you are saying yes todiseases,” said Nonhlanhla.
Nonhle Ngcobo, Progra-mmes Manager of Focus onthe Family, a
Hillcrest NGOchastised the youngsters forneglecting to use
contra-ceptives – which put theirschool careers and health atrisk.
She encouraged girls tosave their bodies for theirhusbands.
Taki Dube of Hope Clinicwas there to do voluntarycounselling and
HIV testing.
[email protected]@durban.gov.za
School ID cards setto improve security
SAFETY FIRST: At the launch of the school ID cardproject are
Sthembiso Mtshali, Marketing Officer withthe City’s Energy Office,
Ronel Mitchell, of SpecialProjects in the Procurement and
Infrastructure Cluster,and Merebank Secondary School pupils
Picture: GUGU MDLALOSE
Too many teen mums in Mayville
ROMITA HANUMAN
PUPILS at Ohlange HighSchool in Inanda were treat-ed to a maths,
science andtechnology career day lastweek.
The City’s Skills Develop-ment Unit and Protec hostedthe day.
Protec is a non-profitorganisation which runsoutreach programmes to
im-prove maths and science
standards. Experts spoke tothe pupils and encouragedthem to
treat schoolworkseriously.
Zimele Cele, of the City’sSkills Development Unit,said, “We are
running thisprogramme to help pupilsdevelop careers in
maths,science and technology.”
Msizi Mkhize, a mathe-matician, awed pupils withhis knowledge of
the subject
and told them to be positive.“We must speak the languageof
maths. In a science field,the first thing they look for isyour
maths score. If you havea positive attitude, you willsucceed.”
Tholeka Dukada, a CareerAdvisor at the LabourDepartment, advised
pupilsto pick careers carefully sothey would not lose interest
.
Pupils were enthusiastic
about the programme andsaid they were keen to work.
Eugene Mhlongo, a Grade10 pupil, said, “A programmelike this
helps. Instead ofsitting at home doing noth-ing, we are learning. I
amgrateful to the people that putthis day together.”
Unit Head Gugu Mji said,“Initiatives such as these fill
acritical gap.”
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Pursue careers in maths – pupils told
