MIA VAN DER MERWE

I hear the springs of a trampoline, as a small body tumbles through the afternoon sky. Lindani Street is packed with girls, singing during a handball match; and behind their homemade goal, two fencers lunge at the call of “allez”.

I am on the ‘playground’ of Nemato Change a Life, in Nelson Mandela Township in the Eastern Cape. Change a Life, a name taken literally, is an empowerment and sport initiative which changes the mind-sets of a disadvantaged youth, living in an impoverished community.

The initiative offers members extra education, nutrition, a variety of skills and most importantly, an interesting selection of sports; a hook that keeps them committed.

Jan Blom, the founder of the initiative, moved from Holland to Nemato 12 years ago. This was home to his partner, whom he met in the Netherlands. He passed away before returning to African soil.

When Jan arrived he had no job, but living close to the Kowie River was a trickle of good luck. His background is in rowing and this is where Rhodes University trains. “But I live in the township, and kids here started asking, ‘You are coaching them? What about us?’”

Tiny splashes from the Kowie find their way onto my camera’s lens. I wipe them off. As I steady myself in the doddering dinghy, I photograph tired faces, happily rowing past a heron.

In 2005 the initiative started as Nemato Rowing Club. To lure in other athletes, Jan slowly included a wider assortment of sports. The Nemato Gymnastics Club was opened in 2009, in 2010 Handball was added and in 2011 Fencing made its debut lunge. “It changed from a sports club with empowerment aspects, to a youth empowerment organisation; using sport a tool,” Jan adds.

According to Two Stories, a documentary about Jan’s past, he mentors the children and teaches them life skills. He does not dictate to them, which is crucial in creating a winner and a leader. “You don’t tell them what to think, you teach them how to think,” the documentary reveals.

The initiative’s motto is “for the youth, by the youth”. As Jan prepares for a weeklong trip to Gauteng, I cannot help but wonder who will be in command. “They are in charge even when I’m here,” he adds, as his accent decorates his words.

Funding will always be a problem, but two years ago their finances improved when Computer Share’s Change a Life became their main funder. The name officially transformed to Nemato Change a Life in 2011. “At least we don’t have to worry about the basics anymore, but everything isn’t easy now,” Jan elaborates. They need proper sporting equipment and they have to raise funds for athletes who excel in their chosen fields.

Standing against a wall, waiting for a go on the trampoline:

“Hi. I am Siphamandla Baku. I am 15 years old and I live in Nelson Mandella Township,” he says awkwardly, slightly rehearsed. In November Siphamandla will be representing South Africa at the World Age Groups in Bulgaria; the Junior World Championships for gymnastics.

As he offers the camera a shy smile, I have to remind myself of the fearless gymnast earlier that day; of the courage in this seemingly cautious boy. The club needs to raise R30 000 for his trip to Europe and because they only have an entry level trampoline and tumbling track, he has to travel to Port Elizabeth for training on the weekends.

Although the Nemato sports may seem more expensive than South Africa’s mainstream games, Jan specifically selected Olympic options which are not offered in township schools. “We have all the small unusual sports that they will never be able to do, if we don’t offer them,” Jan explains. He wants to give them the opportunity to leave the township. “It makes the world bigger for them,” he continues. “Mainstream sports just don’t work; it keeps them stuck in the township.”

However, staying in the township is not necessarily bad. The program produces talented local coaches who impart their knowledge back to the young members. 23-year-old Chuma Myendwana, the project manager, joined the club in 2006. Amongst the groaning trampoline, the bouncing of balls and childlike chatter; one can hear his warm voice, “reffing” a fencing duel.

Chuma coaches rowing and fencing and he plays an important role as mentor in the boys’ lives. He believes that he would have been in jail or dead if he hadn’t joined the club. “I was drinking and smoking, but then I started this great club and my life changed”. Chuma also had anger management issues, which he overcame by playing sport. “I became a better person,” he adds, as his round cheeks curve into a smile.

Chuma and the other members see Jan as a father figure, even more so than their own. He explains how Jan is respected and somewhat untouchable in the township. “Even the tsotsis don’t bother him, because he is looking out for their brothers and their children,” Chuma says chuckling.

It is this sense of community which Jan appreciates. For him, living in the Netherlands was very isolated. “You live on your own and you do your own thing. You ignore other people around you,” he explains. This lifestyle did not bother Jan; until he experienced South Africa. This opened his eyes to the extent that he never wants to return to his homeland. “You know, in Holland the weather is cold and in South Africa the weather is hot,” he says, squinting into the sun. “I believe that people become like the weather”.