Jun 11 2013
MBC Life Skills
“I take the bread and I feed the birds, I look after them at my house. Then, I let them go free, into the sky”
Yamkela, Aged 11
Yamkela is a great boy, an amazing surfer and does an incredible rendition of Adele’s ‘Set Fire To The Rain’. As he told me his story of the birds, he flung his arms enthusiastically in the air (putting his jungle oats perilously close to danger).
I thought to myself that Yamkela had unknowingly created a brilliant analogy for our work here with our MBC members. The program gives confidence for each boy to fly on his own. There is a noticeable difference between the members that have been in the MBC for a longer period of time and those that have recently joined. The activities also give them chance to improve the skills they need to pursue their ambitions.
It is clear all the boys adore surfing and one, Kyle, has the aim to buy his own surf board, live by the water and surf every day. Without MBC, Kyle’s hopes for the future would be very different. Kyle, like many of the others, comes from a disadvantaged background and surfing has given him a new perspective on life.
A valuable aspect of MBC for these children is that they have role models, such as Ant, the founder, or international volunteers to show them that violence and gang culture is not a healthy lifestyle and give them some direction in their own lives. We aspire to continue giving these children the right to a new perspective and a fresh start.
