Reward

May 22 2014

Movie Night with MBC

MBC’s motto is “Respect for nature, self and others”, one of the ways MBC promotes the expression of these characteristics among the boys is with the Star Chart program. The Star Chart allows the volunteers to award a star to each child who attends MBC activities and displays good sportsmanship; cooperation; effort; teamwork, and in general, good behaviour. Stars can be taken away for behaviours such as fighting, swearing and poor attitudes.

This past Friday we had the opportunity to take 4 of the kids who achieved the most stars to the cinema to watch the latest installment of The Amazing Spider-Man!! Phila, Themba, Siya, and Frankie were the boys who displayed the most consistent behaviour and had earned the most stars this past month. We picked the boys up at 8:30 and could tell they were excited and ready to go, wearing “special” clothes, accessorized with bright smiles! Phila was decked out in his fresh digs and stylish hat, adorned with a newly pierced ear!! (We soon found out it was only magnetic)

Themba, Siya, Frankie and Phila!

Themba, Siya, Frankie and Phila!

Just from observing the kids the moment they got into the van to when we finally took our seats at the theatre, we could tell how happy they were to be out on a Friday night watching a movie with Ant, Maddy, and all of the volunteers of MBC. We all had a really fun night and it was a well deserved treat for the boys and all they’ve accomplished over the past few weeks!

SELFIE!!!

SELFIE!!!

-Pria and Alisha (Canada)

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Nov 11 2013

MBC Reward Night

The end of the month means that we do something extra fun with the kids who earned the most stars on the MBC star chart for their achievements and good behaviour. As usual we did some cool surfing with all the kids on Thursday afternoon. I’d been surfing already this day but wanted to go out again because it’s such a great time in the water, everyone encouraging everyone else. Feeling satisfied after a good session, we went up to get ready for the star chart evening. This time Phila, Godfrey, Siminkiwe and Yamkela were the ones getting to spend the evening with us volunteers. We went off to the Blue Route Shopping Mall to grab some dinner and watch a film. The guys were just as excited as we were. The surfing really builds up one’s appetite so the chicken or beef burger we got to choose from at Spur was perfect. It was nice to sit down with everyone and have a casual chat. We had some movies to choose from at the cinema. It ended up with Maddy taking the younger kids to the movie ‘Khumba’ in 3D while the rest of us watched ‘Redemption’. The ‘Khumba’ movie finished before our movie so Maddy was sweet to buy the kids some ice cream and let them into the shopping mall’s playground. When we all met up again everyone was still energetic even though it was a long day. I feel very lucky to get to spend such an evening with this cool group – thanks, MBC!

The MBC guys getting ready to surf!

The MBC guys getting ready to surf!

Charlotte, Swedish volunteer

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Jul 9 2013

Boys of Steel

Asi and Phila at the cinema“You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark. Whoever that man is, he’s going to change the world” Jonathan Kent, Father of Superman, Man of Steel

At Muizenberg Beach Club, the objective is not only to give its members amazing opportunities but also to teach them a valuable set of life skills.

Our most recent endeavour was to get the kids to commit and persevere with MBC and their goals. Our solution was the star chart. The idea is that each child would get a star for every session they attended and extra for good behaviour – sometimes stars are even taken away for bad behaviour. The child with the most stars at the end of the month gets a surprise ‘reward’.

Yesterday evening was the much anticipated reward night. The winner and the runner-up, Asi and Phila, were taken out for burgers.

It was particularly fitting for Asi, who pipped Phila to the top spot by one star which he had earned for sharing his chocolate with another boy who had none… And thus ended up in Spur for their ‘buy one get one free burger’ night. That little piece of chocolate he gave away earned him two massive burger meals!

I wonder how the other boy felt, what he thought when Asi gave him his chocolate. I’d like to think it will inspire him to copy Asi’s altruistic behaviour in the future, especially in an environment where it is more common to grab and fight over scarce treats.

What really strikes me is what a humble guy Asi is. It was almost as though he thought he didn’t deserve his reward. When Ant revealed the surprise part of the evening – to watch Man of Steel at the cinema – he almost walked away in disbelief! That tells me his act of kindness really came from his heart.

Asi recently confided that he’d like to be a police man or a fire fighter when he’s older and you can tell from his loyal and kind nature, he excels tremendously in helping others.

We often talk at MBC about role models, someone the boys can look up to and learn from. I believe they have a role model amongst themselves. It may not be a pro surfer or a celebrity but it is someone they can actually relate to – one of their own.

When the evening was over, Ant received an SMS from Phila reading “Wow!!! I had the time of my life, it was awesome! The stars are worth fighting for”. His gratefulness made the evening a million times worth it’s value and I’m sure whoever they grow up to be, they will always remember MBC and their reward to see Superman.

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