PeacePlayers 2023 Impact Report 5 18 (5) - Flipbook - Page 34
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— GLOBAL
GLOBAL SITES:
SITES: SOUTH AFRICA –
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CATCHING UP WITH LINDANI AND OLWAMI
Lindani and Olwami are two recent PeacePlayers South Africa alumni.
Read what they have to say about the role that PeacePlayers and basketball
itself are having in their country.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
Lindani: My name is Lindani. I’m from Umlazi, South Africa. I'm 21 years old, and I'm a person who
really likes people who’ve got positive vibes. I've been part of PeacePlayers for ten years now.
Olwami: My name is Olwami Zungu. I'm just a young, enthusiastic and ambitious boy from Imbali,
which is a very big township in Pietermaritzburg. But yeah, I’m just somebody that wants to change
the way things are done in life.
COULD YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT IT’S LIKE LIVING IN SOUTH AFRICA AND
WHY YOU THINK PEACEPLAYERS EXISTS WHERE YOU ARE?
Lindani: I think the reason why PeacePlayers exists here in South Africa is because even though
South Africa is a rainbow nation, there is still crime. There is still racism. There is still gender
inequality. So [PeacePlayers] is here to fight all of that using the young ones – through sports. My
experience is that PeacePlayers is not just about basketball. PeacePlayers are here to implement a
positive thinking in our heads and build us to be leaders.
I always told myself that if PeacePlayers wasn’t there for me, maybe I wouldn’t be the person that
I am today because I’ve seen people who I was studying with at a younger age, and some of them
have died, some of them are taking drugs. So I can say it’s really changed my life and it’s really
changing other people’s lives.
Olwami: You know, through playing basketball, you can meet people you otherwise never
would have met. I’ve made so many connections playing, and now coaching basketball, that have
continued to serve me in school and professionally. I never saw this path for myself, but basketball
brought me here. PeacePlayers helped bring me here. So, it’s going to be amazing to see where all the
young PeacePlayers go, and all the doors that open up for them, largely because they participated in
our program.
c
It doesn’t matter what race you are. It doesn’t matter what religion
you follow. We all play the same game. That was also my first time
actually playing with girls, and just being able to understand that
they’re not just girls – they’re basketball players. Because one girl
actually said that they don’t wanna always be treated softly, you
know, and I actually understood that. Why are we always limiting
girls thinking that they can’t play basketball like men? Well, yes
they can.
O
lw
am
i,
Pe a c e P l aye r s S o u
t
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A
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i
When we play basketball, it doesn’t matter which school you come from.
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