PeacePlayers South Africa Storybook FINAL - Flipbook - Page 45
However, these opportunities were rare because of the geographic location of Umbumbulu
and the community's cultural norms, which was very isolated from other communities.
Most people from Umbumbulu felt that they had to work ten times harder than
someone from the city to become successful in life. "I witnessed many participants from
Umbumbulu programmes graduate from Playing for Peace then go onto university. Some
of them work in big cities like Johannesburg & Cape Town. A participant even went on
to study medicine in Cuba.” says Ntobeko. When asked what are a few words to describe
people from Umbumbulu? Ntobeko says the community members live out the values of
“Ubuntu, kindness and respectfulness.” “Ubuntu” is a well-known South-African term
which can be summed-up as human compassion and unity.
Ntobeko was helping kids see outside of their immediate environment and actively
showing them life from a broader perspective. Relationship and trust building within
the schools, community, coaches, and participants was a cultural adjustment for him in
Umbumbulu. "I had to learn to be a different type of leader, facilitator, meeting chairperson,
problem solver, and communicator," Ntobeko adds.
During that time, he dove deep into the life skills aspect of the programme. Before this,
Playing for Peace had taken multiple turns of focus: PfP started as an HIV/AIDS education
& prevention programme, then moved to a Personal & Character Development programme,
then onto a Leadership & Mentorship programme. Slowly but surely, Ntobeko would
lead the organisation to take a turn in a different direction. He had a natural feel for
empowering participants to see themselves as powerful beings rather than downplaying
the contributions they could make to the world. In 2011, Ntobeko moved onto a role
everyone knew was for him - Life Skills & Monitoring and Evaluation Expert. While it
hasn't always been easy for him, he and most people know he is the foundation of life skills
facilitation in the entire organisation.
PEACEPLAYERS SOUTH AFRICA STORYBOOK
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