Cycling Whole Life Coaching for @Risk African Kids

The third term of 2023 has been an interesting one. It has been the wettest and coldest winter in many years. Severe floods have hit our area, and much infrastructure has been damaged. Luckily, our facilities and the homes of our beneficiaries were not greatly affected.

With all the wet weather, the maintenance on our bicycles is regularly needed. Most of the boys have received some introductory training on how to clean the bicycles and do basic maintenance; for them to help out like this gives them a great sense of responsibility and teaches them to look after things well. It also allows for many lessons on the importance of various forms of maintenance in our everyday lives.

It’s also been a busy term with many exciting events and opportunities, which are really too many to mention.  Three racing events were attended, including a running event called the SSTB 4Good. Two new beneficiaries, who joined the programme a few months ago, did very well in the 6km running event, finishing second and third place. They walked away with some great prizes. One of the same boys came second in the 15km cycling event, just the day after the running event, where he came third. It looks like we have some amazing talent on our hands.

On another mountain biking event, called the Fedhealth MTB Challenge, one of our riders came in third position for the 30km event. This was even after he assisted an older gentleman who got badly injured on the course. He and one of our other riders gave the injured man much-needed assistance. The guys showed true sportsmanship.

At the start of the school holiday, we hosted a two-day holiday programme, which the children from the valley thoroughly enjoyed. We are proud of the staff and volunteers who made it possible and served selflessly. We were also part of another fun sports event during the holiday, which was hosted in collaboration between ten different NGOs. One hundred children attended, and they were exposed to various sporting codes. For many of them, it was the first time they participated in some of these sports.

Just before the holiday ended, ten older children also attended a youth camp for three days. After the camp, it looked like the children could sleep for a week, so tired they came back.