[ti:South Africa Club Teaches Township Youth Kayaking]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]A group in South Africa's largest township, Soweto,
[00:05.76]is helping young community members learn kayaking.
[00:11.88]The Soweto Canoe and Recreation Club
[00:15.64]offers young people from the mostly Black township
[00:19.96]the chance to gain skills in kayaking and canoeing.
[00:26.72]The two sports are similar, but use different equipment.
[00:32.44]Traditionally in South Africa, water sports like kayaking
[00:38.12]are usually only experienced by upper-class members
[00:43.52]of the country's white minority.
[00:47.48]But the Canoe and Recreation Club -- created in 2003
[00:53.72]-- has aimed to change that.
[00:57.36]The group currently has 72 members
[01:01.32]that range in age from seven to 22.
[01:06.36]One member is 20-year-old Benjamin Mntonintshi.
[01:12.40]He spoke to Reuters while taking a kayak down the Klip River,
[01:18.28]which runs through Soweto township.
[01:22.60]"The water helps me focus and be alone with my thoughts.
[01:27.64]When I'm facing challenges in life, I come here,
[01:32.84]take the boat and get into the water," he said.
[01:38.16]Soweto, like South Africa as a whole,
[01:41.80]suffers from high youth unemployment.
[01:45.76]The latest national data from June showed
[01:50.24]that nearly half of young people aged 15 to 34 are unemployed.
[01:57.60]The club says on its website that it also offers help to members
[02:04.40]beyond the development of sports skills.
[02:09.08]These include educational programs
[02:12.80]designed to aid students in graduating
[02:16.56]and exploring possibilities for continuing schooling.
[02:22.60]In addition, the group offers career guidance
[02:26.48]and employment assistance.
[02:30.08]Nkosi Mzolo is a coach at the club.
[02:34.96]He said the group has to work
[02:38.16]to overcome traditional beliefs in the country
[02:41.96]that evil spirits can live in lakes and rivers.
[02:48.20]"There are still negative connotations attached
[02:53.00]to children being in the water," Mzolo said.
[02:57.44]"People still believe that there is a (supernatural) snake
[03:02.84]that lives in this dam,
[03:05.36]so kids should not be playing here," he added.
[03:10.96]Mntonintshi says he successfully overcame those fears.
[03:17.60]Now, he is dreaming of very big things in the sport of kayaking.
[03:24.00]He says he aims to keep training hard and hopes one day
[03:29.68]to be good enough to compete in the Olympics.
[03:34.36]Mntonintshi currently ranks second
[03:37.96]in the under-23 grouping in Gauteng,
[03:42.28]the area around South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg.
[03:48.72]The club says it has already produced
[03:52.48]"some of the most exciting up and coming paddlers in the country."
[03:58.68]Among them is Siseko Ntondini,
[04:02.40]who became the first black South African to finish at the top
[04:07.92]of the Hansa Fish Canoe Marathon in 2015.
[04:13.88]I'm Bryan Lynn.
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