“Being a role model is the most important kind of educating.” – John Wooden
Thatha iLiza has been running weekly surf-therapy sessions for youth in our community for nearly five years. We have seen young surfers grow in their skills, confidence, and character. Importantly, one of the most significant impacts of our programme is the presence of positive role models for our team.
Role models serve as examples and set standards for others by motivating, inspiring, or supporting them to behave similarly. While children’s first role models are usually their parents, teenagers start looking up to other figures. If you visit our community, you will immediately feel the strong collectivist culture. This spirit of “ubuntu”—a shared sense of humanity and connectedness—binds our community together. The Bulungula Incubator (BI) as a whole, and our surf programme in particular, reflect this community cohesion.
One of the most special aspects of our surf programme is the close-knit team dynamic between the surfers and coaches. The team dynamic, described by the coaches as a family, is built on mutual respect and deep friendship. Our coaches are a fun group of BI employees who handle data and gardening during the working week and run the surf-therapy sessions on Friday afternoons. Each of them embodies the values of responsibility, kindness, and respect, and they are incredible role models to our surfers. They help shape what it means to be a good person by promoting healthy, pro-social behaviour and good mental health through surfing.
Lyema Mdibanto (15), Thatha iLiza’s most dedicated surfer who has been attending since the very first session, echoes this sentiment: “Our coaches have been so helpful not only to me but to us as surfers by being open to us in communication and giving us good guidance, in teaching us how to swim, patience, taking care of each other, respecting and loving one another.”
While we celebrate our youth, it is important to remember that the best way to make a positive impact in their lives is by leading by example—they are watching.
