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Press
A BATTERED silver kettle hissing on a two-plate stove prompts Lerato Padi to rush to the small kitchen of a tiny shack. The 16-year-old quickly switches off the plug and takes out two cups from a makeshift kitchen cupboard to make coffee. The coffee is hurriedly drunk to wash down a meal of bread and butter, before Lerato and his 13-year-old sister, Michelle, rush to a community centre for karate training. This is where they are taught life skills and self-defence. “We really love this training. Although we haven’t done most of the stuff yet, we hope to one day be the karate experts in our neighbourhood,” says Lerato. The two have been in the care of their 20-year-old brother since their mother died six years ago. The Motshehoa home is one of many child-headed households in the poverty-stricken Orange Farm community, south of Joburg. But through programmes at the MaAfrika Tikkun centre, youngsters are given a new lease on life. “They know that there is someone out there for them and this gives them hope,” says Sylvia Selelekela, one of the caregivers at the centre. A group of youngsters plays merrily in the yard before karate instructor, Ouma Chaane, calls them into a shipping container. ‘‘Makso! (meditate),’’ Chaane orders, as the youngsters form a circle on the floor, bringing them to complete silence. But soon there’s more shouting as the youngsters perform their exercise routines, responding in Japanese to Chaane’s instructions. Chaane and Selelekela have just returned from a two-month karate training course in New York. “The training helped me to grow spiritually and understand my inner-being. The gruelling sessions taught me that I can achieve anything I want if I put my mind to it and that’s exactly what we hope to impart to the orphans and vulnerable children of our community,” she says. For Selelekela, the training has taught her self-discipline. “What you put in is what you get out. I learnt about self-love and, since we deal with a lot of teenage pregnancies and school drop-outs, this has helped me grow in dealing with children who have fallen into societal traps,” Selelekela says. As Chaane shouts “Yame!” (stop), the children disperse and congregate outside one of the rooms in the centre for a meal. “For some, this is all they will have for the whole day,” Selelekela says.
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