holiday activities
We don't close for the holiday, we stay open every day. Members can use the
computers and internet, eat, play and study. Sometimes we have special
holiday activities like an open day and activities organised by Stenden students.
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Athi travels the world
Athenkosi Hlekani is our first member travelling overseas. First he went to
Qatar for a two week UN Youth Leadership camp. He was the only South African
selected for the camp. Later in the year he travelled to Europe with his team
from Gauteng as rowing coach for a competition in Belgium.
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Anything that floats (30 November)
This year again we had a fantastic team competing in the anything that floats
competition. Our 'anything' never floats too much, but who cares, we can swim, and
in this fun competition you can win by being slow or for sinking. The event is a
fundraiser for the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), who invited us to visit
their place a few days before the race. It was interesting to learn about what
they are doing. We want to thank Stenden, NSRI and Buco for the events and Wimpy
for the prize our floating/sinking team won.
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Gold President's Award (10 October)
Ashley Backward is the first Nemato Change a Life member to receive the Gold
President's Award. In a very special event in Cape Town, the award was handed
over to him by President Zuma and the Earl and Countess of Wessex from England.
After receiving bronze and silver awards in earlier years, Ashley completed all
activities required for gold in this year: 72 hours of community service, skills
training in the fields of engineering, photography and computers, sport (rowing),
a five day hike in the Hogsback mountains and a 'residential': a five day teaching
experience in Grahamstown.
Ashley has now become a member of the South African Gold Award Holders’
Association (Sagaha) and will attend his first meeting in Grahamstown in
November. He has also become a President's Award leader for Nemato Change a Life.
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Presidents Award meeting (31 August)
The President's Award is celebrating its 30 years of youth empowerment in South
Africa. One of the special events was a youth meeting in East London, where the
participants discussed the National Development Plan and the needs of South Africa
that the plan wants to meet by 2030. There was an online discussion with the
Minister in The Presidency and chairperson of the National Planning Commission
Trevor Manuel. Five Nemato Change a Life members were invited and enjoyed the great
experience.
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Presidents Award gold hike (28 June)
Ashley Backward is the first Nemato member to do the President's
Award hike at gold level. Together with members from Tiger Titans
Cricket Club, he completed the 80km hike in the Hogsback mountains.
It was a challenging but beautiful hike. Ashley's goal is to finish
all required activities for the Gold Award in the next few month to
qualify for the very special Gold Award event that will take place
later in the year, when the President’s Award will celebrate its 30
years of youth awards in South Africa.
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Addo Elephant Park (19 June)
A group of thirty members were rewarded for good attendance with a trip
to Addo Elephant Park. After a lecture about nature conservation, there
was a guided tour trough a part of the more than 2500km2 park, that gives
space to animals that are indigenous in our Eastern Cape, like elephants.
Thanks to Stenden for transporting us and to the Addo for the free entrance!
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Youth Day celebrations (15 June)
This year Youth Day was an extremely busy and successful day for our organisation.
We showcased rowing, gymnastics and fencing at a local Youth Day event.
Our Advisory Board had it's annual meeting, with very strong input by our Advisory
Board member Dr Badat, Vice Chancellor of Rhodes University, in the field of youth
empowerment and education. We had our annual awards event where we rewarded our most committed
members. Our handball team had its first tournament of the year, and three gymnasts
flew to Gauteng to participate in trials for the national team, with Siphamandla Baku
achieving the impossible by winning trials and being
selected for Gymnastics World Age Groups (Junior World Champs) in Bulgaria.
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Holiday camp (4-5 April)
This is the boring time of the year. Sports competitions have not yet started.
That makes it difficult to keep members motivated. To reward all members who have
at least 80% attendance, we organised a short holiday camp. About 35
members qualify and had a nice break away from the township.
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Open Day (23 March)
We organised an Open Day with the theme "izanodlala - kom speel - come and play".
It was a fun day where kids could try our sports: rowing (ergo), gymnastics,
handball and fencing. Some prizes were won, snacks and drinks completed the day.
About 30 kids registered. They can join our sports and if they show good commitment
in the next two months, they'll become our new members.
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Start of our pre-school (21 January)
Our Nemato Pre-School has been started by Destiny Nelson, who is doing
an Early Childhood Development course at Rhodes. We are probably the only
pre-school in our township, that is offering a well designed educational
programme to young children between 1 and 4 years old.
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PE College (8 January)
Nine members registered at PE College this year in fields like engineering,
management, office administration and safety in society. The aim is to offer
our members good education that will give them opportunities to become
successful in life.
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