The power of change

I am Nonkululeko Skosana, a youth sports leader.

As a coach of LEAD I appreciated that all my girls in the program were respectful. At the end of the program I know I have taught the girls the basic morals of ‘please’ , ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’. So, as we all know, not all the girls are the same. One girl at Belebogeng, P.S. Kotlwano, when I started working with the grade sevens, was extremely negative. She did not get along with other girls. She was one of the popular girls, meaning that what she does mattered to other girls with a low self-esteem. One afternoon I came with a ball, so we played ‘Silent Ball’. I gave her the duty to be the ref and to protect the bee game. I made her be the bee in the circle. So Kotlwano like being a ref but did not like being a bee because the bee got hit and no-one cared about the bee. As we came to the discussion, she pointed out the things she did not like about the game which was neglect, not to be in control, being ugly and small. From that day onwards sharing the session with her and other girls she understood why she needed to partake in the program. She had a lot of influence on other girls, so she started being more positive and started leading them in my session every Wednesday. She was getting the girls together for me. That is when she saw how you get along with participants.     

Kotlwano was very influential and the LEAD program helped her to use her leadership skills positively. She now understands that she can positively change someone’s perspective means that you can change the world. I know now that I can help change the world through teaching leadership skills.    

It has contributed to positive change for a lifetime. Kotlwano now know that she has influence and can now use it positively and to her and others’ advantage.