Durban — Heading a home and taking care of her younger siblings at 18 was not easy for Nasiphi Khafu.
She believes that sport saved her by steering her away from the many social ills and led to her success at Peace Players, a global, youth-led movement dedicated to creating more peaceful and equitable societies through basketball.
Khafu said that when her grandmother died, she moved from the Eastern Cape to live with her mother and younger siblings in KwaZulu-Natal in 2004. Just when they became closer, her mother fell ill and she had the difficult task of taking care of her when she was bedridden, later arranging her burial in the Eastern Cape.
Khafu fell in love with sport at high school and her first thoughts turned to Peace Players when she had to complete practical training to complete her studies in sports management at Durban University of Technology.
Khafu had taken part in their programmes over the years. After becoming a coach she graduated and later became an international fellow, returning to South Africa as strategy and partnerships director at Peace Players SA.
Khafu said that at the prime of her career in the United Kingdom, she chose to come back to give back to an organisation that assists 600 young people make their mark in sports.
“I wanted to make sure that I am more than what Peace Players was to me.
“I want to create opportunities for young people to live their dreams and live life to their fullest, getting coaches or access to support through the life skills programmes. I did not just receive the opportunity and keep it to myself, I continued to spread it across 25 countries,” Khafu said.
Peace Players has worked with more than 75 000 young people in 22 countries and operates year-round local programmes in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa and the US.
As of July 18 this year, 30 young people from the communities of Peace Players in the US, Northern Ireland and South Africa came together for 10 days of basketball, leadership training and cultural learning at Hoy Park Centre sports grounds in Durban.
The Global Exchange programme culminates in a city-wide tournament in greater Durban on Saturday, July 27 for 600 children from around Durban.
Khafu wants the young visitors to leave with a true understanding of South Africa’s history by taking them on trips to historical sites like the Nelson Mandela Capture Site in Howick, where Mandela was arrested in 1962.
The team will also experience first-hand the sites, tastes, history and languages of the rainbow nation. In addition to basketball games and coach training, the youngsters are practising their skills on the ground, where they are volunteering to lead basketball, peace building and leadership sessions at local schools.
Khafu said they would work with the community to understand their needs, such as the renovation of a basketball court at Lamula Primary in Molweni.
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