FACE THE CHANGE Act Sustainably “I always say to the kids: Never forget where you come from. And always remember where you are headed.” Vuyokazi Noyo alias Vuvu, groundBREAKER Medals and small prizes are distributed at the end of the session. “Looking after your health is very important,” Themba Maseti tells the children, using the microphone for maximum effect. Then the 41-year-old program manager – the face and driving force behind this center and three others – hands the mike back to the DJ. Bubbles and Oshi invite the kids to dance on the small stage, and a few of the boys perform some impressive dance moves. It’s all part of an ordinary morning in the loveLife Centre. “This isn’t a job, it’s a vocation,” Themba says. He is proud that several former groundBREAKERS now have good jobs, one has Vuvu plans to study social work at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth when she has completed her year as a groundBREAKER. The training currently in progress at the sports arena illustrates what this means in real life. Kids, adolescents and adults have met up for a joint fitness session in the inner courtyard. They jump up and down to music, do some shadow boxing, shout encouragement to one another. The youngest are three or four years old, the oldest are the grandmothers who brought their charges along. even made it as a breakfast television presenter. “That’s the very best example of what loveLife is all about.” Energy and joie de vivre are sometimes not easy to find outside the center. Stray dogs roam the streets of KwaNobuhl, cows and pigs run free. A red and white circus tent has been erected in front of one house. Is there a celebration? “There was a funeral yesterday,” says Vuvu, who lives nearby with her mother and brother. Their house stands high up on the slope where 63
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