SINAKO – Yes We Can!

“People used to discriminate against me because I am disabled. I could never play football but now I am playing with able bodied children too!”

Every Monday nineteen year old Andile Phampa walks to the Mbekweni Community Sports Centre near Paarl, in the Western Cape, to play football as part of the SINAKO (“We Can”) programme, organised by SCORE for children and youth with disabilities. “I’ve never played on a team before, this is the first time. Now people recognise me as being part of the community,” he continues.

Football is not the only sport on offer, but it’s the one he enjoys the most. “I’m sticking to football. I want to become a coach and teach other children.” At the Centre he has friends from across the Western Cape who, like him, come to play sport without prejudice or judgement.

Mbekweni Community Sports Centre aims to build stronger communities by using sport to provide children and youth with valuable skills and opportunities through programmes, like SINAKO. The programme has been designed to engage disabled learners to develop sports skills and promote social integration. At the first SINAKO festival held earlier this year, local learners from schools in Mbekweni were invited to come and support the disabled learners, to raise awareness of integrating disabled learners into structured sports sessions. Thandokazi Majozi, a teacher from Dorothea School in Stellenbosch, highlights the importance of this social exposure, “What struck me, is the way the kids enjoy themselves here. The children are not used to mixing, but it is so important!”

The children were also addressed by South African Gold Paralympic Medallist Zanele Situ, who touched on her own personal experiences of overcoming prejudice through sport. She said, “There are no barriers when you are playing sport. We can learn from each other…”

Through SCORE’s SINAKO programme Andile and his new friends are breaking down these barriers in their communities, making a difference both on and off the field.

News article courtesy of SCORE.