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- Story by Shaun Odwa Mtshini
It’s a Monday afternoon, the sun is shining in the
sky and the sea breeze is gently blowing: afro soul is playing in the background
and we’re interviewing Anele Njombolwani: Unstressed Surfer.
Anele was born in 1997, 11th May in Chintsa East. He stays here with his family: mother, father,
Aunts, grandmother, uncle, sister, brothers and his cousins. He did his lower
school Grades at Chintsa East Primary School and he then attended Byletts
Secondary Senior High School from 2011, 30 minutes’ drive away from Chintsa.
Most of his School and team mates are also attending at the same School.
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| Anele, left, on way home from school with a friend |
In June 2012 he became a member of the Unstressed
Surf School. Since his joining he has got to know all the children who were
also involved in the Unstressed Surf School and competitions. In June 2013 he
missed the Barefoot Surf competition because he was at “the mountain” (emolukweni)
– Xhosa male initiation – and after coming ‘down from the mountain’ he then
decided to join our local rugby team, The Morning Stars. On the team he plays #
10 fly-half They have been playing home coming and outgoing matches.
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| Anele, middle, in his early days with the Unstressed Surf School |
Things are going pretty well for the team because
they have won most of their matches against the opposition and have only lost a
few. Some of their matches ended in draws but the team tends to grow stronger
with each match they play.
This year Anele is doing Grade 10 at Byletts
Combine High School. We asked him some more
in depth questions about his plans for the future:
After you
matriculated what do you wish to become? - I haven’t decided yet because there is a lot
going on my mind at the moment with a lot of careers to choose from, e.g. I’T
programming and Mechanical engineering but I can only decide after taking a gap
year.
How did
you feel when you went for your first surfing competition? - I was feeling a bit nervous
and thinking I won’t do others good but Denver encouraged me telling me I must
see to see this as one of the Unstressed Surf School class!
Who is
your role model? My role
model is Jordy Smith.
If you
were to go travelling where would you go? - I wish
to go to USA, California, and Australia.
The role
played by Mike Denison, community members & others
For how long have you known Mike? - When I started surfing back in 2012 June
How would you describe him? - He’s a nice person who always
cheers us up whenever one is feeling a bit down or may be having family problems;
he is mostly playing with us when we are at the surf school classes.
What do you think of his involvement
in your community? -
He plays a very important role in our community by means of jobs and doors were
opened in many people, e.g. there was no sport field but then he worked with
others towards a change and till this day Nkosinathi is employed at the sports
field.
What are your thoughts about Friends
of Chintsa and the role that they play in your community? Friends of Chintsa plays an important role in organising and
bringing back the mobile clinic with the help of the community members of
course.
When did you find out about Mike and
his involvement in your community? I don’t remember but it’s been a while since I knew about him and then I
got to know him when I started the Unstressed Surf School.
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| 16-going-on-17 Anele today |
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