14 Jun Encounters with Young Bloods
The success of the Association lies in how it advances community
When he is not taking the scenic route home by running home from work and stopping at Signal hill or Lion’s head to capture the sunset, this week’s Young Blood can be found making waves in all the right places. He studied finance and economics at UWC and is part of the Offshore operations team at Allan Gray. When he grows up, he wants to be an entrepreneur.
This Young Blood from the class of 2015 is passionate about bringing sustainable change to the lives of those around him. In 2009 Bongani co-founded Waves for Change (W4C) – a community-based surfing club that went on to develop an award-winning surf therapy programme. W4C currently operates in five communities in South Africa and one community in Liberia. In 2017 W4C piloted surf therapy with a group of autistic children in Khayelitsha and found that the children’s confidence and communication skills improved.
It’s safe to say that different fellows have different takeaways from the Association. We live through and take out of the Association unique benefits. For Bongani, the most rewarding gifts from the Association have been the access to fellows who are passionate about different things and are doing amazing things in different fields. Being able to witness their passion in what they are doing has been somewhat of a privilege for him. The general drive to continuously do better is the most amazing thing to him. “This network is very valuable to me because it both inspires and supports me in all aspects of life – fellow conversations are unrivalled.”
Bongani holds these words of William Ward to heart, “The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a mountain – he is inspired by it.” When he is not at work or surfing the waves, he is running epic routes in the Mother City. See for yourself on his insta page (@b0ongles). Bongani’s Friday nights are for R&R…Runs and Ribs! He enjoys this Friday night tradition started by his running club that involves a run around the city followed by discovering the best places to get ribs. If you are ever in town on Friday night, join Bongles for this adventure!
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