By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
US-South African Venture has launched Alexandra Youth Swim Academy to combat fatal drowning on the 22nd January, 2023.
According to Lawrence Ruele ,co-founder and programme director, Alexandra Youth Swim Academy (AYSA) was created because fatal drownings were an unfortunate reality in South Africa.
Ruele said the drownings had disproportionately affected the underprivileged children of many of its townships.
“Among them, Alexandra Township, with the Jukskei River running through its’ centre, sadly suffers from annual drownings,” he said.
“I would like to thank my beautiful community for coming forward and supporting our project in numbers. We had a very successful launch of the Alexandra Youth Swim Academy, where our children not only had a time of their lives, but also began their journey in learning how to swim, amongst other, necessary life skills that we’ll be teaching them.
“A big thank you to our partners Afrika Tikkun, Aquatics Gauteng and King David Linksfield.
“May God continue to bless our township and all the community workers that give their time selflessly and unselfishly, a special mention to the Alex Water Warriors, I saw some of your members in attendance.”
Ruele said AYSA aims to equip as many of Alexandra’s children as possible, aged 7 – 16, with water safety proficiency and, ultimately, the ability to swim for survival. AYSA swimmers will be known as the Alexandra Sea Lions!
“AYSA was conceptualized by Sasha Minsky, a US student at the Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, who is building upon a project that he organized in 2019 to supply pre-loved baseball equipment to the Alex Baseball club.
“Sasha brings a passion for swimming and a strong desire to share his experience in competitive sports with those who haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy them.
“For this project, Sasha created a website called ‘Uplift Thru Sport’ that allowed donors to purchase new swim equipment for our children. We are proud to announce that Sasha successfully raised more than US$20,000 to purchase equipment to outfit 200 children,” he said.
He said Sasha was joined by a formidable consortium comprised of King David Linksfield (KDL), under the leadership of Rabbi Ricky Seeff, which is graciously providing use of their 8 lane pool as well as transporting the children between KDL and Alexandra; Aquatics Gauteng (AG), led by Anton Jordaan, which will be training “our children with a Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)-approved curriculum taught by AG’s certified instructors; and Afrika Tikkun, with its long history serving the Alexandra community, providing both administrative and financial support for the project”.
Philanthropist Linda Twala joins Sasha as a founding member AYSA
According to Ruele, uBaba Twala brings more than 55 years of serving the community of Alexandra and abroad.
“He holds education very closely to his heart and, in his life-long pursuit to save lives, harbors the dream to teach the boys and girls of Alexandra to swim.”
Ruele is an experienced and registered International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) scuba diver.
He is also a born and bred Alexandrian who has been teaching children how to swim since 2018, whilst also serving as a volunteer at Phuthaditjaba Care of the Aged and Disabled Organisation.
The innovative is a collaborative effort of people who genuinely care for the children of Alexandra, and their safety.
All parties and organisations involved believe that learning to swim is a fundamental part of any child’s upbringing.
