The Radio Workshop:
Giving Young People a Voice

Twenty year-old Kwezi Qika has a lot to say about the waves at Cape Town’s Muizenberg beach.  The warm water makes for gentle currents and easy surfing. Winter waves are the best, as summer can bring harsh winds.  And when you fall off your board, Kwezi says, the beach’s soft waves cushion the blow.  It was on this beach that Kwezi first hopped onto a surfboard.

Kwezi Qika at Muizenberg Beach

The year was 1999, and Kwezi was eleven.  Back then he and his family lived in Muizenberg.  He went to school in the neighbourhood, and spent most afternoons skateboarding with his friends near the beach.  When his friends made the usual late afternoon transition from skating to surfing, Kwezi always chose to watch from the sidelines.  His friends tried to pull him in the water several times, but each time he refused.  Kwezi said that he wasn’t interested in surfing, telling them that “it wasn’t [his] thing.” And then came the day when he decided to take the plunge.  His friends came out of the water telling stories about waves they caught and moves they pulled.  “I felt so out of it,” he said.  He approached a friend and said “Bro, I want to surf.”  His friends were surprised yet excited.  They loaned him a wet suit and a board, showed him a few basic tips on the sand, and sent him on his way. In his first attempt in the water, he stood up on the board for about three seconds.  Kwezi said this meant a lot to him—he saw these three seconds as something he could build upon, as the beginning of something good.  Since those first three seconds, he says, he has been loyal and committed to the sport. In the weeks following his surfing debut, Kwezi went out surfing daily with his friends.  When the others would try to draw him out into deeper waters, he would refuse.  As Kwezi stayed close to the shore, he was hiding something from his friends.  He couldn’t swim. To be continued…

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 4th, 2008 at 9:59 am and is filed under Exams, Hospital Radio, Judiciary, Sports, Surfing, Swimming, Uncategorized, Workshops. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.