Jamie, a Grade 10 School of Hard Knocks learner from Bonteheuwel, is ‘a quiet person but prone to finding trouble outside of our sessions,’ says Coach Urshwin.

‘As time passed I got to know Jamie better and saw how he was fascinated by gangsterism. He started coming high to the sessions and started interacting less and less until I decided to intervene. ‘

Jamie stays in a gang infested area where if you don't stand out you tend to want to fit in. Where Jamie comes from drugs have become a norm.

‘I had a few one on ones with Jamie and he made a huge turn around. Jamie is more outspoken now and has even changed his way of speaking - he doesn't use gang language in front of me anymore.’

Jamie recently made headlines in News 24 as he and a few of his friends have started their own maintenance business! Today the seven young men behind Oddjobbi have proved their parents have nothing to worry about – their business is thriving.

“My mother is very proud and excited about what we started, and she wants to see us successful one day,” Dillon says. 

“We first started selling dagga on a street corner,” Dylan told News24. “We thought it wasn’t going to work out as it puts us in danger. We decided to stop that and opened the maintenance business instead.”

"Tackling COVID starts with each of us, let's get vaccinated" - Zwakala_za Champ and School of Hard Knocks SA rugby coach, Courtney Barnes, is tackling COVID-19 by encouraging her friends and family to take their shot through the UNICEF campaign. We are so proud of Courtney for her role in helping ZA beat COVID 19.

Mzansi we can beat this, one vaccination at a time.

#TakeYourShot

SOHK are dedicated to using sport as a means to replace negative gender norms with more positive and progressive beliefs about women and gender relations.

In honour of #womensmonth2021, and our *new* partnership with Naspers Limited, we are sharing sporting stories of how SA's top female athletes have overcome the prevailing power imbalance between men and women to excel in their sport. We hope this will inspire young women to persevere at the sport they love and educate us all on how to become their best allies.

First up was Springbok captain, Babalwa Latsha. A woman not afraid to break the mould.

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded an MTN Award for Social Change, in recognition of our Monitoring and Evaluation work in South Africa. The MTN Awards, held this year in collaboration with sustainability consultancy, Trialogue, recognise and reward non-profits that are able to provide evidence of the positive difference they are making.

We are honoured to receive this award, particularly as it recognises our Monitoring and Evaluation work. We are incredibly grateful to our international team of colleagues, partners, and supporters who have made this possible.

About the MTN Award for Social Change

The MTN Award for Social Change aims to establish a platform for learning and sharing information that will assist non-profits that engage in this process. Through the application process, non-profits are exposed to M&E practices and principles. Registered NPOs were required to enter a project or programme that is creating positive impact, has been running for at least two years and has some level of associated M&E practice.

Entries were shortlisted by Trialogue and 20 organisations were put forward for final selection by a panel of independent judges. A total of R1m of prize money was awarded to the winning NPOs in each of the three categories, as well as a fourth bonus award winner.

As an avid rugby player, Scott Sloan realised the importance of community to mental health. "From a young age I learnt the power of teamwork," he says. Having experienced his own struggles with anxiety and depression, Sloan is now harnessing rugby to help vulnerable children build their resilience. 

“Young people have got the inner resources to set goals for themselves, make new friends, and manage a plan for themselves and their lives so that they succeed within and out of school,” Sloan says. A support system is key to dealing with personal challenges. Through rugby, the SOHK is changing the narrative on mental health and helping South African youth tackle their hardships head on. “

You can see the full feature by clicking here.

SOHK’s #NextGenMen project aims to implement the findings and recommendations from our recent study.

Our goal is to scale up our delivery of gender-awareness programming through gender-conscious role models to every child in our programme. SOHK are currently seeking new sponsors in order to fund:

* New gender-transformative curriculum content designed with experts at the Gender Institute.

* New content to be rolled out to over 200 children in the SOHK programme

* Installation of a sanitary pad vending machine in each school in partnership with Menstruation Foundation

* 14 days of capacity building delivered by the Gender Institute with SOHK staff to further their understanding of gender equitable coaching practices.

* Sharing our findings with our peers and developing an open-source curriculum to share with anyone that is interested.

* Using local research expertise to develop a thorough plan to document our findings.

SOHK Director Scott Sloan says “By engaging our Coaches to deliver programmes to young male and female participants, the #NextGenMen project seeks to change perceptions around traditional gender norms and promote gender-equitable and non-violent attitudes. Though we are still learning and growing in our approach to gender-aware coaching practices, we are excited to be making a small contribution to ending GBV in South Africa.”

#NextGenMen is proudly supported by two great ambassadors.

Gender Based Violence campaigner and SOHK supporter Siv Ngesi says ‘My message to young people is simple, be whoever you want to be, no-one should tell you otherwise. I’m proud to support School of Hard Knocks and their efforts to dispel gender stereotypes. I love seeing exceptional female rugby talent when I visit their programmes. Please help support their work in whatever way you can.’

Inspirational Springbok Captain Babalwa Latsha says ‘It’s of utmost importance that we mobilise young people and we educate them to bring down gender stereotypes on a daily basis. As a female rugby player myself this is something I do every single day. We need to finally reach a point where young boys see young women as their equals and vice versa. My message to young people is that it's up to us to change the present and the future. The School of Hard Knocks and it’s programmes therefore are very important as it equips and educates towards that. Let’s continue to be champions and bring down gender based stereotypes.’

To donate to #NextGenMen contact scott@schoolofhardknocks.co.za.