Through fresh minds, creative thinking and energetic bodies, one can guarantee that the country’s future is bright. Changing the face of Chesterville and empowering the young mind is the motto for Isibani Sentsha.

This NGO, which is fully operational in Chesterville (Durban) and it’s surroundings, says it exists to prove that South Africa’s future is safe in the hands of the youth.

According to the Chairperson of Isibani Sentsha, Sinegugu Ngcobo, this youth led initiative aims to inspire young people to give back to their community. The NGO also encourages participation in activities that promote unity and youth development.

For the 21-year-old highly motivated Chairperson, who is doing her BCom studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), doing this organisational work is a passion. She says that it is something she wishes to see more and more youth getting involved in.

“We have lost members in the organisation. But instead of going down, we get more and more volunteers who want to join Isibani Sentsha and volunteer with us. Currently we are standing at a number 69 volunteers who are working with us,” said Ngcobo.

Because this NGO does not boast the work of an individual, the volunteers work as a collective and are further divided into four teams. These include the Caregivers; Sports Facilitators; Art Enthusiasts and the Awareness Team.

The Caregivers team deals with mainly giving support to grannies at an old age home. Things like rubbing their backs, talking to them all day, fetching pills for them at the clinic and cooking for them. Whereas, the arts team deals with everything about arts and peer education. They also have a book club which runs every second Saturday at the local library.

“Working with the elderly requires one to have a big loving heart. I hope you meet my Gogo. She’s a whole cupcake. It’s like she’s 2”, Ngcobo said.

Through sport, many of the members at Isibani have improved their lives. The NGO has fun activities and events such as a sports day which took place on the 24th of June this year. At that event, their netball and football teams (which are sponsored by the KwaZulu-Natal Sports and Recreation department) took part.

The final division of this organisation focuses on providing peer education in orphanages. They have recently managed to encourage young boys to get circumcised – since July is regarded as Men’s Month.

With all that Isibani Sentsha has achieved, the journey has not been an easy one. At its initial stages, in 2012, the NGO hit rock bottom but Ngcobo says that they managed to revive it. The department of Social Development, along with other sponsors, played a huge role in its revival and now the volunteers are able to receive stipends.

For further information, you can email: snehjane96@gmail.com or find them on their Facebook page: Isibani Sentsha NGO­­­.