What's been happening?

 “Being child all about
                 fun & laughter” 

 
Recent crime statistics are out and as always, the Cape
Flats is leading the pack. Drug related crimes are sky high;
as an example; Manenberg had 1556 drug related crimes,
which is up by 406 since last year. Some of you may be
unaware that Heideveld falls under the Manenberg police
station and these figures are only reported crimes.  

Where are we going? It is scary but Mario's Football Academy is certainly
creating hope and light for a better future. We believe we
are spot on with our approach.  
   
 
 Life Skills

We are using gardening as
one of our life skills
components.  Planting trees
symbolizes new life. 
Gardening teaches
responsibility, a skill which
we believe our members
needs to learn, in order to
achieve their goals in life.



  
Sports 

We have had exceptional accomplishments, both on the soccer
field and on the rope skipping pitch.  Our teams are positioned
fairly high on the logs, let’s hope they bring some medals home...

Our rope skipping team participated in the Western Province
Trials, held at the Western Cape Sports School in Kuils River.
They really made us proud, winning 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

 
 Education

Working with Woodlands Primary,
Heideveld's local school,
has opened our eyes to a new level of
thinking.  It is tiring and one does
become despondent as it is really the
responsibility of the government to
look after the schools. The reality is
that we cannot wait for the government
as the need is too great!

With the help of JDI and
The Backpack, we managed
to upgrade one of the toilets.
The school has 463 learners
and only 3 toilets in working
order.  We have refurbished seven
classrooms that have been
vandalized in the past. We
converted some of these
rooms into a small indoor
gym, a study room and an
art room, to be used by both
Mario's Football Academy and the school.

A little story 

The boy in the picture
comes from a very
difficult background. 
Just to give you an idea,
several of his family
members have been in
jail.  He would have
followed the same path,
as these were his only role
models.  No one really
cares about the little
ones who smells and begs
for food and we always
blame it on the parents.
Yes, we can blame the
parents but who says
they had good parenting
themselves? Makes you
think… 

With the help of JDI, we
managed to enroll him
in a crèche and now he
has seen a different
environment.  He is
developing and he could
not have done it without
an opportunity, this is what we are
trying to give more children
in Mario's Football Academy,
an opportunity to develop into
healthy happy human beings.      

READ MORE ABOUT MARIO'S FOOTBALL ACADEMY HERE:
website

Junaid Morris Story

Junaid Morris Story

My name is Junaid Morris .I live in Heideveld and I am 11yrs old. I attend school at

Woodlands primary in Heideveld. I stay with my mother, grandmother and my baby sister. My father left us when I was still a baby and I am 11yrs old now and did not even meet him yet.

I play soccer for Mario and the Rude Boys and my favorite EPL is Manchester United. I would like to become a professional soccer player and one day to provide for my family because my mother does not work she is looking after my Grandmother. My Grandmother gets a pension and she provide for us.

I started playing for MRB when I was 5yrs old and have been playing for six yrs. My life completely changed when I started to play for MRB. My mother could not afford to pay my school fees and my soccer club helped me to pay my school fees. I started having problems with my subjects and MRB got me a tutor after school, I was eight in my class but now I am 1^st in class thanks to the founder of MRB thanks to uncle Mario.  I really couldn’t do it with out his help and he like a friend and father to me.

My club MRB is not about just soccer they help my family in many ways, when I need shoes or clothes or even when my family needs something to eat. The founder Uncle Mario also helps the whole soccer club when they are in need. When it’s holiday we go to the school every morning at 9 am to get some breakfast and lunch and there are some games that we can play. I really do not know what my life would be without Mario and the Rude Boys.

Yours on the ball

Junaid Morris          
READ MORE ABOUT GCU HERE:
website      

                      

MARIO AND THE RUDE BOYS

Mario and the Rude Boys is a soccer academy in Cape Town, Heideveld, one of the most dangerous gangster ridden parts of the Cape Town city.  Mario used to be a gangster himself, and well, he still is, but now he runs a gang with ball and not a gun. 

“It's not just about football, it’s about giving youngsters a chance to experience something other than drugs and gangs,” said Mario.

Heideveld is a community of good people who have been screwed over for years and years.   The education system is failing them, people are struggling for money, the community self-esteem is low, the environment is littered and dry, drugs and crime are rife, but still, the people are some of the most sincere and warm people in South Africa.  

And then there is Mario, a man who refuses to be a victim and is actively working in his community to provide kids with a team to belong too, rather than them turning to the gangs in search of this support base.   Mario has been running a football academy since 2001 where boys and girls are invited into an environment where they can grow strong, develop skills, be part of team, learn discipline and play football. 

“People have no sympathy for gangsters. I think that if they knew what boys on the Cape Flats have to go through every day, they would have a different attitude. Our boys are constantly targeted and pressurized by gangs,” says Mario.

There are some amazing people in the world, Mario is one of them.  A documentary was made about him and his gang, his neighborhood and some of the boys stories. 

You can watch the trailor, it's about 3 minutes long and it's worth checking out, it's like meeting some real life action heroes.

Mario and the Rude Boys trailor 

Shafiek White, 25, coaches the U15 team. He spent five years in prison, but turned around his life with help from Mario.

“I became involved with the Americans gang at 15,” says Shafiek, in 2004 he was convicted of two attempted murders and, aged 20, sentenced to 10 years in prison, “Mario did not give up on me. He visited me in prison and convinced me that there was another way.” 


Mario and the Rude Boys are in the process of updating their website and facebook group, in the mean time you can check them out at the following links, your comments are welcome and your support is appreciated:

Website

Flickr
Facebook