What makes a good role model? In Khayelitsha, Vuyani Parafini is proving that a cricket bat, a ball, and belief is all it takes to guide a generation. For children in underprivileged communities, positive examples are crucial to their prosperity. Without them, kids risk stumbling on a path overgrown with gangsterism, drugs, and poverty. Parafini is instead coaching them towards a pitch beaming with opportunities.
Growing up in Khayelitsha without someone to look up to, Parafini was headed in the wrong direction. “When there are no positive role models, it's easy to not discover your full potential,” he says. Yet when the crack of a cricket ball hitting a bat pierced his ears, Parafini followed. Sports fields offer children a place of release and refuge in dire times, but insufficient infrastructure and funds can limit the variety of sports offered in townships. Parafini’s journey as a cricketer has led to him bringing about change and becoming the hero he wished he had as a child.
He’s teamed up with the Gary Kirsten Foundation, an organisation enriching sporting culture in townships, to mentor children into kind, determined individuals. “My goal is to make sure every child leaves a better human being than when they came in,” Parafini says. With his guidance and encouragement, youth in his community are now stepping up to the pitch with confidence.
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