Listen to thisJB is a young man who moved from Mpumalanga to Cape Town with his mother and younger brother, drawn by the possibility of employment, the chance to earn some money, the chance to survive.
In 2003 JB was no longer at school and was losing hope. There were no financial resources for him to go back to school and there was a growing tendency to sit in corners with other boys who were also not at school. Boredom, futility creating a map to a world of drugs and crime.
JB heard about the Life Centre through the James House community network and made the decision to join the next intake. A decision JB made; a choice to search for opportunity; a commitment to build his life.
During the Adolescent Development Program (ADP), JB found new friends, peers who were equally interested in their own growth and development. The sessions on self-esteem did not teach JB anything new, rather reminding him of the person he knew he was; and JB started to live into this person.
Through the weeks of the ADP, JB discovered a new map, he gained a compass called hope, that resided deep in his own heart. He sat deep in the mountains on a wilderness program and with new-found hope discovered long-forgotten dreams. And in that mountain place, witnessed by his friends in the ADP, JB spoke of his dreams, he set his goal, found his purpose.
After graduation from the ADP, JB became a waiter at St Elmo’s Pizza Place. Using the money he earned he bought himself some CDs and borrowed his friend's musical system allowing himself to play music at parties and birthday bashes in the community. Money saved would be used to by equipment, building towards his dream career. A pair of speakers donated from the community were given to JB.
And then there was a terrible fire in Imizamo Yethu, over a thousand homes destroyed, along with JB’s hard-earned CDs and equipment. You can maybe imagine JB sitting there, across the road a group of young men smoking dope. “Who the hell cares anyway?" Did JB cross the road? No, he had a dream. He borrowed a uniform and went back to work.
JB continued working as a waiter, playing music by borrowing Hi-Fi equipment from his friends. The other day he visited James House, showing the Life Centre Team Leader a new set of disco lights he had bought: “Ta-X, check this out I’m going to hit them hard with these, I am bar the best DJ. Ta-X, I don’t like this job as a waiter, but for now I have to do it because I want the best music system great machine, something that will blow this place.”
Some weeks later JB sat at one of our computers and wrote his CV; JB had decided to apply for a position at a 5-star Hotel and a first-class restaurant. He had his interview and got offered both jobs. He chose the restaurant, it was a permanent position, a better prospect.
JB is currently playing his music, entertaining people at parties, bashes, and formal functions. He is also registered at Intec College on a Food and Beverage course. All he wants in life is to be a great entertainer using music as his tool. He also wants to continue his school career with the hope of doing Sound Engineering “when the time comes”. JB is allowing himself time to grow; he traveled his own journey, met James House on the way, stopped, found a new map, rediscovered his compass and now his journey continues.
The Life Centre offered JB a safe world in which to define himself, to dream, to build meaningful relationships, to be appreciated when he had done well, encouraged when he had lost faith and to find people to be with him when everything seemed dark in his life. Importantly the Life Centre did not fix any of JB’s problems, but it allowed a space for JB to realise the meaning of his own life and know his value.
And his dream ... JB “aka” DJ JB is to become the hottest disc jockey in the community of Imizamo Yethu, Hout Bay and around the Western Cape. His goal is to become a musical producer. He wants to make his music, mix his own “stuff” and help other youngsters to grow.
