Alex couple offers its pool for survival lessons
ALEXANDRA – Swimming instructor expressed his gratitude to a couple for allowing him to make use of their private swimming pool to teach children to swim.
An East Bank couple turned Good Samaritans has come to the rescue of a young man in Alex who is determined to ensure children in the township do not continue to fall victim of seasonal floods.
While waiting for the construction work to begin on a state-of-the-art swimming pool for the township, swimming instructor and professional scuba diver Lawrence Ruele has secured use of a private swimming pool from an East Bank couple to enable him to run his lessons.
Good Samaritans Floyd Vilankulu and his wife, Dimakatso, have offered Ruele the free use of their private swimming pool at their home so he can continue the good work of teaching children basic swimming skills. “I am humbled by the gesture and feel greatly indebted to the couple… This was after they heard I was teaching children how to swim to equip them for the upcoming seasonal floods but was battling to secure the only public pool in the township and they came to the party and offered me use of their swimming pool,”
Ruele has built a relationship with a 15-year-old American friend of the township, Sasha Minsky, who has decided to establish a swimming academy to be known as the Alexandra Youth Swim Academy in partnership with the We Love Alexandra Community Makeover Project that is being spearheaded by the Alex Chapter of South Africa Day.
Ruele is the vice president of the project whose mandate is to restore the beauty of the township and at the same time make it attractive for investors. He also harboured dreams of such a project for a long time, and said Sasha had come into the picture at a good time. Sasha has raised more than R280 000 toward the buying of equipment for the academy.
The construction of the swimming facilities should start as soon as an appropriate site has been identified.
Details: Lawrence Ruele lawrence@welovealex.org.za
