Children in Alexandra are discovering that opportunity can arrive in unexpected forms, sometimes as strategy over a chessboard, sometimes as lines of code, and sometimes in the rhythm of feet on the track at Kwabhekilanga Sports Ground.

Between July 1 and 3, 32 learners aged 7 to 15 gathered at Kwabhekilanga Sports Ground for the inaugural Run Alex Holiday Programme, a six-day immersive initiative that blends intellectual stimulation with physical activity.

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The programme, which ran until July 8, marked Run Alex’s effort to keep children engaged, inspired, and off the streets during the school holidays.

At the centre of the programme were chess sessions, led by Bongani Mazibuko, founder of Chess Is My Lifestyle. He believes chess is one of the most accessible and powerful tools for developing young minds.

“When you look at other sports, you need a big investment in terms of stadiums or soccer boots, but chess is very cheap, and you can start at the age of five,” Mazibuko said.

He emphasised the game’s developmental power. “The benefits of chess are quite good, especially for a child’s development. It helps in terms of brain exercise and concentration. There is a relationship between chess and academia: children who play chess their marks tend to go up.”

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Mazibuko’s organisation fuses chess with information technology, allowing him to guide and monitor learners even remotely. Early assessments of the participants have been promising.

Of all the learners in the holiday programme, only eight had prior exposure to chess, yet most are already scoring four to five out of six, according to Mazibuko.

Complementing the chess sessions were introductory coding classes using ScratchJr,

Nomthandazo Moloi of Run Alex said the holiday programme builds on the organisation’s regular weekend reading initiatives and carries a deeper purpose.

“It is mainly to encourage the children that there is more to life, more to reading, more to running, more to anything we do to take children off the streets,” she said.

She added that the entire programme was made possible by donations from participants in the Run Alex 10km race held this year in March. Moloi hopes community support will allow it to run during every school holiday.

Anelisa Mzimazi, director of the Run Alex Development Programme, expressed gratitude to the running community for making the programme possible.

“We are thrilled to be able to broaden the horizons and stretch the minds of kids in our community with this holiday programme.”

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