Nyeleti save lives by teaching water safety to children

“Keeping children from drowning this summer requires much more than just being present all the time; it is about teaching them how to swim so that even if you are not there, they will be able to play safely in the water without the risk of drowning.” These are the words of Nyeleti Kubayi, a swimming instructor who runs a swimming school, Star School of Swimmers, in Giyani Section-A.

Kubayi says she started giving swimming lessons to keep children from drowning. Her career as a swimming instructor was sparked by a tragic incident in which a teenager drowned in front of her child in one of Giyani’s swimming pools. “What shocked me the most was that my child was present when the incident occurred. I realised then that there was a need to teach children how to swim,” she says.

“I grew up in Kremetart where we had a public swimming pool that we used to frequent as kids,” explains Kubayi. Considering the unemployment situation and the drowning incidents in Giyani, she decided to make something of her ability to swim. She did an instructor’s course and received her certificate in May this year. “I’m now accredited with Aquatics Limpopo which is affiliated with Swimming South Africa.”

Also read: The benefits of swimming lessons for your child

Her career as a swimming coach began with training those close to her. “A friend brought me her two kids for lessons. After successfully teaching them to swim and having them safely jump into the pool and swim from one side to the other, I thought to myself, wow, this is real. “I knew I had it in me to be an instructor because of my passion for children,” she says.

According to her, being able to swim does not qualify a person to be an instructor. “You need to be able to engage well with kids and be tolerant because some kids are naughty and others take longer to grasp the principles of swimming.” Kubayi says learning to swim is not the only skill that learners get from her school. “I teach the children life skills that they’ll need for the rest of their lives,” added Kubayi.

She believes that her success is defined by the number of kids she has taught thereby indirectly saving their lives in and around water. Kubayi charges R350 a month for one lesson a week and R550 a month for two lessons a week per child. Adult learners are charged R450 a month for one lesson a week and R700 a month for two lessons a week. For more information, contact her at 072 211 9655 during office hours.