Mondlo’s young star shines

SOMETIMES believing in your dream is all it takes, this is what Chris Ndamase learned when he snatched the Establishing Radio Presenter Award at the Young Achievers Awards in Durban earlier this year.

This 20 year-old who grew up in Mondlo said that he has always been a lover of art throughout school.

‘I actually too part in many things at school, from singing right through to poetry,” he said with a laugh.

Having spent a lot of time listening to the radio when he was growing up, Chris became very keen on all things regarding the art of telegraphy.

“To be honest, I really didn’t know what exactly I wanted to do in radio but I just had this strong feeling in my heart that it was exactly what I wanted to do,” said Chris.

This young DJ says that it was tough sharing with other people that he wanted to become a radio personality some day as most did not see it being a ‘practical’ occupation.

“My mom was the only person who saw just how badly I wanted this,” he recalled.

Things took an unexpected turn when he made friends with a young man who was just as passionate about radio as he was in 2013 on Facebook.

“The guy was an Ukhozi FM fan like me and we often shared stories surrounding radio. In 2013 he inboxed me to say that there were auditions for new DJs in Nongoma for a new radio station called Nongoma FM. I was still in school at that time and so I was very sad because I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it,” he said.

In the great event of things, the friend happened to have a few voice recordings Chris had shared with him of his radio presenting demos.

“He shared a few of the clips with the manager of the radio station, who later contacted me asking me for more recordings. He was impressed with me and the rest is pretty much history,” said Chris.

Winning the award has since helped him realise that he is definitely on the right track.

“I think that to even be nominated was a great achievement for me because it meant that someone, somewhere out there could see all the hard work that I have been putting into my craft,” he said.

On his way forward, Chris said he hopes he can become an inspiration to other young people to believe in their dreams.

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