Four years ago, if you had asked Yannick Swartbooi what he wanted to do with his life, the answer would have involved a pencil, a sketchbook, and a dream.
On a worksheet completed during his first days at 9Miles Project, he wrote down his strengths: kind and helpful. His interests were music, art, drawing, and surfing. His dream career? Cartoonist and artist.
His long-term goal was simple:
“Work hard and make my family proud.”
Reading those words today feels a little like opening a time capsule.
Because while the dream has changed, the determination behind it never did.
Today, Yannick is a matric learner at Strandfontein High School, a qualified surf coach, a leader among his peers, and a young man with his sights firmly set on building a future that stretches far beyond what many expected of him.
And perhaps that’s what makes his story so special.
Yannick didn’t grow up with every advantage. Raised by a single mother in a household of five children, he has faced many of the pressures that young people encounter every day; financial challenges, social pressures, self-doubt, and the constant temptation to settle for less than their potential. But he kept showing up: He showed up for mentorship sessions, educational support, leadership training and surfing. Again, and again.
And over time, something powerful happened.
The shy young boy who once listed “insecurities” as one of his greatest challenges began discovering confidence in the ocean.
Wave by wave, lesson by lesson, Yannick found something bigger than a sport.
He found purpose.
The ocean became his classroom. Surfboards became tools for growth. Leadership became more than a programme, it became part of who he is.
Today, younger children in our programmes don’t just see Yannick as another participant.
They see a coach. A mentor. A role model.
Someone who has walked the same roads they walk every day and chosen a different direction.
Through dedication and hard work, Yannick completed the necessary training to become a qualified surf coach. He now helps guide younger participants, proving that leadership is not about being the loudest person in the room but about being willing to serve others.
And while his younger self dreamed of art school, a new dream has taken shape. After matric, Yannick hopes to study entrepreneurship.
His vision?
To one day own his own surf shop.
Not because he wants to sell surfboards. Because he wants to build something.
Something that creates opportunities.
Something that serves his community.
Something that shows the next generation what is possible.
The beautiful thing about dreams is that they evolve. The boy who once wanted to draw cartoons is now drawing a future. Not with a pencil. But with every decision he makes. With every younger child he encourages, every wave he rides, every obstacle he refuses to let define him.
As Yannick prepares for his final school exams and his matric farewell, he stands on the edge of an exciting new chapter.
Yet his story also reminds us of something important.
Behind every young person who succeeds, there is usually a village. There are mentors who believed, volunteers who showed up and supporters who donated.
People who may never meet the child they help, but whose generosity changes the course of a life.
At 9Miles Project, we see hundreds of young people with dreams just as big as Yannick’s. Every day we provide educational support, mentorship, leadership development opportunities, and 700 meals to children, youth and communities across our programme sites.
But none of it happens alone.
Perhaps your contribution is an hour spent tutoring a learner, it’s food for our feeding programme, helping a matric learner attend a farewell they’ll remember forever or simply deciding that a young person’s future is worth investing in.
Four years ago, Yannick’s goal was to make his family proud.
Today, he’s doing exactly that.
The question is:
Whose story will you help write next?
