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08 April 2009Tall Ships Sailing:
Incredible opportunity awaits Cape Town learners
Ten lucky learners from the Western Cape aged between 15 and 18 will soon be making history as they spend 10 weeks of this school year attending class on board a tall ship on a voyage to Namibia, St Helena Island, Brazil, Trinidad and Bermuda – a first for the African continent. The South African team under the guidance of two adult female team leaders, will include 4 youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds on the Cape Flats.
The team will join 25 Canadian students onboard the S V Concordia when it docks in Cape Town harbour on 2 April and will set sail on 7 April. The SV Concordia is one of two tall ships operated as part of the Class Afloat project, a Canadian shipboard classroom and university programme initiated 25 years ago. More than 200 sea education projects in 25 countries affiliated to Sail Training International (STI) operate on all other continents, but this is a first-time opportunity for young people from the African continent. The 10 youngsters have been selected by the Cape Town-based Cape Windjammers Education Trust (CWET) formed in 2005 as the first offshore sail- training programme on tall ships for youth leadership and life skills development on the African continent.
Dr Antje Nahnsen, CWET programme coordinator, praises Terry Davies, CEO of Class Afloat, for making this unique opportunity available to young South Africans. In addition to providing school curriculum and environmental education on board, the voyage will also offer the youngsters instruction in sail handling, navigation, passage making, safety at sea and ship management. She explains that Cape Windjammers and the SA Sail -training for Life-skills Association (SASLA), both affiliated to the STI, are cooperating to promote the empowering sail training experience mainly as a means of helping young people learn about themselves, discover hidden strengths and talents, and understand the value of others and of working as a team.
“Sailing is generally seen as an exclusive luxury for the wealthy. Our mission is to make the life-changing experience of sailing on a tall ship accessible to young people from all communities”, says Nahnsen, who herself was given the opportunity of a 10-day sails training experience when she was 16. Ten years later she trained and qualified as a crew member. “My sail- training experience as a teenager helped me to gain confidence and taught me how to face and overcome small fears like climbing up the tall mast. I also learned how important it was to work in teams, that every project needs to be planned beforehand and that the plan needs to be executed step-by-step. These are life lessons of great value for anyone.”
According to Nahnsen, Cape Windjammers is run by a team of volunteers who are all committed to the idea that an intensive experience has a great impact on learning - the more intense the experience, the greater and more sustainable the learning effect. Says Nahnsen: “For the Concordia voyage Cape Windjammers was able to find two highly motivated and skilled voluntary team leaders, Dayana Dreke and Hilary Ambrose. While Dayana has a background in youth life skills development, conflict management, intercultural education, marketing and fundraising; Hilary has a background in formal school education and sailing, and has successfully run her own consultancy firm many years. Together they form a brilliant team, each of them bringing their own area of expertise. Without them the facilitation of such a huge project would not have been possible.”
Watch this space for their voyage report. Shane Barnes (16) from Hanover Park, Asekho Mdaka (18) and Monde Sitole (16) from Khayelitsha, and Brandon Schoor (16) from Kuils River are the four youths from disadvantaged communities looking forward to the experience of a lifetime. Barnes is a Grade 10 learner at Christel House, a special school supporting families to break the cycle of poverty in an area often referred to as Cape Town’s ‘gang heartland’. A member of his school’s first soccer team, he enjoys reading and playing chess, and dreams of becoming a surgeon. “This experience will inspire me to learn to navigate my life through the many challenges that I may face in my family and my community”, he says in his application, ending with the assertion that “…I’ll be very willing to pass on my knowledge and skills to others”. Mdaka, whose parents are both currently unemployed after his mother was injured in a recent car accident, is in matric at Masibambisane High School at this year. Like Barnes, he plays for his school’s first soccer team. He is also an active member of the debating society and has volunteered as a peer educator for the past three years. He wants a career in law enforcement one day and sees the tall ship trip as a way of fulfilling his dream of interacting with people from different countries and communities and developing his leadership skills. Sitole, who passed matric last year, has been raised, along with his two siblings, by his mother, a domestic worker. His knack for poetry prompted him 3 years ago to join a group of young volunteers known as ‘Mayibuye Hip Hop Azania’. Among his many other interests are archiving black history dating from ancient times and learning ancient languages such as Sankrit, Aramic and Nama. He dreams of one day being a motivational speaker focusing on youth development. Schoor is in Grade 9 at Bellville High School and extreme sport is one of his passions. His parents’ divorce divided the family, with him living with his mother and sister, while his brother lives with his dad. The other youngsters who required bursaries are Chrismarie Braun (16) from Hout Bay, Cape Town and Bryan Winston Castle (16) from Stanford in the Overberg region. Chrismarie, who wants to become a psychologist, experienced great hardship while living for 18 months with her mum and younger sister in a safe women shelter during her parents’ difficult divorce process. Bryan, who was chosen as head boy of his school in the UK during his family’s 5-year stay abroad, is now in Grade 11 at Hermanus High School. He has been a winner in public speaking competitions, is a keen sportsman and the top swimmer at his school, as well as an avid musician who plays the electric guitar and the alto saxophone.
This project has been made possible by the generous donation in kind by the Class Afloat project. Furthermore a generous donations by the Bermuda Sail Training Association, CSM Consulting Services, Rotary Club Pinelands and the great team spirit amongst parents and team members has helped to raise the necessary funds to pay for travel and preparation costs of also those deserving team members, who would never be able to pay for themselves. Other donations in kind were made by CSM Consulting Services, City Sight Seeing, Township Tours SA, Cape Rainbow Tours, Sense of Taste and last but not least First Ascent, who equipped the second South African team with some high quality outdoor gear. Nahnsen appeals to sponsors to support Cape Windjammers and SASLA to establish a bursary fund that would allow to send many more South Africans on similar sail training voyages in the future. Potential donors can visit the website http://www.capewindjammers.org/ for contact details. To follow the team’s progress and experiences aboard the SV Concordia, please feel free to visit the blogsite http://windjammers09.blogspot.com/
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