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www.thevillagenews.co.za
18 December 2019
Kleinmond parents doing it for their children Writer Elaine Davie
A
bout six years ago parents from Proteadorp, Kleinmond came together and discussed what they could do to keep their children busy during the school holidays, instead of having them hang around the streets all day. Of course, having fun is important but they also wanted to give them something constructive to do in a safe environment. When the parents themselves were young there was an eco-club in Kleinmond to which many of them belonged, and it was eventually decided that they would try to revive the project and run it themselves. The first programme mainly consisted of hiking in the mountains, swimming in the pools and understanding the fynbos and marine eco-systems on their doorsteps. The most important thing was that it got the children, who called themselves the Strandlopers, out into the fresh air where they had fun, and along the way gained knowledge about their environment. Franco Floris, his sister, Margie Sam-
world outside of Kleinmond and we would love to take them to places like Grootbos and Vogelgat, but at the moment, it is not possible to transport about 150 children at the same time.”
uels and Ebraime Hull were three of the parents who decided to get the project off the ground. Franco and Ebraime had both been members of the original eco-club and indeed, Ebraime is a testament to its longterm benefits. After school he went to work as an ordinary gardener at the Harold Porter Reserve, but management soon realised how knowledgeable he was about the indigenous plants and he was promoted to the nursery as a specialist propagator, botanical artist and educator. It didn’t take long after the launch of the Strandloper project for the leaders to be inundated by requests from their children’s friends to be included. Some of these were residents of the Kleinmond Children’s Home. Theresa Els, Child Welfare's Director, was very excited. “We were running our own holiday programme at the time and when we heard about the Strandlopers, we thought it would make sense for us to pool our efforts. Now we can expect between 80 and 100 participants at each of our holiday activities." Recycling and coastal clean-ups have become regular activities for the
Strandlopers, as well as participation in the WWF, SANBI and CapeNature youth programme at the Harold Porter Gardens. A typical holiday schedule may include one of these sessions as well as one on water safety. The children also recently prepared entries for a marine-themed poetry and art competition. There is usually a puppet show for the younger children and for the older ones, a pottery workshop. Crafts, art, singing and dancing are popular components of their programmes and the children love participating in ‘Boere sports’. The project is aimed at roughly 8 –16 year-olds and according to Ebraime, there are always several of the older
children who have the potential to follow an environmental career. But, as he points out, “A lot of these children come from very difficult home circumstances and one of the most important aspects of the project is to have male role models with whom they can identify and who have the time to take an interest in them.” Outside of the holidays the group meets at least once a month to go on a hike or to visit the Rooisand horses or the penguins at Stony Point, for example. They also mark special environmental days, like Earth Hour, with an activity of some kind. As Ebraime says, “It’s important for these children to see that there is a wider
Having just completed a very busy and successful year, the leaders’ heads are full of ideas for future activities, including teaching the children to swim and getting them involved in bird watching. Funds permitting, they would like to provide each one with a special T-shirt to give them their own identity, as well as a First Aid kit to take on expeditions. All the project leaders have full-time jobs of their own and they have to take leave from their work to run these programmes for the children, yet they consider themselves richly rewarded by the positive effects they are having not only on the lives of the children, but also in building a generation of young people committed to caring for the planet. For more information contact Margie Samuels on 071 081 9431 or Theresa Els on 028 271 4044.
