The Inhaca Ocean Alliance.

Text by Liz Louw

Reaching a nation through teaching the children about loving the ocean.

"The Municipal Council has just asked me to start a sports development programme for the children on Inhaca Island."  That Is how our conversation started.

Me: a South African Biokineticist and Freediving Instructor with a passion for children and community work, and a Mozambiquan Sports Professor serving a term on the Maputo Municipal Council. We were seated next to each other on Qatar's Doha - Johannesburg flight leg on our way home from Portugal. Serendipity had set things in motion for the start of something great.

"Since they live on an island, surrounded by the ocean, why don't we get them into the water?"

That was my obvious response. Being a born water woman and ocean lover, what started as a seemingly normal, polite conversation turned into an animated, in-depth discussion of the hows and why's of starting a youth-focused swimming/diving programme on the picturesque Inhaca island of Southern Mozambique.

We considered the opportunities that such a project would have for the children. We also contemplated its benefits to the community, the local economy and the surrounding marine environment. We discussed the importance of water safety and environmental awareness. We elaborated on the possibilities for further education and career opportunities in swimming, diving, lifesaving and marine ecology. We had nine hours to construct a plan and use them while still in the air.

At the end of our discussion and the flight, the councillor leaned forward and asked, "Do you believe in serendipity?" I nodded. The promise of creating such a project pulled on some tender heartstrings of mine. Aside from being an opportunity to combine all the fields I love – sport, the ocean, community upliftment and childhood development – I had been nursing a deep wound for nearly a decade.

In 2011, I discovered the wonders of Sodwana Bay, only to return in 2012 to personally witness the plummet in whale shark sightings. I learnt that the neighbouring Mozambiquan government had signed a fishing treaty with China, allowing them free reign in the Southern East African waters. And the whale sharks had paid the price…

Like a knife twist in the heart, this fact had stayed with me for nearly a decade. When I found myself seated next to a man who had a foot in the Capital City's governance and being presented with an opportunity to both educate and raise the country's future leaders, it was like being a small voice, like a child's voice, perhaps; a mere drop in the ocean; but still, a chance to make a difference. And a chance in just the right little piece of paradise

Some Inhaca youth finding afternoon entertainment between an old concrete ruin and the surrounding ocean. Photo: Shani Shepherd/Ocean Echo Scuba

Nestled just within the entry to Maputo Bay, only a 2-hour ferry ride from the Capital City, Inhaca harbours a mind-blowing environmental feast with pristine beaches, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds where secret dugongs still graze and lush tropical forests. Due to its lush biodiversity, representing all the biomes of Mozambique's vast coastline, researchers have been visiting Inhaca for decades. The Eduardo Mondlane University operates from the Marine Biology Station of Inhaca, known as EMBI (Estação de Biologia Marítima de Inhaca in Portuguese).

After a pandemic and a pregnancy, we relocated to Mozambique, busy navigating the legal aspects of setting up life and a sports development project in this beautiful but equally challenging paradise.

After searching for a suitable organization to partner with to gain the project go-ahead from the Maputo Council, we came across the Sentinel Ocean Alliance – fellow Capetonians already successfully implementing their Turn-The-Tide Ocean Immersion programme with the youth of Hout Bay. We reached out to them while discussing how to reach more communities along the Southern African coast. They enthusiastically agreed to partner with us and assist us in setting up a similar programme for the children of Inhaca Island. And so the Inhaca Ocean Alliance was born.

Our programme is just beginning, and getting the wheels turning has been a long struggle. When this article comes out, we will have just completed our Instructor training course from the course directors at Sentinel Ocean Alliance. We will be gearing up to start the programme for the children in the new school term.

While the Maputo Municipality is on board with permissions for the project commencement, the budget for establishing and running such a project is beyond their Sports portfolio's budget. We need external funding to provide salaries for our Turn the Tide instructors and to afford our project's running costs and future expenses.

If you would like to show your support or to donate, please get in touch with Liz Louw by sending her an email to request the banking detail: liz.freediving@gmail.com
 
Please follow us on Facebook at Inhaca Ocean Alliance to get in touch or email Liz Louw directly to find ways that you can be involved. Visit us on the beautiful Inhaca Island!

Sentinel Ocean Alliance is a registered Public Benefit Organisation with Section 18A tax-exempt status. It can issue tax receipts for donations, with which you can claim a tax deduction.
Liz Louw is a PADI Freedive instructor, experienced Biokineticist, passionate mother of Ari and lover of all the Oceans. She is based in Southern Mozambique and teaches freediving to those interested in this diving discipline.