By Deb Oliver | Desert2Surf Founder
Dear Supporters,
We have recently used your donations to contribute towards the 2017 Stand and Lead trip.
As well as enabling Desert2Surf to teach trip participants to stand up paddle, the donation also facilitated Desert2Surf in providing trip participants with experiences which mainstream children take for granted. Ultimately Desert2Surf aims to build the capacity of remote and disadvantaged indigenous youth by building their self-confidence and physical skills while nurturing their leadership qualities.
The stand up paddling at Ballaglen built the participant’s self-confidence, self-esteem and self- belief and every participant expressed a desire to fulfil any Desert2Surf requirements in order to participate in future trips. One requirement is regular school/work attendance and commitment to their education generally.
One previous Desert2Surf trip participant and leader, Marcianne, engaged in discussions with Desert2Surf and Minyerri adults around leading Trip South 2017. Trip South 2017 would entail youth from Minyerri visiting Victoria to go surfing in December. One Minyerri adult, Maryanne, expressed a wish to chaperone/lead Trip South 2017 with Marcianne.
Desert2Surf had been liaising with the Teachabout school program manager since Stand and Lead 2016, to organise another co-facilitated stand-up paddle session at Ballaglen in 2017. However, due to unanticipated delayed NAIDOC celebrations, this did not eventuate. The connection to this organisation is important and Desert2Surf will continue to cultivate this relationship and look forward to future collaborations.
The Desert2Surf team also travelled to Barunga and Beswick Communities, the sites of previous D2S trips. It was a valuable opportunity to reconnect with individuals in these communities and consolidate relationships.
Perhaps the most significant aspect of Stand and Lead 2017 was the inclusion of two new and fabulous Desert2Surf volunteers, Fi and Jessie. Desert2Surf hugely appreciated their contribution on this trip and hopes to share many more trips with them in the future.
Thank you for your continued support!
With Gratitude,
Desert2Surf
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
