If anyone cares about his community, it’s Alex. A few years ago, he took in drop-outs (early school leavers) in Manokwari and taught them how to dive. Now, they form the Ketapang Diving Community (KDC) together, with Alex as their leader. They work together on clean beaches, coral planting in the sea, and starting up eco-tourism in their city. This is a sector from which the local population has barely benefited, even though Papua has some of the most beautiful dive spots in the world.
Dive instructor in training: Alex
Description
If anyone cares about his community, it’s Alex. A few years ago, he took in drop-outs (early school leavers) in Manokwari and taught them how to dive. Now, they form the Ketapang Diving Community (KDC) together, with Alex as their leader. They work together on clean beaches, coral planting in the sea, and starting up eco-tourism in their city. This is a sector from which the local population has barely benefited, even though Papua has some of the most beautiful dive spots in the world.
Empowering youth
Last year, Hapin funded training for seven young people in Manokwari who wanted to obtain their diving certificates. A diving certificate enables young people to guide tourists and do seasonal work on large ships. An instructor was flown in from outside Papua for the training.
In conversation with Alex, we realized that it would be very valuable for KDC if he himself could be trained as a diving instructor. This way, he can help young people in his community obtain their diving certificates. However, the total cost of becoming a diving instructor was beyond our capabilities. The training is only offered outside Papua, resulting in high transportation and accommodation costs.
Investment with great results
But Alex did not give up and managed to save part of the required amount himself. We admire his perseverance and decided to cover the remaining cost of the training. Soon, Alex will be able to start his training. An investment that will – in time – yield great results for this community in Manokwari.
Our contribution to the diving instructor training is €3,600. Will you help? You can contribute:
- via our website
- by scanning the QR code next to this text with your camera
- by transferring to NL37RABO0444072470 with the reference ‘training Alex’
Thank you very much for your involvement!
More on Ketapang Diving Community
Diving certificate
Normally we support students with a grant to obtain a study diploma. But this question was different: can Hapin help seven young people from Manokwari get a diving license?
In action for coral, mangrove and turtles in Manokwari
The coastal areas around Manokwari are in great danger. Bays are polluted by accumulating piles of washed-up waste and coral reefs are damaged by the use of bombs and trawl nets in fishing. KDC is strongly aware that good information and a growing awareness of environmental conservation among the local population are essential to their work. That is why she regularly organizes activities for the area, including large-scale cleaning campaigns on the beach.
