Children climbing out of poverty in Cape Town

Описание: (12 Sep 2014) LEAD IN:
Impoverished children growing up in the shadow of Cape Town's Cederberg mountains are being helped to climb out of poverty.
They're being taught "bouldering" - a type of rock climbing that tests strength, agility and mental capacity to overcome obstacles.
STORYLINE.
The Cederberg mountains in Cape Town are known for their beautiful scenery and dramatic mountain ranges.
Steep sandstone cliffs on Pakhuys Farm have been drawing a large number of professional climbers from around the world every year.
But these cliffs and climbers have also been helping turn around the lives of local children.
The Pakhuys farm project has set up a special climbing school for local children, many of whom suffer from foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
Co-owner of the Pakhuys farm, Thys Kruger says one of the main reasons he set up the school was to break the cycle of alcohol abuse in the community.
"When we moved from Cape Town in 2002 to the farm, we found the community was largely impoverished. Farm workers working at the minimum wage. Mostly some of the adults, or a lot of the adults, are caught up in alcohol abuse, and we felt a very strong need to get involved to uplift the community," he says.
A number of overseas professional instructors teach the local children, including 23 year-old Chris Kelk from the United Kingdom.
Kelk has been involved in the project on and off for the past five years and teaches a type of climbing called 'bouldering'.
"Bouldering is quite a niche type of climbing, it's a unique discipline that you project at something, you find something that's your physical limit, which you have to work which you have to figure out like a Rubik's cube and it takes time, its not just a matter of having a go you have to keep at it," Elk says.
The project began nearly 15 years ago when the children were intrigued by the international climbers visiting their community. They would watch them and slowly befriended some of the climbers.
The climbers, in turn, started seeing the inquisitive youngsters and invited them to have a go. From there, the Pakhuys Farm project was born.
From donations, the school provides the young climbers with shoes and crash pads.
Everyday is a new adventure for them. After completing the basic forms of climbing the children are taught more complicated techniques of rock climbing.
Nigel Huin has been climbing with the school for a few years and enjoys the challenges that rock climbing offers.
"In my free time when I have nothing to do at home, I will find out when they are climbing and we will start climbing. I also climb at times I feel frustrated and it calms me down," he says.
The children have grown fond of their instructors and look forward to the lessons they receive.
"Chris is a very friendly person, he teaches us how to climb, and if we make mistakes he will show us till we get it right," says Maldeene van de Ross.
While the goal is to see one of the young climbers entering international competitions, the organisers are just happy to give local children the chance to reach for a different future.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...