Altogether 25 young adults from the Shumeez Scott Foundation in Lentegeur living with down syndrome ended Down Syndrome Awareness Month (October) on a high when they surfed at Surfers Corner in Muizenberg on Sunday 30 October.
A total of 30 volunteers and coaches assisted the 25 young adults. Most of them could not believe how the weather changed from when they started until they finished. It was like the sea embraced them with calmness and the audience was amazed at the joy on their faces.
“This was the fourth event by Nexgen Surf School at Surfers Corner in Muizenberg and at Nexgen we teach absolute beginners and also advanced surfing. I was introduced to the Shumeez Scott Foundation through a friend of mine whom I study with, Dr Yolande Petersen. She asked me if I’d be keen to take on a project like this, and I said yes, and never looked back,” says Yani Trout, founder of Nexgen Surf School.
He was joined on 30 October by Matthew Moir, two-time South African and World Longboard champion.
“Trout is the main organiser of the event and I just help him out when he runs the event. The event is amazing with a great vibe and atmosphere. It is so awesome to see people glowing and smiling from ear to ear when we get them onto their first waves,” Moir says.
Trout says to mark five years, a milestone in 2023, they are looking to go bigger and better.
“Within the next few weeks, we will be sitting down with the foundation and talking about enrolling two or three students into our mainstream coaching programme and building off that. We can incorporate more people living with down syndrome into our sport. We’ve ended Down Syndrome Awareness Month on a high with getting the 25 young adults on a surfboard,” he says.
Moir says the atmosphere on Sunday was amazing.
“Being able to help and be part of this great project was a win. Next year is going to be bigger and I urge people to come down and give their support to this foundation,” he says.
Currently, 47 young adults from the age of 17 years with down syndrome and other special needs are at the foundation.
“We uplift, empower and socially develop these young adults and we take them in once they are done with school. After finishing school they don’t get much job opportunities and we upskill them with workshops, but more helping them to have a social life they rightfully deserve in society,” says Shumeez Scott, founder of the foundation.
The workshops include arts and crafts, painting, beading, baking, educating them on themselves and identifying their various talents as most of them love music and dancing.
“I met Trout four years ago when we did our first surf day awareness and we immediately connected. Since then we have been doing it every year and what is more amazing is that Reef South Africa and Lifestyle Surf Shop have embraced the partnership with Trout with open arms. I only met Moir on 30 October and he is an amazing person. He helped me to get on the surfboard for the first time and I loved having him as my coach,” Scott says.
She says she took full advantage of making everyone aware of the month and started off with the campaign in New Horizon.
“We met two new students and got them to sign up with the foundation. We held our Buddy Walk and fashion show on Sunday 16 October at Athlone Stadium with the theme ‘inclusion’. I feel that we as able bodies use our ability to be disabled and we as differently abled bodies use our ability to be able. But if we unite we are not looking at our abilities, but rather look at each other as human beings,” Scott says.
“Our biggest challenge right now is transport. We need to get the young adults to and from the workshops as the bakkie and my car is not conducive to transporting them. The young adults don’t care about the transport as long as they get to the workshops every day,” she says.
They are picked up from all areas in the metropole and due to the growth at rapid speed, they will have to look for bigger premises.
“We are sitting with a waiting list that restricts us from taking on more people and this saddens me. The need is so big and we do not have enough of these centres within our communities. We have weekly markets where we sell the goods the young adults make to help the foundation with sustainability and you can come and meet and greet the young adults,” Scott says.
